Point of View

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POINT OF VIEW: Really (Non) Traditional Book Sales

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books money - deposit photos

Publishing used to be simple. You either got a traditional publisher, who worked with you to edit the book, hired a cover designer, got everything into ship-shape, and then sent it off to a printer for 3,000, 5,000, 50,000, or even a million copies (if your last name happened to be Asimov or King or Collins). Then you sat back and waited for the royalties to roll in. Or you did all that yourself, and hired a local Kinkos or “vanity press” to print up your own copies, which went into the trunk of your car for you to schlep … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: What Matters

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Thoughtful

I want an agent. I want a big publisher, a Netflix deal (or maybe HBO Max). And eventually, a little world domination would be nice too. I want people to read what I write and tell their friends, and for them to tell their friends too, until hundreds of thousands of readers know my name and my work. I want the world to know my name. And I have to come to terms with the fact that it’s quite possible that none of those things will ever happen. It’s a clarifying moment. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not giving up … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Back at the Con (or Trying to Be Zen)

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zen meditation man - deposit photos

The in person events are coming. I plan to attend two Pride festivals and a Sci-Fi con in the next two-and-a-half months – and I’m totally zen about it. I have books to sell, the sales licenses corralled, and I am totally ready to–WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING? A live event? Like, face to face with other PEOPLE? In the middle of a PANDEMIC? I must be INSANE. And yet… there’s a growing part of me (no snickers from the peanut gallery, please) that IS excited about the prospect. Being around other people, finally getting to sell the books … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Things That Bring Me Joy

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Boba Tea

Hey all, I’m sick of doom and gloom, war, disease, politics and sadness. So I’m falling back on an old fave – things that bring me joy. Bobba (Bubble) Tea: I’m not sure where I first discovered this delectable beverage, but I’ve always loved drinks I could chew (anyone else remember Orbitz water)? I first discovered boba in a tea shop in Portland, Oregon, and ordered the “Obama Honey” – milk, tea, honey, and boba. For those who’ve never tried it, boba are slightly sweet balls of tapioca, and it’s served with an extra large straw that lets you suck … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Just Keep Climbing

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Helping Hand - Deposit Photos

Writing is hard, y’all. And I’m not just talking about the actual typing-words-onto-paper part. Which, yeah, is hard enough – trying to keep a million ideas and a plethora of characters, plot points, and locations in your head, and then spewing them out onto the page in a pleasing order. You also need to advocate for yourself – finding publishers and agents and review opportunities, and putting yourself and your work out there in a way that makes many of us want to scream and retreat into our quiet, happy little writer caves. That’s why it’s so vital that we … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Everything is Climate Change

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Climate Change

Or Why you should be reading (and writing) cli-fi right now. We live in Sacramento, California, in the heart of the Golden State. To our east lie the Sierra Nevadas… practically bone-dry this year after what started out as a promising rainy season petered out into nothing. To the south lies the bulk of the Central Valley, the bread basket of California, which will now see its water supply cut yet again as our government tries to balance too many needs with too little supply. To the north, the unState of Jefferson, a cluster of low population counties in NorCal … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Pivot Points

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fork in the road - deposit photos

In most fictional tales, the character(s) face a pivotal choice that will change everything. It can be as simple as deciding to declare your love in public for a secret crush. Or as big and bold as stealing the US Constitution (so-so movie, cool premise). Whatever the choice, it changes the course of the plot and impacts everything that comes after. Life is like that too. I was born to two loving parents. Well, they loved me but not each other. They divorced when I was little, and my mother got custody. My dad saw me on weekends, and things … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Lemons

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Lemons - Pixabay

“When Life gives you lemons…” Life has given us a lot of lemons lately. There’s a war on in Europe. There’s a never-ending plague. My writing career seems to be stalled in second gear, as I try to finish a trilogy that has consumed my life for nigh on two years. And real estate prices are raging like a five-alarm fire here in Sacramento. It’s dawning on us that we will probably never own a home again. All of this fills me like a fog on a cold winter’s day. Somehow I need to have hope. Somehow I need to … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: I’m a Trafficker

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Drug Trafficker - Deposit Photos

Confession time. I’m a trafficker. You may have seen me, lurking around the dark corners of the internet, hand in pocket, waiting to share the drug so many of you desperately need right now. It’s called Hope. Peddling Hope is a dubious business these days. Hope has so much competition – sarcasm, cynicism, gaslighting and outright lies, anger, and fraud. Hope has it tough, what with the four horsemen of the apocalypse loose on the Earth. What chance does little old Hope have? There’s this psychological thing I ran across shortly after the lockdowns started. It’s called “sense of a … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Seven Things I Betcha Didn’t Know…

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Scott Band Uniform Flute

Another fun one today. Thought I’d share a few things about me you probably didn’t know (unless you’re my mother, who reads this regularly – she most likely knows all these things! *waves* Hey mom! Or Mark. Yeah, he knows all this stuff. *kiss* So here it goes. 1. I was a band geek.As you might have guessed from the photo above, I was in the marching band. Our sports teams were the Dorados, which was probably mildly appropriative (we didn’t talk about those kinds of things back in the mid 80’s) and we were once referred to by an … Read more