Day 30 A Dingo Eating a Shark and Two Snakes Making Love: My Self-Publishing Journey.

I didn't have to self-publish. I have traditionally published 5 or 6 books in the past, and when I realized I was actually writing my first novel one of those previous publishers asked to look at it. I thanked them. But I had been hearing and reading so much about self-publishing, I decided that the [...]

Day 29 Making Your Characters Sick!

This is going to be a short post today, and one for the writers who may come across it. It will be short because, well, wait a minute, I have to blow my nose...Okay, I'm back. That's why. I woke up in the middle of the night last night with a scratchy throat threatening to [...]

Day 28 Towboat Captains and Other Interesting Characters

My post today isn't specifically about writing or books, about finding ideas, or about any of the other things I've blogged about so far. Today, I just want to write about a group of people I have always had such respect for, and explain how I was reminded again today just why I respect them [...]

Day 27 The Story Idea That Haunts Me!

As I have researched ideas for stories, I have come across things that have concerned me. But, there is one story-seed I came across that just scared me, and continues to scare me today. Distraction, the story I wrote from the seed of this situation, is fiction. But, as I have blogged about it before, [...]

Day 26 “I’m just not that creative.”

Question: It is interesting to see how you come up with your ideas, from something you see or hear, or something you read. But I'm just not that creative. Never have been. Do you think some people are just more creative than other people? Thanks for the question, and it's another one that I hear [...]

Day 25 Some Ideas Make it Hard to Breathe

I was late for class, which as the instructor, is frowned upon. I was following a big, slow, truck, watching for a break in the traffic so I could get around. It gave me time to think about that big yellow thing the truck was carrying, and wonder just what the heck it was. I [...]

Day 24 The Day They Blew-Up Decatur!

Sometimes, the ideas just hit you right in the face. And then, they just stand there and keep punching. I walked out our front door last week and there it was. It looked like someone had just dropped "the big one" somewhere East of our house, and my guess it was Decatur, Illinois. My mind [...]

Day 23 Another Source for Great Story Ideas

I have another really cool (in my opinion) site to spark some story ideas. At first glance it might look like something just for the Sci-Fi writers, but if you give it a second thought I think you'll find as many other possibilities as I do. The site is subtitled "Ancient Earth Globe", and the [...]

Day 22 How to Create Really Villainous Villains…

I had a really fun conversation with another author this week during one of his upcoming podcasts (I'll say more about that when I know the release date). As we talked about my past and the years I spent as a pastor and counselor, he asked how I am able to create my nasty villains [...]

Day 21 Secrets for Writing Mystery Stories Part II

I want to begin by saying that I do not "eavesdrop". However, I do tend to "overhear" things now and then, which I credit to my years of being the counselor and "listener", working very hard to pay attention to what was said, and how it was said. On the positive side, I believe that [...]

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