Tag Archives: Writer’s Life

Looking Back at the Future

Sometime in 1989, Kurt Busiek, who had up until recently been my agent, called me from his new position at Marvel Comics. They were planning on taking another crack at a Science Fiction comic book, and they were going to put two twists on the genre. First, it was going to be written by real, [...]

Our Novels, Our Children

Like most writers, one of the most commonly asked questions I get from folks who hear I’ve written more than one novel is, “Which one is your favorite?” When I got that question, I used to say, “Whichever one I’m working on at the moment.” The problem was, people didn’t get that answer. Most of [...]

Unwritten Sequels

I don’t know where you come down on the idea of sequels. Cinematically, I’m really tired of them… it’s like proof once again that Hollywood is officially out of ideas. Not that I haven’t been tempted. With every novel I’ve published (or, as in the case of The Mushroom Shift, am about to publish), I [...]

Now Selling At A Target Near You

For years, nay, decades, I’ve wanted what I’ve called a pair of writer’s gloves. Basically a pair of gloves without the fingertips to roughly the first joint of the finger, I also referred to them as “chimney sweep gloves” because that’s what Dick Van Dyke wore in Mary Poppins. Years ago – we’re talking the [...]

To Thine Own Writing Be True

It’s been an interesting experience getting The Mushroom Shift ready for publication. I mean, here is a novel I wrote almost 25 years ago, and as I’m reading it, and as I’m having my Kindle read it to me as part of the proofreading process, I’m discovering something about it that I hadn’t expected. It’s [...]

Thinking About Thinking

I’ve had a chance to do a lot of thinking lately. Okay, technically we think all of the time. I mean creative thinking. After being a bad master for a number of years, I’ve started to walk the dog for a half an hour or so on most days, and having nothing to clutter my [...]

Piracy on the High E’s!

I’m not sure where you come down on the issue of piracy. Not the Somalis in a speedboat with some vintage Soviet RPG type. The new-fangled method of copying intellectual property that has been the bane of folks from the members of Metallica to J.K. Rowling. And to show that nobody is safe, even I [...]

Curious Affectation

Okay, somebody explain why in the heck I do this. It’s something I’ve been conscious of for years, and it never seemed to bother me until a week or so ago. That’s when I got an email that inspired this recent post. At one point, the correspondent said, I go out and buy notebooks and [...]

Sometimes it’s the Journey

Longtime readers know that I’m a proponent of The Power of the Ending. In other words, if you have an appropriate, satisfying and strong ending, your readers will tend to forgive some of the gaffes you may have committed in the middle of the book. So if you’re all about commercial fiction, you’re all about [...]

The Endorsements

Here’s a kind of off-beat thought. It all started when I picked up a huge bottle of Coast body wash at the local drug store, picking the brand because I was familiar with their bath soap, and because the bottle held more than the competing brands and was at least a buck cheaper. When I [...]

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