Category Archives: Thoughts about Writing

Where You Can Find my Stuff

A writer’s blog is supposed to promote that writer’s work. I kind of forgot about that part. I talk a lot about my writing, and I include links on Facebook and Twitter, but maybe this is a good place for … Continue reading

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These Are the Tools

These are the tools. They look really old-fashioned. No Track Comments, interactive spreadsheets, no Google Doc file, just a paper manuscript, a bunch of stickies and an ink pen. Missing from the photo is a new spiral notebook that I … Continue reading

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The Ospreys Themselves: Or, I Finished a Zero Draft!

On Wednesday, March 22, I got to the final words of my fiction Work in Progress. I thought it was 108,569 words (and that’s what I tweeted). Later I remembered that I had dumped a bunch of story notes into … Continue reading

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FOGCon: Writing Between Genres or “You Got Chocolate on my Peanut Butter!”

Panelists:  Madeleine E. Robins; Robyn Bennis; Katharine Kerr; Delia Sherman; Sarah Stegall. The FOGCon panel on Writing Between Genres talked about fictional works that fall between established categories. It’s like the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups commercial: “You’ve got peanut … Continue reading

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The Battle for the Wand

“You have to write something for the blog. It’s been seven days. You were doing to post twice a week, remember? Can’t you honor any commitments?” It hasn’t been a week, I thought. It’s been four days. I’m still within … Continue reading

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The Name’s Barnes. James Barnes.

Last week at my writing appointment with Brandy I slipped and called The Project “the book.” I hastened to correct myself, but Brandy, who is observant and has fast reflexes, was onto me before I should slither out of it. … Continue reading

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A Tale of Two Coffee Houses

Brandy Mow and I try very hard to get together each Monday for a writing session. When it isn’t raining, we each walk from our homes down to Taylor Maid Coffee in the Barlow, which is one block northeast of … Continue reading

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Almost Seven Hundred Dollars

Before 2016 closed out, I earned, and got checks for, $696.38 worth of payment for short fiction. That’s almost seven hundred dollars. I could certainly spend some time here discussing all the things that almost $700 won’t buy. I get it. … Continue reading

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Field Trip!

I’ve never read an urban fantasy set in Vallejo, California, so I’m trying to write one. To me, if you’re going to write urban fantasy the urban center you choose must be vividly depicted, so I had to get to … Continue reading

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The Curse of the Plot Monkeys

The term “archetype” has been adopted by agents, editors and reviewers to describe an underdeveloped character who acts solely according to the needs of the plot and not out of their own needs, fears and conflicts. In other words, they’re … Continue reading

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