You know how you’ve known about a deadline for a while? And you go about your business knowing it’s out there? And suddenly it’s not out there, but here? Sort of the same thing happened with my vacation. I needed a few days before the plane was scheduled for departure. But it’s amazing how the world around me coped, nonetheless.

First stop, ( Read more... )

WIN!
Oh ... and while I’m not offering a $500 prize, I am giving you a chance to win a copy of Jeremy Bender vs. The Cupcake Cadets. There will be 2 winners (and how I managed to own two copies is another boring story which I won’t bother to tell).

There’s a number of ways to enter:
1.Comment below.
2. Comment at the Smack Dab in the Middle blog ( Read more... )

When I first get an idea for a book, a buzz of excitement travels through and hovers around me as I start to visualize the big picture. But when I’m ready to capture them in black and white, the fleeting, vibrant scenes I initially imagined become less-than once they’re on the computer screen. At some point, though, I’ll string together something ( Read more... )

Yes, I’ve been very negligent in posting about the progress on my house. Yikes. It’s been almost two months. Then again, my attention necessarily zeroed in on family and finishing the latest draft of The Deep Downstairs, finally with my agent.

Now though, I’m taking two or three weeks to deal with peripheral business, leisurely for a change. And in ( Read more... )

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A little experiment today, boys and girls. Let’s observe how productive a writer can be while revising in a room that’s about 55 degrees. As long as we’re at it, let’s throw in several other variables:

*Four workers ripping apart about 2/3 of the roof just past the plastic partition.
*Two carpenters sawing and hammering.
*A classic rock station ( Read more... )

If I could have gone through a house renovation years ago, maybe the concrete example, right before my eyes, would have awakened my brain as to what needs to happen in revision. That patching and prettying aren’t enough. Real revision requires tearing down and breaking apart and reconfiguring what was already there. Even if most of the bones are ( Read more... )

I usually stick to writing stuff on this blog, but who knows how much writing stuff I'll have to talk about for a while. The reason ... for many years, I’ve wanted to add some space to the bedroom/bathroom area of our house. Be careful what you wish for. In the scheme of things, 4-5 months is not that long a time, and my life should settle into a ( Read more... )

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Me = quiet.
Me = last stages of revision before story gets mauled by my critique group.
Me = back soon with report on one particular challenge and other details.