My wife likes mysteries on British TV. I'll occasionally watch as well, but I was just reminded why I don't watch TV more often. We were watching a show with the usual female and male co-leads that seems to be required of most all crime/mystery shows nowadays. I have to admit the show has possibilities. [...]
Rule #1: Write good stories. Rule #2: Stop creating rules. Yep, that ought to cover it. NOTE: Of course there are rules about editing and structure and grammar...things like that. But those are important AFTER I get the story out of my head and onto the paper. For me, I need to just ignore [...]
I had read the articles...lots of them...describing how difficult it could be to write the second novel. "Posh, posh!", I said to myself. "That is not going to happen to me. It's another writer's myth." It's not a myth. Not for me anymore. I'm not overwhelmed by it...don't misunderstand. I will get the second one [...]
I like to write fiction. However, it is getting harder and harder to come up with ideas to write about. I'm about ready to surrender. The problem is...I'm having a hard time coming up with fiction ideas that can match the craziness of the real world. Too often, my "fiction" isn't really "fiction" anymore. Case [...]
Well, it looks like the last time I posted I was talking about recording the audiobook for Disruption. As I write this post, that audiobook has just been released on Amazon/Audible, audiobooks.com, and is soon to appear on iTunes and several other places. Between that last post and this one...wow...I've once again learned a lot. [...]
While there may not be any real "secrets" that work for every author, I found one of mine this week. Like many other writers I hear from, especially those attempting to self-publish, doing the formal editing of the Disruption has been a real challenge. I did several initial edits myself, used a top-rated piece of [...]
After "Where do you get your ideas?", the next question I'm usually asked is "How do you get all of the details? Have you been to all of the places you write about?" For Disruption, I've been to a few of the places in the story, but not all. But even in those I have [...]
They really sometimes are invisible to us as they move through our cities and along our rivers. I saw the news about the towboat sinking this week, and as I read about it, I found stories of other recent sinkings, collisions and allusions (your vocab word for today) that didn't make the news. There [...]
There are container ships, tankers, tugboats and more, so just what is a towboat? Here is a photo with a very basic explanation. This photo shows a 'boat' pushing a 'tow' of 'barges'. These are covered barges, maybe carrying grain or other cargo being protected from the weather. This might be a typical [...]
In the midnight darkness north of New Orleans, the towboat’s routine trip up the Mississippi River becomes something far more deadly. Captain Charlie Graff is suddenly thrust into the middle of one of the most twisted domestic terrorist plots ever conceived. He has to use his skill as Captain to protect his crew, his boat, [...]
