writing

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POINT OF VIEW: Writing in the Time of Covid19

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writing - Yay Images

Another week in lockdown. Although California didn’t order a statewide “shelter in place” order until late last week and Sacramento’s was only a few days before, Mark have been staying home (with only trips out for walks and one trip to the Supermarket parking lot) for eleven days now. We are starting to settle into the new routine, which on the face of it isn’t really all that different than before: Work, eat, work, eat and play card games, work, eat, work and watch TV, sleep. Oh, and the occasional shave and shower in there somewhere. *grin* And yet, this … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Into the Unknown

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rocket - pixabay

We’re on the cusp of great change. You can feel it in your bones. The old world order is rattling around like a bunch of dry bones in a box, and the world itself is splitting at the seams. In my own little writing world, things are being remade anew too. And in both, no one knows what form the new thing that’s coming will take. Writing at its heart is an act of both destruction and creation. As writers, we take something we know – the world around us – and break it down into its component parts, rending … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: A New Direction

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new direction arrow - Yay Images

So it’s a new week, and a new direction. Regular readers of this column (thanks Mom and the other two of you!) will know I’ve been struggling with my direction as an author since I finished my two trilogies, Liminal Sky and The Oberon Cycle. I have a completed manuscript for Dropnauts – book four in the Liminal Sky series, but after failing to snag a mentor in Pitch Wars, finding out another potential mentor just didn’t get my work, and getting only one agent response for three Twitter pitch events (who later rejected the work), I’ve been a bit … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Changing the Story

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Autumn Lands

I’m struggling this year. Struggling in my work life and as an author. So many things have gone pear-shaped these last few months, and it’s all left me in a strange no-man’s land, not quite sure where to go next. In my writing life, I finished two trilogies, and wrote a new novel with the intent of sending it out to snag an agent. I wrapped it up five months ago, and three agents, two denials and a failed attempt at Pitch Wars later, I still have no clear path. It’s left me questioning… well, just about everything. So I … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: When the Future is Gray

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May you live in interesting times. It’s an old, oft-quoted curse (though probably NOT of Chnese origin) that turns something good on its head and makes it something decidedly bad. And one that seems particularly apt for our own time. We’re hurtling headlong into the future with many of the things sci fi always promised us – computers that fit into our pockets, cars that drive themselves, and a global connection through social media that surpasses anything Asimov or Clarke ever imagined. Tthough I’m still waiting for my flying car, dammit! And yet instead of a futuristic utopia filled with … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: I’m Writing Again!

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As any of y’all know who read this column regularly, I have been on a bit of a sabbatical from writing since I didn’t manage to even get a manuscript request in the Pitch Wars mentoring contest. One thing about this whole author gig – it keeps you humble. That, combined with a new website launch we were working on, made taking a break seem prudent. I have missed writing, though. It feels… weird when I don’t write regularly. So I am easing back into it, starting with the reworking of a story called Autumn Leaves. It’s a cute coming … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Keeping Hope Alive

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hope - pixabay

These are troubled times in the world at large. These are troubled times in our little corner of the publishing business, too. Once again, someone in the queer romance world has been credibly accused of plagiarism. Several of our publishers have recently closed, and another is going through a major disruption. Some of my author friends are waiting months for royalties, and at the same time are being squeezed by Amazon and other online retailers. Scammers have figured out how to game the system through a variety of tricks, and skim Amazon royalties off the backs of the rest of … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Back Into the Light

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tunnel light - pixabay

Sometimes life doesn’t work out like you hoped. Such was the case for me this year with Pitch Wars, the mentoring contest I entered a couple months back. I was so excited going in. I found some awesome mentors to pitch to, including one team that had a member right here in Sacramento – perfect, right? We could meet for long story discussions over coffee at Peets, and become best friends. My story seemed dead-on for what they were looking for, and I figured – at the very least – that I’d get a full manuscript request. Then nothing happened. … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Art & History

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art

When I was in high school, I loved my art classes. I took pottery and jewelry, and learned to paint, sketch and use charcoals. I helped paint a mural at our school – well, I painted the white frame on a “poloroid” photo, anyhow. And I even won an award for a piece of jewelry I created in my sophomore year. I always enjoyed making art, but I never felt a calling to be an artist. When I came out, I lost two things in a bad break-up with my girlfriend – my comic book collection and my art. I’m … Read more

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POINT OF VIEW: Fifteen Days of Immersion

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immersion - pixabay

Those who read my column regularly know I am madly working to finish “Dropnauts: Redemption Book One” in time for PitchWars. I just got my editor notes back on Thursday, and now have about two weeks to whip the whole thing into shape. The news from the editor is mixed. He functioned as my beta reader this time around as the time table was too compressed to manage both, so the manuscript was at a bit rougher stage than I would have preferred. He loved the story! That alone made me dance and throw my hands in the air like … Read more