Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Looking back at 2021...

It’s that time of year when I look back and do the year in review.

I accomplished a lot of stuff this year. More in some areas than I expected and less in others.
  • I produced 2 audiobooks.
  • I wrote 3 novels.
  • I published 1 book (another is only weeks away).
  • I wrote 6 short stories.
  • I lost 30 pounds (gained 20 back in the last month during the holidays).
  • I traveled A LOT more. (I even visited both my adult children finally).
  • I went camping several times, even solo.
  • I built things that made my home more excellent.
  • I helped several fellow authors publish.
  • I continued my weekly podcast on YouTube.
  • I read 81 books. (paper, kindle, and audio)
  • I took Tai Chi and Guitar Classes.
  • I had my first Book Signing in 18 months.
  • I listened to music I love every day.
  • I made new friends.
  • I donated Blood 4 times.
  • I planted many trees.
  • I said "I Love You" at least a thousand times.

--I'll call this year a win.




Wednesday, December 1, 2021

So you have a first Draft... Now What?

Quotes of the Week

Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.
—Ray Bradbury

A writer always thinks the last version of his novel is best, until he reads it again.
--Unknown

Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader's.
—Stephen King

Don't be a writer. Be writing.
—William Faulkner

When asked to whom a writer should provide servitude (critics, editors, publishers, the public, etc.), Jack London replied: "Beauty is the only master to serve."
—Jack London

The time to begin writing a story is when you have finished it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.
—Mark Twain

Remember to get the weather in your damn book — weather is very important.
—Ernest Hemingway

If your book doesn't keep you up nights writing it, it won't keep anyone up nights reading it.
—James A. Michener

The work is hard, the perks are few, the pay is terrible, and the product, when it’s finally finished, is pure joy.
—Mary Lee Settle

The more you read, the more you will write. The better the stuff you read, the better the stuff you will write.
—Annie Dillard— 

Monday, November 29, 2021

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Quotes Of the Week

Sometimes good things fall apart, so better things can come together.
—Marilyn Monroe

Don't be a writer. Be writing.
—William Faulkner

The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The cat sat on the other cat's mat is a story.
—John le Carré

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
—E.L. Doctorow

The mere habit of writing, of constantly keeping at it, of never giving up, ultimately teaches you how to write.
—Gabriel Fielding

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
—Anton Chekhov

Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly.
—Alain de Botton

Let the readers do some of the work themselves. 
—Fyodor Dostoevsky


Monday, October 18, 2021

The Airstream

This is a new feature on the Blog. I will be providing images that will hint at things that will happen in the project I am currently writing.


--Kansas, 1969


Still Falling - On Sale for $0.99


 

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Quotes of the Week.

 Write drunk; edit sober.
—Ernest Hemingway

The idea of just wandering off to a cafe with a notebook and writing and seeing where that takes me is just bliss.
—J.K. Rowling

I try to pull the language into such a sharpness that it jumps off the page…. It must look easy, but it takes me forever.
—Maya Angelou

Sing your song. Dance your dance. Tell your tale. Inspire them.
—Frank McCourt

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Quotes of the Week

There is no friend as loyal as a book.
—Ernest Hemingway

If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write. 
—Anaïs Nin

You need that conviction that you are brilliant, this is the greatest idea that anybody has ever had, and that by writing it you will set the world on fire.
—Neil Gaiman

All drama is conflict. Without conflict, there is no action. Without action, there is no character. Without character, there is no story. And without story, there is no screenplay.
—Syd Field

The only thing that makes one an artist is making art. And that requires the precise opposite of hanging out; a deeply lonely and unglamorous task of tolerating oneself long enough to push something out.
—David Rakoff

The worst enemy of creativity is self-doubt.
—Sylvia Plath

Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.
—Steven King

Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.
—Jimmy Stewart



Monday, October 4, 2021

Scenes From My Current Project: Time Enough

 This is a new feature on the Blog. I will be providing images that will hint at things that will happen in the project I am currently writing.


--Kansas, 1959


Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Quotes of the Week

Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader's.
—Stephen King

The trouble with fiction is that it makes too much sense, whereas reality never makes sense.
—Aldous Huxley

Write one good clean sentence and put a period at the end of it. Then write another one. 
—M.F.K. Fisher

One must be ruthless with one’s own writing or someone else will be.
—John Berryman

There’s no such thing as writer’s block. That was invented by people in California who couldn’t write.
—Terry Pratchett

Maybe the hardest thing in writing is simply to tell the truth about things as we see them.
—John Steinbeck

I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. They generally produce their worst work when they do that. 
—David Bowie

Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong words.
—Virginia Woolf

Anytime you write something, you go through so many phases...“I'm a Fraud' phase.” ...“I'll Never Finish” phase. And...once in a while you think, “What if I actually have created what I set out to create, and it's received as such?”
—Lin-Manuel Miranda

 

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Quotes of the Week

Woe be to him that reads but one book.
--George Herbert

You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
--Evan Esar

Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.
--Carrie Fisher

The hardest thing when you think about focusing. You think focusing is about saying "Yes." No. Focusing is about saying "No." And when you say "No," you piss off people.
--Steve Jobs

We do what we must, and call it by the best names.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Household tasks are easier and quicker when they are done by somebody else.
--James Thorpe

Remember, no matter where you go, there you are.
--Earl Mac Rauch

Sanity is a madness put to good use.
--George Santayana

Don't live in a town where there are no doctors.
--Jewish Proverb

Monday, September 20, 2021

ON SUPER-SALE NOW!!

Hardcover is currently on sale for $8 while supplies last!


 --Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, and Audible Editions!

Monday, September 13, 2021

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Quotes of the Week

A lot of people talk about writing. The secret is to write, not talk.
—Jackie Collins

You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance.
—Ray Bradbury

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.
—Beatrix Potter

Start writing. I don't mean to sound dismissive, but START WRITING. There is NO SUCH THING as "too late" in the arts.
—Patton Oswalt

Don't be a writer. Be writing.
—William Faulkner

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.
—Jack London



Thursday, September 2, 2021