We recently replaced the “old” 55” flat-screen TV we have mounted above the fireplace in the living room with a brand new 65” flat-screen TV. Ordinarily a TV would last us a decade or more, but for some reason, the old TV started to get darker and darker, and it just seemed time. The new…
Early this year I talked about my 5-year bout of writer’s block when it comes to writing fiction. The last story I sold, “Gemma Barrows Comes To Cooperstown” was back in 2015. Since then, my ability to write stories seemed to have faltered. Yesterday, for no reason in particular, I started to write again. I…
hen I decided to become a writer my biggest fear was that I’d never have an idea worth writing about. Experience taught me this was a needless fear. I found ideas everywhere. The trick is figuring out which ideas are worth pursuing. When I had an idea worth writing about my biggest fear became the…
ccasionally, I come across a discussion of what one should put into one’s cover letter when submitting a story to a magazine. I don’t ever recall sweating over my cover letters after an early rejection I received from A. J. Budrys, then editing Tomorrow Science Fiction. He told me that, for him, cover letters were…
ere are some things that I wrote in 2015. Well, that isn’t quite right. Here are some things I wrote that were published in 2015. “Meat and Greet” (fiction) in InterGalactic Medicine Show (January 2015) “5 Things I Wish I Could Tell My 20-Year-Old Self (About Writing)” over on the Write Life blog (March 2015)…
was delighted this morning to learn that my story, “Gemma Barrows Comes to Cooperstown” made Tangent Online’s Recommended Reading List for 2015. This is the second story of mine to make this list. Back in 2013, my story, “The Negative Impact of Climate Change on the Unusual Beasts of the World” also made the list.…
have started a new story that isn’t really science fiction It isn’t really fantasy. Isn’t really horror. Yet, for me, the story still falls into the category of popular fiction. I am not trying to be coy with genre here. But it feels like a mainstream popular fiction story that doesn’t fit neatly into the…
ou might check out a well-done series of posts on self-publishing by Doug Farren. Doug was part of my Launch Pad Astronomy workshop class of 2013. He has had a good deal of success self-publishing, and while self-publishing is not my particular cup of tea1, I’ve found Doug’s posts on the subject both enjoyable and…
did my first post-streak writing at lunch today. It was the first time in about 10 days that I’d written anything, after having spent the previous 825 days writing every day. Everything about the writing today was new. Driving home from work a few days ago, I realized that I had entered a new phase…
always knew that when I started my writing streak, it would have to come to an end. I voluntarily ended my 825-consecutive-day writing streak on Sunday, bringing to an end more than 2-1/3 years of writing every day. I ended the streak because it felt like it was the right time to end it. But…
t occurred to me that I never reported back on just how much I ended up writing on last weekend’s writing retreat. I was originally supposed to get together with 2 other writers, but one had to beg off at the last-minute for very good reasons. So there was just two of us. We had…