I had a problem. To fix it, I thought about something my mentor,Dean Wesley Smith, is always driving home to me—there are readers on the other side of my words. Looking at the opening scenes ofAdaletand putting myself in the reader’s place, I asked: Would I like Adalet enough to...
But sitting here in my perfect chair with perfect arm support, letting my fingers try to stay up with my old brain, I’m not doing much work. In fact, if I didn’t get out and do some exercise, some sort of movement in the real world, I would turn into a 500 pound blob with ...
I usually start slow and then just gain speed. Clearly going to be the case this time as well. First off, I just didn’t clear the decks fast enough to get to my writing computer early enough each night. And when I did, tired of being at any computer, so time there did not last...
This event is designed to squeeze as much into one day of learning as possible. You can ask any questions you like during the classes, and get your specific concerns addressed. We will have literary agents onsite to give feedback and take pitches from writers, as well. This year’s agent...
In Today’s Journal * Quote of the Day (and Commentary) * Correction * The Order of Narrative Bits and Dialogue * If You Don’t Follow Dean Wesley Smith * Of Interest * The Numbers Quote of the Day “It’s not the process of writing I love, it’s discovering something new and then...
If you HAD to rewrite to make it good, Harlan Ellison, Heinlein, Dean Wesley Smith, Kris Rusch and a ton of other pros must all have sold their stuff by sheer dumb luck… Steve Sorensen on August 23, 2011 at 7:13 PM The great majority of writers are neither geniuses nor lucky. If...
Anyway, thePlanetaryUnionbooks are a pure joy for me to write because I get to visit my own universe that’s a little like that one. My goal is to write sci-fi that also happens to include sex, preferably as a natural outgrowth of the situations faced by a multi-species crew that’...
Brain Café podcast, produced by my Book Worms partner, James DeFeo, and me. This week, we dive into a crucial topic: the ongoing pressure artists face when deciding between working for exposure versus earning money. Is exposure truly beneficial, or does it undermine the value of your craft...
“The Jordan is Not Just Water,” in which he examines the political implications of baptizing people in the Jordan River, symbolic of entry into the Promised Land. He also articulates his well-known connection of Jesus and the Cynics, carefully charting what Jesus borrows and changes from ...
Kira Gale upset the historical establishment when she argued that the death of Meriwether Lewis was the result of assassination, not suicide. Research into the explorers Lewis and (William) Clark consumed her life, up until[…] In Frost We Trust ...