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Exercise is Tough…
At Any Age… And especially when you are way out of shape. In 1980, as I was about to turn 30, I had gained a ton of weight in law school, so started to slowly run, just blocks at first and then more as each month went by until later that year I ran in my first full marathon. Did great for 20 miles, last six I try not to remember, but I finished. Over the years after coming to Vegas, I did a bunch of 5K and 10K runs and every year I finished the half marathon in the Rock and Roll Vegas Running Series. Some years I did…
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Working Over Another Writing Book…
Actually Three Books Into One… This weekend I went over and updated to 2026 “How to Write a Novel in Five Days While Traveling.” And today I went over and updated, “Writing a Novel in Seven Days.” Both books are a series of long blog posts detailing how to get ready for the challenge, day-by-day the process, the thinking, the attitude. And here in 2026 they stand up very well after I added a bunch and cleared up a few things. Next few days I will go over and update “How to Write a Novel in Ten Days.” I am hoping it holds together as well and then I will…
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TSTL
Fun Discussions on TSTL… TSTL is when a character is Too Stupid to Live. Mostly caused by a writer trying to hide information or a plot problem that goes on far too long and could be solved with a simple conversation. Now I have always thought TSTL to be pretty straight forward in fiction, but in great conversations with Kris over watching this season of Bridgerton, I am learning that the world building or structure of the world can make what would be TSTL situations in other stories and genres completely normal in Regency. What I am seeing as TSTL is basically because I don’t UNDERSTAND the world structure. I…
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Better Covers and Four Books
Advanced Magic Bakery and Three Others… Four basically new indie writing and publishing books. Don’t go looking for any of these yet, but they are coming. But since I put up two covers that really didn’t work very well, I thought I would put up all four tonight. To say I am having fun with these is an understatement. Doing four new updated and advanced editions for Indie Publishing 2026. And yes, a ton of new stuff and older stuff updated to apply today in Indie Publishing in 2026. There will be a Kickstarter for these four books very soon. — ADVANCED MAGIC BAKERY — ADVANCED WRITING INTO THE DARK…
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Easy to Be Negative…
Really Hard to be Positive… But I am going to try… Two days ago I did the two five list of the dumbest things indie writers and publishers do. Stunningly easy to come up with five, could have been ten, and then writers sent me even more. Not so easy to try to define what indie writers do well. And I finally figured out why. Asimov’s Rule. “9 Good things, one bad, you focus on the bad.” Human nature and especially the nature of writers. Indie writers, at least the successful ones, do so many things correctly, it is impossible to single out just a few. Sot let me give…
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Top Five Dumbest Things You Can Do In Indie Publishing…
I Did This For Traditional Publishing A Decade Plus Ago… Dave Letterman did a sketch every so often on the five dumbest things in a certain area, so this is just ripped off from that basic idea. I know this will be only five and a lot of you can surely add even more, and of course, this is my opinion and a lot of you will not agree. I will try to explain quickly my opinion in each one. So starting with #5 and working to the dumbest, although all of these are really dumb in my opinion, here are the five dumbest things you can do as an…
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Productivity…
Every Writer I Know Thinks They Don’t Write Enough… Does not matter as to the level of the writer or the years in the business. It is uniform. No writer is as productive as they think they should be, or want to be. I am no exception to that. First off, don’t get the two words Productive and Prolific confused. They are not the same thing. Prolific is a person’s opinion of another writer, based most often on some unknown and unknowable amount of books published. I have seen writers who write one book a year for ten years called prolific. Productive is a relative description of a person’s work…
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January Seminar…
FEAR AND PRODUCTIVITY SEMINAR Preparation for the New Year January Seminar January 5th through January 30th Here is the post again for the January Seminar… Kris and I have been looking forward to doing this for most of the year, but knew that January would be the perfect time. January everyone is excited about the new year and moving forward, making the new year better than the last. So we want to help. And to do that, sometimes all it takes are a few small changes, a focus on a certain mindset, an understanding of what it takes to move past fear and be more productive. That’s what this seminar…
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Write More In the New Year!
FEAR AND PRODUCTIVITY SEMINAR Preparation for the New Year January Seminar January 5th through January 30th Kris and I have been looking forward to doing this for most of the year, but knew that January would be the perfect time. January everyone is excited about the new year and moving forward, making the new year better than the last. So we want to help. And to do that, sometimes all it takes are a few small changes, a focus on a certain mindset, an understanding of what it takes to move past fear and be more productive. That’s what this seminar is all about. It is about craft, publishing, mindset,…
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Three Mentorships Available…
Craft, Kickstarter, and Sales Mentorships… Get yourself really going in the right direction in 2026. Kris has one spot open in her six-month craft mentorships. One-on-one with Kris, working on what you really need to take your stories to the next level. Only one available… Write me if interested and I will hook you up with Kris for her to decide if you would be a good fit. Kickstarter Mentorship… I have done 59 successful Kickstarters and I will walk you through every step and make sure you fund and also help you fulfill the campaign when over. And then do it again. Two campaigns. More information every Friday on…