(or How I Did It, a “.doc”-umentary) So far in January/February 2022, I: • Got approval from the zoning board to operate a business out of my home and filed an application for a business license. • Purchased the domain name for my new business. (Get it quick, before someone else does! See note below.)…
Category: Blog Posts
The Chronicles of Self-Publishing: Part 2 of My Journey
(or How I Did It, a “.doc”-umentary) Part 2 of ? January 2022 (so far) So much has happened since my last post that I don’t know where to start. But I’ll give it a try. (Grab a cup of something…this post is long.) I continued (for a while) the “From First Draft to Bestseller”…
The Chronicles of Self-Publishing: Part 1 of My Journey
(or How I Did It, a “.doc”-umentary) Part 1 of ? In September of 2021, I attended the Hampton Roads Writers’ Conference, where Leslie Penelope gave a keynote presentation wherein she asked, “What is your ‘why’?” Her words, descriptive of her own journey, made me ask myself the same question. Why do I write? There…
The Monster Under My Desk
Being a writer is scary. What? you say. All you do is sit in front of a computer and type out a story. What’s scary about that? It’s because of the Monster. Let me take you on a little trip behind the scenes. Let’s say I have an idea for a story. I make notes,…
Dear God
Hello God, or Goddess, or Universe, or whatever name you wish to be called. I don’t have any requests today. I just wanted to say hello. I just wanted to say that I know you are there, because I am here. I wanted to reiterate that I choose to believe you are behind what…
Beans vs. Soup
It’s been almost a year since I last blogged. This may come as no surprise to many writers who’ve said they, too, felt as though their muse has been hiding under a blanket. In the closet. In that back corner that the light never seems to reach. Behind the boxes of clothes you always plan…
Lessons From a Late-Night E-mail
Last year during 2019’s NaNoWriMo (https://nanowrimo.org) I penned an entire medical sci-fi/ecofiction manuscript—Entheóphage—in thirty-seven days. In the months following, and with the help of many wonderful medical experts and beta readers, I honed the manuscript into a complete, focused tale. In mid-August of this year, I decided to submit the most recent draft to Pitch…
What’s That Mean?
On the night of my tenth-year high school reunion (many years ago), I was crossing a dark street with some classmates on our way to a local bar where we could catch up on each other’s lives. We glanced both ways and, seeing no immediate traffic, stepped out into the street at a leisurely pace….
In Search of “Normal”
{NOTE: I wrote this in mid-March, but never posted it. Even now, months later, I’m surrounded by people who refuse to wear masks or socially distance themselves. One man came into my office at work and, seeing me wearing a mask, made a disgusted face and said, shaking his head, “Really? A mask?” Some things…
Feeding the Beast
We’re well into 2020 now, and the writing scene is as frenetic as ever. Congratulations to my writing pals from Twitter and Facebook who have had debut novels come out in the last year, or who’ve been picked up for publication sometime in the coming months! All that hard work eventually pays off, doesn’t it?…