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Another textbook? Why not? There’s still plenty of good stuff worth learning, and I couldn’t cram it all into the first three. Naked Notes! is now available at Amazon. Do a writer friend of yours a HUGE favor, order a signed copy from me!
Now Available!
Greeley is now available for Kindle e-readers and in paperback. Don’t miss this fantastic collection of linked tales of the old and new West. Autographed copies make great gifts, by the way. Contact me if you’d like one.
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Category Archives: Writing
Valentine, oh Valentine, where didst thou go wrong?
And whatever happened to Saint Valentine’s contemporaries: Saint Austrebertha, Saint Eormenhild, Saint Eulalia, and Saint Scholastica? February was their month, too. It all began a long time ago. Based on my admittedly cursory research, it seems the Romans had a nifty … Continue reading
Posted in Historical writing, Writing
Tagged ancient, Chaucer, Christian, dog, fertility, Galatin, goat, Greek, Lupercalia, naked men, pagan, Palatine, Roman, Rome, Romulus and Remus, sacrifice, Saint, Santa, Shakespeare, tradition, Valentine, whip
8 Comments
How much of you should go in your book?
While the answer is obvious for those who write memoir or family histories, the question becomes a great deal trickier when one is writing fiction. To a certain extent, all of what we put in a novel is derived from … Continue reading
Posted in Historical writing, Memoir, novel writing, Writing
Tagged amplify, emotion, feelings, imagination, Mark Twain, memoir, memory, personal experience, risk, Rowling, Sam Clemens, sensation, sensory words, write what you know
3 Comments
So, you wanna be a wordsmith?
…then you’d best use words the way they’re meant to be used. I know I’ve misused words in the past. Like way too many writers, I get the past tense of lie and lay, laid and lain confused and have … Continue reading
Posted in Historical writing, Memoir, novel writing, Writing
Tagged acrologia, beginning writer, confusion, definition, dictionary, mistake, misuse, misused words, precision, wordsmith, writer
8 Comments
That Point of View thing
Television and the movies have had a tremendous impact on the way we perceive things. It’s rare when a TV show or film allows the viewer to see only what one character sees. And yet, such a limited viewpoint is … Continue reading
Posted in editing, novel writing, Writing
Tagged and the Ugly, Hollywood, limited, movie, movies, omniscient, point of view, POV, POVC, The Bad, The Good, TV
4 Comments
A Necessary Evil — Part IV
So, you’ve followed all the suggestions, gotten all the feedback you could stand, made all the updates, corrections, and edits; you’ve picked all the nits, tied up all the loose threads, thanked everyone you could think of, and now it’s … Continue reading
Posted in marketing, Writing
Tagged advance copies, ARC, author copies, book launch, celebrities, cost, creativity, marketing, media, newspaper, press release, promo, retail, review copies, reviews, venue
4 Comments
Adios Georgia Writers Association
For years I have looked forward to the Georgia Author of the Year (GAYA) competition. Sadly, I won’t be looking forward to it in the future because the sponsoring organization, Georgia Writers Association, after 53 years, has turned its back … Continue reading
Posted in editing, Historical writing, Memoir, novel writing, Writing
Tagged agent, Author of the Year, award, bad writing, chapbook, editing, editor, gatekeeper, GAYA, Georgia, Georgia Writers Association, independence, independent publishing, memoir, Self publishing, traditional publishing, Writing
9 Comments
A Necessary Evil — Part II
What’s your book about? While that seems like an easy question, many authors have trouble coming up with a quick answer. What too often comes out is something like: “It’s about this guy who finds a magic tuba while digging … Continue reading
Posted in marketing, Writing
Tagged agent, back cover, Big Five, book blurb, book cover, editor, elevator pitch, fan convention, imagination, indie, marketing, novelist, novice, readers, sales, sales pitch, writer's conference
4 Comments
