Category writing
It’s All About The Backstory
The Backstory Everything has its own unique story, a history, that “what made you who you are” element. When you sit in a coffee shop and listen to the chatter, the unspoken backstory is the thing that makes you want to know more about the people. It influences the way we see them, the way […]
The After Life
I have this new story idea bouncing around in my head. It refuses to leave me alone. The damned thing left a ransom note in a dusty corner of my brain, threatening to hold my attention hostage until I do something. So, here goes…the background. During the years I worked inside maximum security prisons, I […]
Fear – The Dark Side of Hope
Fear Fear motivates us. Fear moves us. Fear is the thing that reaches up and grabs you by the throat and shakes the marbles loose in your grey matter, forcing you to do something, or run away. And, a little fear, is a good thing. I’m afraid of being eaten by sharks. So, my fear […]
Tools For Easily Distracted Writers – Scrivener
I tried an experiment over the last couple of weeks. I’ve finished rewrites and revisions of the black market organ transplant novel, and no, that’s not the kind of experiment I’m talking about. I used Scrivener writing software to manage my edits and revisions. If you write, you’ve probably come across the writing platform […]
Resolution – Smesholution
Less than a week into the new year and I’m already lagging on the resolutions that were supposed to make me a lean, mean writing machine. Not lean, not mean (maybe a bit pissy) and the writing machinery is missing a few cogs and gears. But I have excuses, honest I do. My writing room […]
2013 Wasn’t All Bad
In 2013, we suffered the likes of Anthony Wiener as Carlos Danger, Sharknado and a strange, on-stage grand-mal seizure by Miley Cyrus which caused flights of Angels to weep. 2013 was a year mired in Syrian civil war violence, the Boston Marathon bombing, school shootings and government shutdowns. At times, it appeared the Mayan prediction […]
Pipe Fitting Bookends
My daughter gave me a set of really cool bookends for Christmas. They’re made from iron pipe fittings and make a great addition to the new writing space. We’ve finished the install on the new wood floors and found the salvaged wood for the “new” desks in the room. The wood comes from a barn […]
Newspaper Marketing for Your Novel
Getting new eyes on your work is what it’s about. No…not in a creepy way. It doesn’t matter if you choose to self publish, or go the traditional route through a publisher – getting attention about a book means looking at every possible marketing avenue. Much of that will fall on the author. In October, […]
Conspiracy Theory
Pssst… Come here… There is a conspiracy out there, I tell ya. A cabal of ruthless, black-minded villains put in overtime this week to keep me from writing. They’re cagey, these evil-doers. At every turn, they construct a barrier, obstacle, or canyon, so deep and wide that I have no choice, but to retreat and […]
You Are What You Read
When did choosing a literary genre become so difficult? In the “olden days” of books, there were vast collections of works contained within a single place. The Library. In this mystical building, there existed a structure, a set of expectations to guide those who sought out new tales and adventures. All books were created along […]
James L'Etoile 