Core Clarification On a Few Core Competencies

(Please forgive the small formatting errors — spacing, to be precise — toward the end of this post.  WordPress isn’t cooperating… wish they’d give me back the previous version, in which any errors were mine.) Book reviews are tricky from the author’s point of view.  You want ’em, but you want ’em a certain way.  […]

A Perspective on Cataclysmic Criticism

We’ve all been there, felt that.  We’ve finished something that we’ve poured our souls into.  Spilled enough blood on it to warrant a transfusion.   We wait.  We toss and turn.  It’s in the hands of someone who needs to love it – an agent, an editor, a trusted friend. Or worse, your proofreading significant other.  […]

The “Art” of Writing. Framed.

              You’re sitting there writing. You look up.  And you see this. “This” is the real deal: an inspired, inspiring and whimsical work by a professional artist with a thing for writing and writers.  Because she does that, too. I ran across Barbara Rudolph at an art show, and of course when I […]

Oh, the Drama of it All!

Mining The Foundations of Your Story Art – indeed, life itself – is all about recognizing and building layers.  Some theoretical, some physical, some experiential. This is why the President of the United States, according to law, must be at least 35 years of age. This is why kids shouldn’t drink and octogenarians shouldn’t pilot […]

Ten Top Tips From Top Ten Tippers… Another Free 30-Minute Workshop Disguised As An Interview… And Some News

What if ten of the top writing bloggers chipped in their very best (or least favorite) writing tip, and a benevolent website collected ’em all and posted the list for your reading pleasure and creative enlightenment? Click through to Writetodone.com to check it out.    Listen up. Once again what was supposed to be an interview about my […]

Getting Lost in L.A. — An Analogy

Interesting banter happening on Amazon regarding my new book.  Can’t complain about the reviews, except one (a few readers are complaining for me on that one).  Even one of the 4-star reviewers was put off by my — clearing throat here — enthusiasm and the need to set-up the context and application of the story […]

A Master Class in Crime Noir

We write.  Therefore we read. Or at least we should.  Especially after we become acquainted with the technical nuts and bolts of story architecture… once you know this stuff you can’t help but see it at work within successful stories — both books and movies — in a way that jumps out at you. And, serves […]

A Free 30-Minute Video Workshop. Here. Now.

You may have seen this.  Based on click-through statistics, probably not. What began as an interview with Joanna Penn (she’s wonderfully Aussie, I’m regrettably not… love that accent) about my new book turned out to be a spontaneous primer on the writing mindset and how story architecture fits into that vital aspect of the experience. In […]

The Dark Side of the New Age of Self-Publishing

This really happened.  This week, in fact. On Thursday I got the email that all writers dream about.  It was from a major television network, inviting me to appear on their morning talk show as part of their regular “author’s corner” segment. That heady context alone tends to blind one to the dark side. Especially […]

How to Double Your Entry-Level Self-Publishing Learning Curve… In About an Hour

Here’s a dirty little secret for you.  Successful bloggers aren’t necessary propeller heads.  We may or may not know more about how to navigate all things digital than the lowest common internet denominator in your life. Personally, I suck at it.  I’ve thrown more money at third-party consultants than I have at my CPA.  Which […]