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How To Get Published: Use A System

In an earlier article, I supplied a list of publications to which a prospective writer of short genre fiction might submit their work. While that’s an invaluable resource, by itself it won’t get you far. In fact…

…but before I get started, let me give you some excellent second-hand advice:

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

Dorothy Parker
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Fear and Loathing 2020: A Step Back

I’ve got upwards of 37,000 words assembled thus far and there’s an end in sight.  So far so good, right?  Time to take a quick step back from the task and survey the whole, to see if there’s any major adjustments that ought to be made before it goes too far to recover.  On any other project I might instead be looking to see if it’s worth finishing, but this one’s gone too far for that.  It’s got momentum of its own, and I wouldn’t dare try to stop; the book would devour me.

Which is a problem, because I’m thinking book, and events are going too fast (more…)

Fanfare For “The Common Man”, Concord, NH

It seems like everywhere you turn in New Hampshire, there’s another Common Man property.  There’s restaurants, diners, at least one honest-to-goodness pub, a couple of resorts, and on and on.  And yet, for some reason, it never occurred to me that I might stop.  After all, there were other places with better neon; McDonald’s may be crap but it’s familiar crap.  But then random chance took a hand, and I stopped.

And then I went back.  And did it again the next day.

Right.  So, first and foremost:  Cracker Barrel?  A bunch of poseurs.  You only think they (more…)

Buy This Book. Buy It Now.

There’s never enough time.

This isn’t merely true; it’s a truism. It’s axiomatic, and it applies just about everywhere in life. There’s never enough time to get all the work done; there’s never enough time to visit family, see friends, play with the kids, or take the dog for enough walks. And there’s certainly never enough time to read every book we want to. (more…)