Author. Writer. Editor. Fool.
I penned a flash fiction piece last year called “Storms,” a brief war story about a man’s experience on the front lines of World War I. The story is now available at Boston Literary Magazine. Surf over here and give it a read. It’s short. Won’t take you but a few minutes to read. My thanks to editor Robin Stratton, who forced me to take a hard look at the story and pare it back to its most essential elements.
Been a bit busy lately with this, that, and the other thing, so I’ve had to set aside my little distraction of a blog for a while. Keeping up with family and work and writing projects and podcasts is a killer … and now that summer is here, well, a man needs his relaxing time in the backyard, damnit. What’s the sense of a backyard if you never use it? So while I continue to chug through my projects (now 10 chapters into my dystopian science fiction novel), have another preview of my upcoming comic anthology. Artist Rich Hannah adapted a short story I wrote called “The Last Shot”. This is a sneak peek. My part will be adapting my own story, rewriting it for…
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Stanley Lieber, the excellent artist and musician working with me on my upcoming comic anthology, has just posted some sample art on his blog. Go check it out.
If you hope for writing to be more than a hobby, it’s a good idea to have a good sense for what is and is not good practice when it comes to dealing with editors and agents. Those people will be your doorway into the world of getting paid for your work and having readers who are not friends and family. It’s helpful to know what approaches work and, more importantly, what approaches DON’T. That’s one reason why I pay attention to their blogs. Literary agent Jessica Faust shares a story about a writer who got defensive when she asked for more information about the author’s manuscript. Way to shoot yourself in the foot! I’ve mention being overly defensive before and it’s worth repeating: you…
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Sometimes I get in over my head. My need to fill every square inch of spare time with creative projects too often leads to more stuff than I can do at once. It’s maddening and frustrating and at times a bit overwhelming, yet if I drop one I resent the project I keep for holding me back on the other one. Madness. What am I juggling right now? Take a look: Dystopian Science Fiction novel My current fiction work in progress (WIP), this involves an America healing from a second Civil War, an oppressive caste system that has driven most of the nation to poverty, and a plot to kill millions. I’m about five chapters into the revision process. Eight or nine chapters are written…
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