Tag: Writing Life
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Dear Mrs. V
Dear Mrs. V, After 40+ years, this thank you letter is long overdue. I recently started writing fiction and was chatting about it with a good friend at happy hour. When I mentioned your name as a major influence, he interrupted me. “Have you told her?” I just stared at him — the only answer…
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The Flannel at Superstars 2026
Superstars Writing 2026 is an excellent writer’s conference. I learn a lot and make great contacts. The Flannel made an appearance.
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“That” Hunting
I’m finishing up the editing of my next novel and realized that (ha!) I use the word “that” far too often. Now I am “that” hunting, in many cases just removing the word. It feels satisfying, but it takes longer than I wanted it to. That sucks.
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Franklin, I (truly) hardly knew you…
Franklin,I can’t really start this out “Dear Franklin” because I didn’t know you that well. I put you in the first scene of my next book (first in a series), but I didn’t know who you were. Sure, you were the main character’s boss and you got to deliver some good news, and you were…
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A casual conversation while bleeding
I went in for a blood draw for one of my meds today and was chatting with the person doing the draw. Those folks have an impressive sounding title but I can’t remember it. She was nice and it was painless. It was the middle of the day so she asked if I was heading…
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An Unexpected Smile
One of the benefits of a writing career is that you hear from complete strangers that something you wrote made an impact. As I am relatively new to this career, this hasn’t happened much. One of the books I wrote is called Writing Into The Sunset. I mainly wrote it to help myself think about…
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Selling Books at In-Person Events
I’m not doing these yet, but I’m sure I will in the future. This is an interesting article, written by someone who consults for selling products at trade shows, that applies easily to selling books at a book fair or book convention. 5 Steps to Turn Cold Conversations into Sales Opportunities: https://kokoroinc.com/trade-show-staff-training/
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Finishing Your Writing
Finishing is a life skill. It is something that benefits us our entire lives. What does finished mean when we are a writer? Generally one of two things: (1) we have finished writing the piece, or (2) we have published the book and people can buy it. Or submitted it. Or whatever we do to…
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Future Search
In the future, AI will drive search algorithms, making genres and keywords less relevant for authors.
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Leadership Gone Right Now Available
One of my short stories is coming out in a new anthology, Leadership Gone Right. See the link below for more details. https://www.fartheststarpublishing.com/post/leadership-gone-right-anthology-now-available
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I have a story in a new anthology
One of my short stories is appearing in a new anthology. The “Leadership Gone Right” anthology is now available for pre-order. Paperback now and ebook soon. Go here for details: https://www.fartheststarpublishing.com/product-page/leadership-gone-right-2024-anthology “Farthest Star Publishing proudly announces the pre-order of “Leadership Gone Right,” a captivating anthology featuring 18 tales of unconventional leadership and unexpected twists from…
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Do what you believe…
Geddy Lee, CBS Sunday Morning, December 3, 2023, “What’s Next for Rush?” “Do what you believe. Because if you do what someone else believes, and you fail, you got nothing. If you what you believe and you fail, you still have hope.” Geddy Lee, CBS Sunday Morning, December 3, 2023, “What’s Next for Rush?” https://www.cbsnews.com/news/geddy-lee-and-alex-lifeson-of-rush/
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“It’s how good you are going to be that really matters.”
Surgeon and author Atul Gawande’s Ted Talk on coaching highlights constant improvement. What does that mean for my writing?
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20Books: Kanban for Writers
There was a session at the conference that talked about setting up a Kanban for a writer’s life. As someone who worked in manufacturing for my career, I am familiar with kanbans and had even come across the concept for elsewhere in life. This was a decent session, though, in that it assumed you knew…
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20Books Conference & Cake
In Vegas for the 20Books conference. Got a lot out of it last year and the sessions look good again this year. I’ll meet a lot of fellow authors and have my brain explode from all the information. There are more vendors this year for today’s vendor day. One of the more amusing things in…