Familiar fiction frustrations

May 14, 2013

Last night at my Monday Night Writers group, the conversation turned to what slows us down or stops us in our writing process. One of the members mentioned that he starts questioning his work as soon as he puts the words down, doubting their value or creativity, or if the project itself has any hope [...]

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Five Fiction Markets for 5.7.13

May 7, 2013

Ready to submit your short story? Here are five fiction markets to approach! (Always check websites for full details!)

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Hitting the “pause” button

April 23, 2013

I have had to hit the “pause” button on my fiction—not by choice but by circumstance. Moving my father from my house (where he had been recuperating for several months from a heart attack and surgery) back to his Florida home was an all-consuming project: final visits with Ohio doctors, the packing of all the [...]

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“Interim” is now live at Red Fez!

April 13, 2013

I’m thrilled to report that my short story, “Interim,” is now live at Red Fez! A little bit about this story… I don’t really know what sparked this piece. Sometimes I do, like “Ice Cream Sunday,” (which appeared in Fiction365), but in this case, I have no idea what the genesis was. The idea that [...]

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Five Fiction Markets for 3.19.13

March 19, 2013

Looking for a new market for your short fiction? Check out today’s list! (Be sure to read detailed guidelines before submitting.)

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Ping-pong writing

March 14, 2013

I’ve been working on two very different pieces the last few weeks. One of them — working title, “In Absentia” — is the one that Morrow Wilson had gone through with a finetooth comb and pointed out every flaw. In the nicest possible way, of course. And he was right on all counts. The second, [...]

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Renovation — Literary Style

March 1, 2013

For the past ten years or so, I have been engaged in the ongoing process of renovating and updating my home and surrounding landscape (really, just a fancy term for “yard”). The reason why I’m still not done isn’t because the house is so big — it’s only a little over 1,000 square feet — [...]

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“Ice Cream Sunday” is now live at Fiction 365!

February 23, 2013

Just a quick note to announce that my short story, “Ice Cream Sunday” is now live at Fiction 365! (Can’t find it? Search by date: 2/23/13) Just as a side note: this short story had been submitted 17 times since 1995. Most of the time, it came back with a “Thanks but no thanks” form [...]

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The value of having an eagle-eyed first reader

February 18, 2013

So last night, Morrow Wilson and I spent more than two hours on the phone while he pointed out ways to improve one of my short stories that I thought was ready to submit.

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The early stages of novel writing—like wondering if you’re pregnant

February 16, 2013

Thursday night I had a wonderful far-ranging conversation with my friend Morrow Wilson, author of the recently released novel David Sunshine. And, as it always does when we talk, the conversation ran all over the place — from book marketing to the business of writing to (the best part) writing itself. We brought each other [...]

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