I spent most of the morning trying to start this post. It’s not like me to have trouble writing, particularly a nonfiction post, but I simply couldn’t do what I had planned. What I had planned was simple: Because of all of the news recently and the timing, I had planned to start the Year In Review blog posts early. I’ve always hated that they […]
Business Musings: Building A New World
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m tired. Bone-weary, in fact. The last six years or so have been a terrible rollercoaster, filled with disaster upon disaster. There have been some lovely moments, and a few victories for those of us who still believe in the power of the human spirit, but lately, it seems like the bigots and the haters are […]
Business Musings: Thinking Big
Writers are curious creatures. We’re a mix of insecurity and ego. The ego is there whether we admit it or not. Why else would we write stories and put them out into the world? Deep down, we believe that other people want to read these stories. For some of us (all of us?), we believe that our stories will be read by millions of people […]
Business Musings: How Writers Fail (Part 9): They Quit
The title of this post seems obvious. How do writers fail? They quit. Yes, they do. But it’s about more than quitting, really. This post is about when they quit. Let me start with a quote from John Mellencamp that slapped me about the face and neck when I was casually reading the AARP Magazine. To celebrate his seventieth year, Mellencamp was interviewed about his […]
Business Musings: Advertising, Marketing, and Connection
Every time I turn around, someone is talking about advertising. It seems like every news story mentions it. Many of the magazines I subscribe to mention it. When I go on social media someone is discussing it. Right now, every business article that revolves around Hollywood or movies or TV mentions advertising, because it’s changing. Streaming services that once had one tier, paid for with […]
Business Musings: A Worrying One Percent
Every year, we buy the Pearls Before Swine daily calendar. When we started into 2022’s daily calendar, I hesitated. Stephen Pastis had written all of the comics in 2020, and he was commenting on the then-current events. I told Dean that I did not want to relive 2020. Dean told me I didn’t have to read the comic strips, but he wanted to. So they’re […]
A Quick Reminder
You have about two days to get your copy of the new Fey novel, The Kirilli Matter, early. For as little as $5, you can get an ebook of the novel, and several other stories, as well as some motivational videos for yourself or a writer friend. I’m writing this on Sunday because the week is going to be crazy, so I wanted to remember […]
Business Musings: Searching For A Sense of Urgency
As of the writing of this post, I have not yet seen Season 4 of Stranger Things. I decided in May to wait until the entire series dropped so I could binge it. Then I found myself busier than I expected. Dean doesn’t watch Stranger Things, so I need to find time away from reading and writing to watch the entire series. I skipped three […]
Business Musings: How Writers Fail (Part 8): Yeah, I Already Know That
I recently read a novel by a traditionally published writer who’s been a favorite of mine for forty years. The novel was good—her work is always good—but it lacked dramatic tension. At one point, Dean asked me what genre the book was, because the cover didn’t communicate a genre clearly. I was about 100 pages from the end. I paused, frowned, and said, “I have […]
Business Musings: The Business Mindset
Artists: I want you to pay attention here because this post is for you. The rest of you, those who love business, please read because you might find some inspiration here. But I’m talking to the folks who seem to believe that practicing art is something that is divorced from business and must remain so. Those who practice art in this way believe that once […]
Ten Little Fen: A Spade/Paladin Novel
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The Chase
The Chase, the latest Diving novel, answers a lot of your questions about the series. It also might cause you to ask a few more. Click here to find out more.
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