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POINT OF VIEW: 2019

It’s that time of year again – time to take stock of the ending year, and make plans and write down my goals for 2019. Looking Back So I thought I’d start by looking back at what I said a year ago: “Nevertheless, I go into 2018 re-energized. For one, it’s an election year, and I can see a blue wave rising on the horizon.” Nailed it! Yeah, we didn’t take the senate, but we go into 2019 a lot stronger than we did in 2018. “For another, I finished and sold book two for each of my trilogies with … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Reflection

It’s almost the end of the year, and so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on and be thankful for some of the things that keep me going, even when it seems like the world might be ending. So here we go, in no particular order. Waking up next to Mark each morning. Just seeing him makes me happy, even after 26 years together. He just fits with me. My family, especially my Mom and Dad, who never stop believing that I could be the next J.K. Rowling, even when it seems more likely I’ll be the next … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW; What a Difference a Week Makes

scott - happy juice

Last week I was at a bit of a low ebb, bemoaning how difficult it was to market your work on social media and in the publishing world. This week, none of that has changed. Facebook still makes it hard to get your posts out there without tons of money, and Amazon… well, the Zon is still the Zon. And yet it was a good week. I sent in my final book of my second trilogy – “The Shoreless Sea,” to the publisher. And I’ve started my evil plan to storm the SFWA (Sci Fi Writer’s Association) – or “siffwah”, … Read more

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POV: Writing is Hard

Scott

Hey all… Writing is what I love more than almost anything else in the world (except maybe Mark, Mom and Dad, and Oreos). But sometimes, being a writer is soul-crushingly hard. I’m not talking about the writing itself. Writing can make me crazy, sure. There are times when the words just don’t come, and times when you just can’t sit down to write. And times (usually at the three quarters point of the story) when you decide everything you write is shit. But that’s par for the course. What I’m talking about today is getting your work out there, and … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Back in Beta Land

beta reader - 123rf purchased

Hey all, I am on the downslope, the final approach, the last few miles before reaching manuscript-sending home. “The Shoreless Sea,” book three in the Liminal Sky trilogy, is finished, and the beta reads are coming in. This is always a nervous-making time for me, as I am sure that at least one of my beta readers will want me to re-write the whole damned book. *pulls out hair in anticipation* So far, I’ve been lucky… but there have been some big issues raised. For “The Rising Tide,” one astute beta called me on killing off a character too early … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: To The Moon

Moon Scott

Hey all, Next month I will embark on one of my most ambitious novel projects ever, tentatively titled “Moonbase: Redemption”. It’s set in the same general universe as the Liminal Sky series, but will be a stand-alone novel. Although the jumping off point is in a similar time frame as “The Stark Divide,” this one will encapsulate a lot of my hopes and dreams for the future. Most of it is set on the moon, as the title suggests, and so I am taking a deep dive into all things lunar. I bought a lunar globe and a lunar atlas, … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Taking a Break

garden - pixabay

Hey all, Welcome to the Holidaze. I just sent off “The Shoreless Sea for beta reading, and it’s not due back until the end of the month. Once I get it off to the publisher in mid December, I won’t start on the next project until the start of the new year. So I have that rarest thing in a writer’s life, a little brain downtime. Not that my regular job isn’t handily filling those extra hours. But it is nice to have a bit for the creative part of my brain to reboot and refresh before the next thing. … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Leaving a Legacy

legacy - pixabay

Hey all, The shocking sudden death of author Ethan Day this week, along with the passing of my own stepfather Tony a few weeks ago, has gotten me thinking about death, and mortality, and artistic legacy. Ethan’s own legacy will be measured at least in part by his many published books, and by his time stewarding the Gay Rom Lit con, along with his wonderful co-conspirators. But he will also be remembered for his sweet, happy demeanor, and the integrity with which he lived his life. For me ,this was most evident in the way he wound down his Wilde … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: When We Fail

failure - pixabay

Hey all… In Church this morning (yeah, I go to church with the hubby), the Pastors talked about the idea of failing forward – how failing sometimes sets us up for success. Johannes Haushofer, an accomplished professor, even wrote a CV (a fancy way to say resumé) of all his failures, explaining it like this: Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible. I have noticed that this sometimes gives others the impression that most things work out for me. As a result, they are more likely to attribute their own … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Relief and Sadness at the Finish Line

Scott GRL prep

Hey all, It’s a strange juxtaposition of events for me this week. Tomorrow my latest novel, “The Rising Tide,” comes out, the long-awaited sequel to last year’s “The Stark Divide.” Forever is evolving, both the world and its people, and at the same time leaving Old Earth far behind. And trouble is brewing… Just three days before this new book’s release, I finished the first draft of “The Shoreless Sea,” the third and final book in the Liminal Sky trilogy. Shoreless Sea is my second trilogy-ending book this year, after the Oberon Cycle’s “Ithani,” which comes out in February. And … Read more