So, you know how sometimes you figure out you’re going to do something in a few months, set all the conditions, and then think “Of course I’ll remember that!”? Come to find out, when there’s a pandemic, cancer scare, and various other issues, you don’t remember to do that things because you’re busy doing something else. […]
Writing Business
Potpourri July 2020
This Saturday, I will be presenting on Writer’s Research for the St. Louis Writer’s Guild. You can join for free via Zoom. I’m basically going to talk about how to do historical research and also chase down various things about writing. There’s going to also be a lot of Q&A, so if you’re wanting […]
Ancillary Items–Editors and Illustrators
Why Editors and Illustrators Are Important Editors and illustrators are the most important pieces of indie publishing next to the author themselves. (Edit: No, I’m not just saying that because I’m married to an artist who has also done a rather important cover…or two…or now three.) Whenever I talk about indie publishing in […]
Paths to Publishing
Fellow author (and good person) Holly Messinger shared this infographic on paths to publishing on FB earlier today. The original source has more information and commentary at this link. I agree with what the original poster said on most counts. As an indie, I assure you, fair reader, that you will be doing a lot of […]
It’s Alive!
Out a day early! Go pick yourself up a copy!
News From the Con World
This mirrors what a lot of other vendors have said about the 2019 season and concerns about 2020. While I will be potentially doing as many shows, I’m definitely leaning towards new markets with proven performers. This is also something to consider for the larger author community. One may have to take a deep breath […]
WWII Quick References (NOV 2019)
Figured I’d perchance save loyal readers some gumshoe work down the road if they ever want to do a World War II story: You can find ONI drawings for World War II references (like for your cartographer to draw ship outlines) here. This is a good time zone converter for those cases when you go […]
Happy Veteran's Day Potpourri Post
So it’s been a bit since I’ve updated the blog. I figured I’d hit some of the high points of the last couple of weeks: Attended the Ozark Book Con down in Fayetteville this past weekend as a vendor. First year event with all that entails, but had good panels and talks with several good […]
Now It Can Be Told
So for about two months now, I’ve been having to sit on the line up for Trouble In The Wind. Behold, the magnificence of the headliners… If someone had told me when this whole indie thing got started, “Hey, you know someday you’re going to be editing an alternate history anthology with S.M. Stirling in it?”, […]
An Interesting Take on Procrastination
I think procrastination is the bane of most authors. Having carved out time to write, cleared the calendar, it is all too easy to lose a couple hours on social media or “just one more turn”-ing it through a computer game. Apparently there’s a study out that shows this may not be “You’re a bad […]
Constant Scrutiny
So I forgot about this being mentioned in a panel while at Libertycon. Yes, as Cedar says, if you’re in a group that seems at all sketchy, get out most ricky tick. The ‘Zon has been really cracking down on trying to find people gaming their system. From all appearances they may be indeed using […]
Covering Alternate History
Where Sarah Hoyt discusses the difficulty of putting a cover on alternate history works. Go on and take a gander…