This Monday I will be speaking at the Forest Hill Community High School in West Palm Beach. The topic? Writing, specifically writing a mystery. I'm looking forared to it but just a little nervous. It will be a lot of fun talking to the kids. You can see some information about it here: http://library-alexandria.com/Media%20Events.htm
Meanwhile I'm still plugging away at my current project, DEATH ON THE AIR. I'm also busy reading stuff assigned to me for an upcoming short story workshop.
Last month my father-in-law died after a long illness. My family is still adjusting but we're progressing along.
Hope all is well with my readers and I will try to keep you updated in a more timely fashion. :-)
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Looking back at 2011
It looks like I listed two goals for 2011: 200,000 new words of fiction and 12 short stories.
I didn't make either goal.
My wordcount for 2011 is 181,390 words. While I missed the 200,000 word mark this counts as my second best year since I've started keeping track in 2007. I'm hoping to do better this year.
As for short stories, I only wrote seven, little more than half of my goal. I struggled with this goal, and I am not happy with my output. If you read my other post on goals, I'm hoping to write as many as 25 short stories this year. Yes, I set the bar way higher.
Sometimes in 2011 I found it hard to be creative. That impacted the writing, especially the short stories. One thing I hope to accomplish this year is to find ways to reignite my creativity.
I did epublish ten short stories, a short story collection, and a novel. I'm hoping to have a lot more published this year. And, of course, I plan to send things to magazines and publishers this year.
2011 saw me missing the mark on my goals. I'm hoping that 2012 will have a different outcome.
I didn't make either goal.
My wordcount for 2011 is 181,390 words. While I missed the 200,000 word mark this counts as my second best year since I've started keeping track in 2007. I'm hoping to do better this year.
As for short stories, I only wrote seven, little more than half of my goal. I struggled with this goal, and I am not happy with my output. If you read my other post on goals, I'm hoping to write as many as 25 short stories this year. Yes, I set the bar way higher.
Sometimes in 2011 I found it hard to be creative. That impacted the writing, especially the short stories. One thing I hope to accomplish this year is to find ways to reignite my creativity.
I did epublish ten short stories, a short story collection, and a novel. I'm hoping to have a lot more published this year. And, of course, I plan to send things to magazines and publishers this year.
2011 saw me missing the mark on my goals. I'm hoping that 2012 will have a different outcome.
Goals for 2012
I've decided to post my goals for 2012 in writing. I can't remember if I posted my 2011 goals. If I did, I promise I'll update how I did with them. Short answer: I think I fell short of any goals I set.
Anyway, here, in no particular order, are my 2012 goals:
1) 200,000 new words in fiction.
2) Epublish 25 short stories/story collections/novels
3) Write at least 25 short stories this year.
4) Begin to epublish my old columns. I'm hoping to gather them into collections as well.
5) Finish up two novels I started in 2011 and write two more.
That's what I hope to accomplish in 2012. Wish me luck!
Anyway, here, in no particular order, are my 2012 goals:
1) 200,000 new words in fiction.
2) Epublish 25 short stories/story collections/novels
3) Write at least 25 short stories this year.
4) Begin to epublish my old columns. I'm hoping to gather them into collections as well.
5) Finish up two novels I started in 2011 and write two more.
That's what I hope to accomplish in 2012. Wish me luck!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Busy busy
I've been a busy little writer the past few weeks. In October I attended two writing workshops aimed at improving my epublishing skills. They were excellent and I learned quite a bit from them, as well as making some great new friends.
Then November rolled around and it was National Novel Writing Month. I decided to give it a go this year, even though my life was somewhat hectic and I wasn't sure I could crank out the required 50,000 words. I'm happy to report that not only did I manage to do so, I finished a day early!
This month I took a big step in epublishing - I put up my first novel. DEAD HYPOCRITES is now live and can be purchased at Amazon.com, BN.com, and smashwords.com. I hope to have the blurb and the links up before too long.
My goal for December is to hit 200,000 words for the year in writing. I will have to push myself a little to make it - I have written very little this week, for example - but I am going to try. It would be a nice finish to a crazy year that has seen many ups and downs for me.
And if I don't get a chance to post again before the end of the year, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Then November rolled around and it was National Novel Writing Month. I decided to give it a go this year, even though my life was somewhat hectic and I wasn't sure I could crank out the required 50,000 words. I'm happy to report that not only did I manage to do so, I finished a day early!
This month I took a big step in epublishing - I put up my first novel. DEAD HYPOCRITES is now live and can be purchased at Amazon.com, BN.com, and smashwords.com. I hope to have the blurb and the links up before too long.
My goal for December is to hit 200,000 words for the year in writing. I will have to push myself a little to make it - I have written very little this week, for example - but I am going to try. It would be a nice finish to a crazy year that has seen many ups and downs for me.
And if I don't get a chance to post again before the end of the year, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
On Falling Down and Getting Up
This month I'm coming back from a real poor couple of months writingwise. I didn't get a lot of new words written, and barely sent out anything to publishers. While I did upload my first ever short story collection ("Decisions, Decisions") I didn't do much with epublishing either.
There were a lot of reasons for this, some of them personal. The bottom line is, when it came to my writing career, the past couple of months were not good. I blew it. Period. End of story.
The question at the end of August was: What do I do now?
I could, of course, have let the inertia I'd built up continue. I could have quit writing altogether, decided the dream wasn't for me, and gone on to consider a career in video gaming.
I could have beaten myself up over the fact that I blew it this summer. Told myself I wasn't going to cut it.
I could have had a pity party about poor me and felt sorry for myself.
I did beat myself up some about not writing. I'm a writer. I should be writing. And there was a short pity party to go along with it.
But mainly I decided to try to make September different.
This meant getting back to work. So far, that has meant focusing on the writing, even though I know things need to be sent out and uploaded. I plan to get back on track for those things as well, but the important thing for me at the beginning was getting back into the habit of daily producing new words of fiction.
I've slipped up 3 days this month so far. But I'm working on getting my daily groove back. It helps that I am working on a new project with a fellow writer that I am enjoying.
And I remember what Kristine Kathryn Rusch says, "It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, or how long you stay on the floor. What matters is you get up again."
That's what I did. I got to my feet, dusted myself off, and started walking the writer's road again.
There's no guarantee I won't fall down again. But when that happens, I plan on getting up - again. It's the only way to keep doing what I love.
Maybe you're working on a dream, and you've fallen down on it. Maybe you're lying on the floor like I was, wondering what to do now. If you aren't, at some point you probably will. And if you're like me, you'll do it more than once.
Get up. Get back on track. Don't give up. Falling down isn't failure. Staying down is.
There were a lot of reasons for this, some of them personal. The bottom line is, when it came to my writing career, the past couple of months were not good. I blew it. Period. End of story.
The question at the end of August was: What do I do now?
I could, of course, have let the inertia I'd built up continue. I could have quit writing altogether, decided the dream wasn't for me, and gone on to consider a career in video gaming.
I could have beaten myself up over the fact that I blew it this summer. Told myself I wasn't going to cut it.
I could have had a pity party about poor me and felt sorry for myself.
I did beat myself up some about not writing. I'm a writer. I should be writing. And there was a short pity party to go along with it.
But mainly I decided to try to make September different.
This meant getting back to work. So far, that has meant focusing on the writing, even though I know things need to be sent out and uploaded. I plan to get back on track for those things as well, but the important thing for me at the beginning was getting back into the habit of daily producing new words of fiction.
I've slipped up 3 days this month so far. But I'm working on getting my daily groove back. It helps that I am working on a new project with a fellow writer that I am enjoying.
And I remember what Kristine Kathryn Rusch says, "It doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, or how long you stay on the floor. What matters is you get up again."
That's what I did. I got to my feet, dusted myself off, and started walking the writer's road again.
There's no guarantee I won't fall down again. But when that happens, I plan on getting up - again. It's the only way to keep doing what I love.
Maybe you're working on a dream, and you've fallen down on it. Maybe you're lying on the floor like I was, wondering what to do now. If you aren't, at some point you probably will. And if you're like me, you'll do it more than once.
Get up. Get back on track. Don't give up. Falling down isn't failure. Staying down is.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Guyana, Day 7
It's hard to believe that today is our last day in Guyana! Don taught his last set of classes this morning. Afterwards, we were presented with some small gifts to thank us for coming here. We were very touched. The brethren asked us to try and return again. I think Don and I would like to do so if God is willing for it to happen.
We took a quick tour of the area before getting back to the hotel. There are several congregations that meet in this part of the country and Anil showed us where other congregations meet. One is near a major sugar cane business. We saw cane and the factory where it is processed. Also some rice fields.
Right now Don and I are trying to clear out our email and pack - we have to be ready to leave at 1 AM! We are going to try to get a little sleep before then.
Last night I used Skype to call a friend in Georgia. We managed to chat for a half hour despite the wonky Internet. It's amazing what technology enables us to do these days.
While I'm glad we've been here, I also look forward to going home. I do love the United States and my friends and family there. Also, I haven't had chocolate the whole time we've been here - I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms!
I hope you've enjoyed my little reports of Guyana.
We took a quick tour of the area before getting back to the hotel. There are several congregations that meet in this part of the country and Anil showed us where other congregations meet. One is near a major sugar cane business. We saw cane and the factory where it is processed. Also some rice fields.
Right now Don and I are trying to clear out our email and pack - we have to be ready to leave at 1 AM! We are going to try to get a little sleep before then.
Last night I used Skype to call a friend in Georgia. We managed to chat for a half hour despite the wonky Internet. It's amazing what technology enables us to do these days.
While I'm glad we've been here, I also look forward to going home. I do love the United States and my friends and family there. Also, I haven't had chocolate the whole time we've been here - I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms!
I hope you've enjoyed my little reports of Guyana.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Guyana, Day 6
Tonight for a change Don and I went to a Chinese restaurant across the street from our hotel for dinner. The food was excellent. Don had stir-fried vegetables and chicken, and I had chicken in garlic sauce. We had to change some of our US dollars for Guyanese money before going there. The current exchange rate for US to Guyanese is 1 to 200 - that means our meal was over $4000 in Guyanese money!
Today I taught my last classes for the women. I will miss my Christian sisters here when I leave. They have good hearts and are eager to learn about the Bible. My lessons took less time then we expected - I had hoped for more discussion than we had. But the ladies appeared to get something out of my teaching, and for that I am grateful to God.
Tonight Don and I watched a television program some of the brothers here have. It was very well done and we are excited that they are using this avenue to reach out to the community.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Guyana. It has gone by very quickly. I hope you've been enjoying these little posts of mine about our trip!
Today I taught my last classes for the women. I will miss my Christian sisters here when I leave. They have good hearts and are eager to learn about the Bible. My lessons took less time then we expected - I had hoped for more discussion than we had. But the ladies appeared to get something out of my teaching, and for that I am grateful to God.
Tonight Don and I watched a television program some of the brothers here have. It was very well done and we are excited that they are using this avenue to reach out to the community.
Tomorrow will be our last full day in Guyana. It has gone by very quickly. I hope you've been enjoying these little posts of mine about our trip!
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