Last night, after my writers group, I sat outside at a bar with fellow group member Michael J. Sullivan and explained in great detail the trouble I was having with my novelette. “I have three scenes,” I told him, “that are clear in my mind. The opening scene, a key scene near the middle of…
It’s been a busy week, but it didn’t pass my notice that four weeks from today is the scheduled arrival of the Little Miss. We are reasonably confident in the date, seeing as how it is a scheduled c-section and those tend to be done a week or so before the normal due date. But…
I am not a fan of self-publishing. I have written about why I am not a fan before. But yesterday, a good friend of mine asked me for some advice on self-publishing and you can’t let a pal down. I am biased, of course, so if there’s anyone out there who has corrections or additions to…
Last month, I posted a list of science fiction novels that I should have read, but that I’ve never gotten around to. After going through the various comments, I have culled the list down to five novels and I am asking for you help in choosing which science fiction book I read next. Think: “You can’t…
Last night, I voted for the Hugo awards. You don’t have to be an attending member of the World Science Fiction convention to vote, but you must be at least a supporting member. I thought it was a pretty darn good ballot this year and some of the choices were difficult ones. That said, there…
I just finished reading Robert Heinlein’s “Logic of Empire” in the March 1941 Astounding* and there were two quotes that jumped out at me as particularly apropos to current events in the Federal government today. First quote: “I suppose you’re a radical now?” Doc’s eyebrows lifted slightly. “Not at all. Radical and conservative are terms for…
For the first time in quite a while, I had anxiety dreams last night. The were not the ordinary run-of-the-mill anxiety dreams I used to have either. These had one particularly nasty ingredient added to them: they were recursive. Or as the kids today like to say, meta. I used to have two types of…
Anyone who uses Scrivener for fiction-writing will soon come to discover that all of its wonderful features are geared toward one primary goal: allow you, as the writer, to focus on writing without having to worry about formatting, layout or any of those other troublesome tasks. This simple idea is what sets Scrivener far apart…