YouTube Site Launch!

I’ve written on this blog about what I’m going to do to help promote myself a bit more.  Now that Ryan and I have moved on from the podcast to other things, I decided to get hopping on a YouTube channel where I’ll offer funny videos (mostly with my kids who are my life), audio

10 Ways Indie Authors Can Increase Reader Engagement

I’ve been writing this blog since December of 2011.  I started the blog as a way to reach readers with the books I was peddling, but more than that it has become a sounding board for all things writing.  I love providing writing tips in a concise manner, helping indie writers like myself succeed in

Writing Requires Discipline

I have taught writing for years and years and I’ve been a writer for twice that long.  I’m writing this blog post today for the writers out there who are thinking of “hanging it up”. If you have tried your hand at this writing gig and you don’t like it, then just do something else.

New Podcast Up: There And Back Again Once More

In the first podcast of 2015, we discuss a little bit of literary failure before launching into why we continue writing even in the face of adversity. What keeps you going? We also discuss the final Hobbit film and how it holds up to the text of Tolkien’s work. Finally, we answer some listener mail

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.  I didn’t do half bad! Here’s an excerpt: The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 100,000 times in 2014. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for

Dear Blog Followers…What’s Your Biggest Hurdle?

This blog post is simple and to the point:  What is your biggest hurdle as a writer?  I’d love to write a blog post about anything you are dealing with as a writer, and hopefully I can help with tips or suggestions.  If you wish to remain anonymous, then send a message on the contact

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 that

Sneak Peek: Cover Image for My New Novel

I have been working very diligently to get the first installment of This Broken Earth out to the public on Wednesday FOR FREE.  Part of this is a good cover image.  I have taken lessons from the best of you who blog about cover images.  I feel that this one is the best of the ones

E-Book Sharing Sites and the Self-Published Author

I’m sure that many of you are guilty of visiting sites like 4Share and Scribd to find that book you really want to read.  Some thrifty pirate out there has taken the file that was once a .mobi file for Kindle or an Epub and cracked the DRM and then posted it for free on

3 Reasons I’m Getting My Own Domain Name

I’ve thought about it for a while, and have decided that on Monday my blog will no longer have the word “wordpress” in my URL.  It will only cost me $18 a year, and here are the benefits I will reap: 1. Professional Image – My blog will no longer be “just another WordPress blog”,