My thoughts and ideas on various topics, including advice about writing and getting published.
Before we enjoy an extra day off, or take advantage of a sale, let us reflect about the great sacrifice many have laid on the altar of freedom. For more background on this quote, refer to the Lincoln-Bixby letter.
It seems silly, even foolish (ha!) to have a day when we celebrate foolishness. April Fools’ day is here, and all manner of energy will be spent to concoct “credible” hoaxes and clever sarcastic-filled missives in the hopes that one of them will go viral. While I usually sit on the sidelines and look askance […]
What’s worse than getting up early Easter morning to news coverage of the ongoing political campaign? Doing so with a massive ear ache (yes, the antibiotics seem to be working). It’s enough to make a grown man want to write all sorts of social media messages and blog posts to wax cynical about all the […]
I wanted to drop my readers a quick note to confirm, that yes, indeed, Virtual Identity will come out in a couple of days. It’s not too late to sign up for the giveaway of printed copies. In addition, I also wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out on the introductory eBook price, which […]
Have you noticed? A lot of book series come in threes. For a Baptist that grew up loving baseball, I must confess this has a nice ring to it. The Trinity alongside three strikes, you’re out, three outs to an inning, three outfielders, and three bases before you can come home. But so far, neither […]
Today, hopefully without boring you, I want to talk about one of my favorite literary devices: foreshadowing. It doesn’t get a lot of press or mention in writerly circles, at least not the ones I frequent. I don’t know why. Maybe everyone’s too busy avoiding the dreaded mid-scene point of view (POV) switch, or it’s […]
Why should authors seek Beta readers? Why set additional time aside in your release cycle to consult with a team of folks? Why go through the painstaking work of assessing, adjudicating and incorporating reader inputs? Because it helps. A lot. I’m sure there are many ways to state how Beta readers positively impact an author’s […]
As I write another year end review, I can easily take the usual route: enumerate how many books I’ve released, tally how many more readers have joined my Reader’s Club, perhaps even brag about how my book sales have grown. These represent the often obvious ways in which we measure success, and even the metrics […]
The lady many of us came to love as Mom, Grandma, and Gigi was born in Chicago as Eleanor Irene Wyas in May 1923 to her parents Peter and Mary. Eleanor was the eldest of six brothers and sisters: Ray, Charlie, Margaret, Jimmy, and Harold. She grew up in Chicago until, at age thirteen, in […]
In signal processing speak, you want your noise floor low, and your signal high and strong. And yes, before we go on, I am a bit of a techno-geek. OK, more than a bit. But see? Those last two sentences were noise. Not on topic. If I kept going on that tangent too long, you […]
