STEPPING ON MY AUTHOR’S PONCHO
Oh, good grief. You’d think I’d know how to write a novel by now. But, noooo. I recently showed my alpha beta-reader, better known as my wife Barbara, the first two chapters of my work in progress (WIP). Allow me to inject here that Barbara is more than a beta reader. A beta reader usually…
Read MoreTHE THREE BOOKS ALWAYS ON A NOVELIST’S MIND
If the subject matter of this blog looks familiar, it’s because you read it in my newsletter a couple of months ago. Yes, I believe in plagiarism—as long as it’s my own stuff. So let’s jump into it. It’s been said, I’m not sure by whom, that a novelist typically has three books at a…
Read MoreYOU WRITE WHAT!?
I suppose from here on out when people ask what genre I write in, I’ll have to stop saying “WWII historical fiction.” That’s because of an email I recently received from a reader, Jim Harris, about WHEN HEROES FLEW, my first WWII historical fiction book. Jim identified himself as “a retired book sales/marketing rep” for…
Read MorePLEASE, SOMEBODY, MAKE ME AN OFFER . . .
Being a published author opens me up to input and comments from the public. Most are uplifting and positive. A few are caustic, but that’s just part of doing business. Then there are the occasional email solicitations I receive that seem downright insulting . . . to my intelligence. Here’s an example: “I hope this…
Read MorePROVENANCE OF EACH NOVEL IN THE WHEN HEROES FLEW SERIES—PART II
This blog is a continuation of the one I posted last week about the background of each of my WHEN HEROES FLEW novels. DOWN A DARK ROAD This novel, strictly speaking, isn’t part of the WHEN HEROES FLEW series, but it is closely related. Unlike my other WWII historical fiction books, the protagonist in this…
Read MorePROVENANCE OF EACH NOVEL IN THE WHEN HEROES FLEW SERIES—PART I
Provenance is just a fancy word for “origin” or “history.” I’m thinking my use of it makes me sound more authorial and learned. You’re probably thinking it makes sound like a jerk. Okay, let’s call it a draw. But I’ll give a brief background of each novel anyhow. WHEN HEROES FLEW This novel, my first…
Read MoreAT LEAST I DIDN’T WAKE UP IN CHINA
I had a strange dream a few nights ago. A really strange dream—unlike any I’d ever had before. Up until that particular night, the dreams I had always involved people I knew or had known. And they usually took place in locations with which I was familiar. But on the night of my bizarre fantasy,…
Read MoreI WISH I WERE A BETTER WRITER
For reasons I can’t explain, or even understand, my recent visit to southeastern Alaska’s Misty Fjords triggered a deep emotional response within me. My wife Barbara urged me to write about it before my feelings became lost in my own mists of memory. So I did. I wish I were a better writer. I wish…
Read MoreHOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU?
Probably the most frequent question I get as an author is, “How long does it take you to write a book?” In truth, I’ve never really put a clock (or a calendar) on my work. But looking back over my last four publications, they are spaced about a year apart. Keep in mind, however, that…
Read MoreI’M 88 YEARS OLD AND HAVE NEVER READ A BOOK COVER-TO-COVER
Sometimes the best reviews of my books aren’t reviews at all, but mere acknowledgments that somehow, someway, I changed someone’s life. Maybe just a little, but at least for the better. I got an email recently from a gentleman—I’ll call him Alf (not his real name)—who had signed up for my newsletters. I gotta tell…
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