Yesterday ended my weekend at SoonerCon 26, a local science-fiction/fantasy/writer’s convention in Midwest City, Oklahoma within a short driving distance of my house. This was my second year being invited as a media guest, which means I’ve written a few books and have done some podcasting, so they allow me to come be part ofContinue reading “SoonerCon: A Media Guest’s Retrospective”
Tag Archives: art
When Life Happens, Change Your Plans
I had big plans for the month of November. I was going to finish up the current WIP rough draft and then I was going to crank out a 50,000 word satirical novel for the NaNoWriMo. Well…life had other plans. For the past week our water well has been cycling on and off a littleContinue reading “When Life Happens, Change Your Plans”
The #NaNoWriMo Checklist
In just two weeks we will be heading into dark territory. The National Novel Writing Month will be upon us. How many of you wordsmiths plan on cranking out a novel that month? Well, you can include me in that mass of lemmings desiring to throw their minds into overdrive to write 50,000 words inContinue reading “The #NaNoWriMo Checklist”
Your Blog Is Too Cerebral
d There is a famous story about Gene Roddenberry’s pitch to NBC about his “wagon train to the stars” idea he ended up calling Star Trek. He told them that it would be a space adventure and that each episode would focus on some kind of deep philosophical or allegorical idea that commented on something thatContinue reading “Your Blog Is Too Cerebral”
R is for Retrospective
It’s been almost a year and a half since I started blogging, and even though it has had its ups and downs, here lately I’m seeing my numbers drop off slowly and steadily. It makes me wonder if this blogging thing is really all it’s cracked up to be. I won’t quit. No way. IContinue reading “R is for Retrospective”
Falkontheorie Gone?
German writer Paul Heyse (1830-1914) based his theory of Falkontheorie on the ninth tale of the fifth day of the Decamaron. The tale is about a man who sacrificed everything for the love of a woman and when he still rejected her he then sacrificed his prize falcon as well, thereby winning her heart. The idea orContinue reading “Falkontheorie Gone?”
Writing As Therapy
Today my students started reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s The Yellow Wallpaper, an early feminist story about a woman who is not allowed to write because it might upset her “delicate condition”. This started me thinking about what writing means to me beyond the overall joy of seeing my ideas and crazy plot lines taking on aContinue reading “Writing As Therapy”
A New Personal Record
This last weekend I worked on my novel marathon style. Saturday I managed to participate in the annual Norman Holiday Parade, dressing up as a special forces scout trooper and marching with my JediOKC friends. At 1:00pm, after downing a gluten free lunch at Texadelphia, it was off to the laptop for a non-stop writingContinue reading “A New Personal Record”
The Weekend Marathon…and a Roundup
After I write this post, I’m signing off. I’ll be back on Monday, and will write yet another blog post, but this weekend is the hard-core write fest. I have to reach a goal of at least 7,000 words to stay on track for the 21st release date. How will I do this? I haveContinue reading “The Weekend Marathon…and a Roundup”
Under the Gun
I have heard two origins of the term “under the gun”. One definition originates from a military situation when people used to mount castle sieges. Men who built back a wall that had been damaged with cannon fire while the cannons were still firing were considered “under the gun”. There is also the simple explanationContinue reading “Under the Gun”
Writing Is Hard Work 