Category: Blog
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And Sometimes, You Win
Writing it easy. Marketing is hard. So as not to bury the lead, let me announce that BookBub has agreed to feature a free download of Black Jack: Behind the Waves to run from May 6 to 8. Why the hoopla on this one? I mean, we’ve had numerous free downloads in the past on…
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The Character of Characters
Ah, yes, the population of our fantasy worlds, the strange and twisted personalities who we torture, confuse, and entice with our nefarious plotlines. From their mouths come the deadly threats of a murderous thug or the long-winded eloquence of a Danish prince. They are our puppets, dancing on invisible strings to the manipulations of our…
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Do Ya Kinda Hafta Be There?
All novelists have strengths and weaknesses. Some are experts at bringing characters to life and giving us unforgettable people that stay with us like old friends; or enemies. Others specialize in plot and storytelling, weaving tales of mystery and wonder that keep the reader enthralled chapter after chapter. There are even a few whose greatest…
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Striking Gold!
We were notified of the results of the Readers View Literary Awards at the end of February, and The Conductor received the gold medal in the prestigious thriller/suspense genre. This qualified it for the “money awards”, small cash prizes bestowed on three of the winners from the various categories, but these all went to books…
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Civil Discourse
“Don’t discuss politics. Don’t discuss religion.” Those are the ancient prohibition to avoid murder and mayhem breaking out from casual conversations. Good advice? Or limits that lock us away in our own little echo-chambers, mouthing the same complaints and sound-bytes against “them” time after time after time? We have had competing views since we’ve had…
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Authors Who Aren’t Writers
Odd title. Aren’t authors and writers synonymous? Or if I mean authors are published, then it should be the other way around with all authors being writers but not visa versa. But no, that’s not a typo. I’m going to dig into those “techno authors” like John Grisham and Robin Cook who produce thrillers adorned…
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New Year?
What’s the equivalent of humbug for a greeting of Happy New Year? Can the Grinch dress up with party hat and non-alcoholic bubbly to try to ruin the celebrations of New Year’s Eve? Or is it sufficient to see the bleary-eyed celebrants on January 1st trying to adjust to a day of football games and…
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Making it to the Next Round…
So, the eternal question facing all indie authors: how do you stand out from the mad crush of other books and attract readers without spending your life savings? Our first idea was to get professional assistance for the launch, push really hard, and try to catch a ground-swell of interest that would carry the book…
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The Lost Manuscript
I suspect most authors have one. The book you wrote, fell in love with, and then put it up on the shelf when it didn’t go anywhere, the ultimate distinction between literary and financial success in writing. You pull it down and dust it off from time to time, reading over the well-remembered chapters, smiling…
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Would Thomas Jefferson have dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima?
No, I’m not trying to reignite the old argument about the morality of using the bomb to end World War II. Rather, I’m trying to get deeper into an age-old debate in American foreign policy, Jeffersonian idealism vs the imperialism and realpolitik of Bismarck, Churchill, and Teddy Roosevelt. Jefferson believed that America was a new…