Fan Mail Wednesday #81 (Thursday Edition)
Thursday, March 11th, 2010 Posted in Fan Mail, the writing process | No Comments »Woo-hoo, it's Fan Mail Wednesday! Wait, no. Today is Thursday. It can't be Fan Mail Wednesday. Can it? That's impossible. No recurring feature on an author's blog could possibly be so powerful that it transcends the laws of time and ...
Asking “What If” Questions & Pulling on Threads: A Short Sample from “Justin Fisher Declares War!”
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 Posted in Justin Fisher Declares War!, the writing process | 2 Comments »I've always loved the writing process, how a jumbled ball of yarn becomes an actual sweater. Conversely, it's amazing to me -- pulling on that thread and watching how the fabric unravels. Back in September, 2008, I wrote this on my ...
Rules for Writing
Sunday, February 28th, 2010 Posted in the writing process | No Comments »The Guardian recently ran a series of two articles titled, "Ten Rules for Writing Fiction." It was inspired by Elmore Leonard's famous and fabulous list (which I wrote about back in Oct, 2008). The folks at The Guardian asked a ...
Fan Mail Wednesday #77
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 Posted in Bystander, Fan Mail, the writing process | No Comments »Let's cut the preamble and get right down to it. Dear Mr. Preller, I am an English Major. Your novel, Bystander was brought back by my professor as a 'prize" when she attended an annual English Teacher Conference. I didn't get the ...
Stories Behind the Story: The Case of the Class Clown
Sunday, February 7th, 2010 Posted in Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | No Comments »A while back, I got a surprising phone call about this book: a group (legitimate, apparently) named Arts Power wanted to turn it into a musical. Okay, great. And so they have. I have not seen it, though I did have ...
What I’ve Been Working On: A Brief Sample
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 Posted in A Pirates Guide to First Grade, Justin Fisher Declares War!, the writing process | 6 Comments »In college I had a teacher, Dr. Pat Meanor at Oneonta, who said something that I've always taken to heart. He said if you want to write, then you had better shut your mouth. Don't talk about it. Otherwise all ...
Stories Behind the Story: The Case of the Snowboarding Superstar
Tuesday, January 26th, 2010 Posted in Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | No Comments »As part of a continuing (read: sporadic) series of posts, I take a look back at old Jigsaw Jones titles with the intention of providing my Nation of Readers with more "extra juicy" background info. If you are like me, you ...
One Minute Blast of Inspiration
Monday, January 25th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, the writing process | No Comments »Some days, you find exactly what you need. "Keep going." [youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5ogApu4-gk]
Fan Mail Wednesday #72 (Monday Edition)
Monday, January 18th, 2010 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones, the writing process | 1 Comment »Forgive my sporadic postings of late, it's been a hectic time, and deadlines loom. This week I'll be away for three full days on school visits. Always a positive experience that definitely helps keep the wolf from the door, but ...
Award Season: “Brrrrrr!”
Thursday, January 14th, 2010 Posted in Around the Web, Current Events, the writing process | 5 Comments »Feel that chill? The cold wind rattling the panes? That's right, it's that season come round again, when folks eagerly anticipate the big book awards. Which titles will be this year's big winners? And on and on and so it goes. Wonderful, terrific, ...