Cheers to 2011

FireworksI always love the fresh start of the New Year, but this one is special. Next year will be the first time I live my life as a full-time novelist. I’m finally making enough from book sales to turn down freelance work. At this point, the most cost-effective way to spend my time is to write another Detective Jackson novel. I’ve been working toward this goal since August 7, 1989. Read more

NaNo, Goals, and Motivation

nanowrimo_participant_06_100x100I  participated in National Novel Writing Month for the second time. Last year, I had the first half of a book written and I used NaNo as a motivation to quickly finish the second half. I was successful in doing that. This year, I had an outline and a first chapter of the next Jackson story, but I’d been out of new-story writing mode for a long time, so I signed up for NaNo as a motivation to write a good chunk of the book. Read more

Liberation!

In a post about how e-books are changing the publishing industry, Timothy Hallinan, author of the highly acclaimed Poke Rafferty series, said: “I’m writing two books I don’t even plan to try to sell through the usual channels; they’ll go direct to readers. I have a list of a dozen more I want to write. It feels as though I’ve been cooped up in a small room for years and the walls suddenly fell down. There’s space to swing my arms. I don’t have to reject exciting ideas because they’re not ideas I can sell.” Read more

New Level, New Possibilities

workshopI taught my first workshop on Sunday at the Willamette Writers Conference in Portland. And actually got paid. My first paid gig as a speaker! It’s a small thing, yet I feel like I’ve hit a new level as a writer. How it will translate into future success remains to be seen. I got terrific feedback on the workshop, titled Your First Draft Doesn’t Have to Suck and based on blogs I’ve posted Read more

Writing the Right Novel

Have you set aside a novel in progress because it was just too hard to write at that point in time? I just did. The futuristic thriller is on hold and I’m back to working on the fifth book in my Detective Jackson series. I feel so relieved.  I still plan to write THE ARRANGER (set in 2023), but I’m not in the right space to do it now.

It’s hard for me to admit something is too challenging, but that’s the truth of this situation. Because I’m still a full-time freelance editor, Read more

New Day, New Direction

I’m a free agent again. In other words, I’ve been laid off my part-time newspaper job. The weirdest thing? I received an unemployment debit card from the state last week. I laughed and twittered: “Do they know something I don’t?” I guess they did. The hardest thing? Walking away from a terrific group of people I’ve come to really enjoy and count on for emotional and intellectual interaction. Read more

Character Naming Contest

secretstodiefor_small2I’ve had so much great feedback on SECRETS TO DIE FOR I’ve decided to give away a few more copies. This time you have to earn it by coming up with a great name for one of the characters in my next novel, which I’ve just started outlining. Here’s what I know about the characters so far: Read more

2010 Resolutions

  1. Call one bookstore every single day. The idea is to introduce myself and my series and to encourage the store to stock some copies. It should only take five minutes. The rule is: I can’t eat lunch until I’ve done it.
  2. Write another novel before the year is over. I’ve written three in the last two years (Jan. 08 to Dec. 09), so I should be able to do this. I think I’ll write something completely different, maybe a futuristic thriller.
  3. Start teaching. Read more

My Someday List

No matter how efficient I work, I still have this growing list of things I want to read/learn/get better at that I never seem find time for. Maybe in 2010…
A few things I have not yet learned to do:

  • Read a manual called Perfect Eyes that I paid $39 for in the hopes that I could keep my eyes from getting worse. (It’s near the top of the pile, but I’m damn near too blind to read it now.) Read more