Category Archives: making stuff up

Thrill Ride: Nine Questions for Jump-Starting a Novel

Here another useful tool I use when I’m dancing around, trying to find my plot. I find that once I’m able to answer the following 9 questions, the story has pretty well coalesced and I’m ready to start outlining and/or … Continue reading

Posted in 2014, character development, developing plot, extraordinary, Getting Into Character, goals, hook, interesting characters, jump-start, making stuff up, novel, opening scene, Openings, plot threads, Sharon Joss, Starting a novel, story, story concept, structure | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Writing at the Coast

I’m baaack. From a nine-day sojourn to Lincoln City for an intensive Science Fiction writing workshop, taught by award-winning author and editor, Kristine Rusch.  Wrote four shorts and a little a technique exercise that mutated into a flash fiction piece.  Read … Continue reading

Posted in Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Rusch, making stuff up, networking, Oregon, science fiction, short story, workshop, write every day, write every day; writers write, writers, writers write, writing, Writing, writing business | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

DESTINY BLUES – Launch Announcement

Today is the official launch of my urban fantasy novel, DESTINY BLUES. Amazon:                    Paperback hardcopy Amazon:                    Kindle Edition Barnes & Noble:         Nook Edition Kobo:                        Kobo Edition Smashwords:             Smashwords Edition It’s the story of Shore Haven’s favorite meter maid, Mattie … Continue reading

Posted in best seller, Best Sellers, Destiny, Destiny Blues, FATE, Favorite New Author, fiction, happy dance, joy, making a promise to the reader, making stuff up, novel, Perseverance, pitching, published, Sharon Joss, the road to publication, urban fantasy | Leave a comment

Cover Reveal: DESTINY BLUES

For those of you who have been with me a while, one of my early urban fantasy novels (working title FATE) is about to be published.  I just got a proof of the hard copy, and I confess I got … Continue reading

Posted in author, best seller, books, don't give up, fantasy, FATE, happy dance, living the dream, luck, lucky, making stuff up, New York Times, novel, Perseverance, persevere, persistence, publishers, Tell me something GOOD, urban fantasy, voice, writer, writers write | Leave a comment

Ain’t No Such Verb as Riffing

Riff.  The word doesn’t exist.  Not as a noun, a verb, or an adjective.  Not in my Oxford English Dictionary, not in my Synonym Finder, nor my online Microsoft Thesaurus, or my Roget’s Thesaurus.   I finally found it in the … Continue reading

Posted in genre, making stuff up, riffing, shifting, staking, world building, writer | 1 Comment