Category: Musing
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Close Enough for Rock & Roll
Ever find yourself lost in thought, only to be interrupted by somebody else’s favorite line setting up shop in your memory? Just the other day I was nonchalantly slogging through the latest round of proofreading my serialized companion novel about to be released on Kindle Vella when out of the blue, I heard my uncle’s…
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Latest Interruption
One thing I have going for me on my writing journey is that I openly embrace the various interruptions I experience as simply a part of life—besides, I’m pretty much powerless to stop them. I can’t remember the last day that passed without at least one unexpected twist & turn taking a toll on my…
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Shenanigans
Who says the life of an independent author without a competent, affordable editor in the wings has to be boring? Why, I just got to spend the last two hours poring over my serialized novel deciding whether hyphens should be in descriptors like nail-biting, or between color adjectives like red & white, or not be…
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I, Edithead
OK, so I made all that up. But why not give edithead a chance to join its well-established, illustrious kin like Deadhead, hardhead, egghead, & __head? (I imagine you just generated your own mental list of cousin words, some of which are no doubt excellent for venting or starting a fight.) I’m fully aware that…
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Back in the Saddle
I’m sure I could come up with a viable excuse for not having posted here of late. After all, I do spend a fair amount of time writing fiction which, it might be argued, is akin to weaving together random excuses with character arcs, plot twists, & doses of action. But the truth of the…
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Interference
Here of late, I’ve been dabbling in the field of memory research in preparation for a new project I’m exploring. While doing so, I’ve been curious about the role memory plays in fiction writing—notably my own. In the past, I’ve been frustrated by my struggles to remember the names of real individuals not long after…
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My Own Devices
Sometimes when I reach a milestone on my self-publishing journey, I celebrate the moment with abandon. At other times, however, I find myself grumbling that it actually means very little when viewed through the lens of the woes of the outside world. It comes as no surprise that those challenging moments can lead to an…
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And I’m Milk & Cookies
Nope, the title of this post is not a sign that I’m losing touch with reality or trying to write obtuse poetry. It relates to a memory game I recently came up with while trudging through the 1100+ revisions amassed during the final editing phase of my serialized companion novel due to be released on…
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I Don’t Know Why
Updating my first published novel didn’t look like it was going to a big deal. After all, the process is pretty straightforward according to Kindlepreneur & other sites: When I followed those steps a couple days ago, everything appeared in good order, but I soon realized only half the links in my Author’s Note worked…
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Getaway Snacks
Nope, this post isn’t about eating during a vacation, chase scene, or heist even. It’s about a concept I’m borrowing from an exercise trend that promotes spurts of activity throughout the day along with full workouts. Getaway snacks involve those few minutes I find here & there to pretend I’m doing something productive when all…
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Tea & Toast
Ah, it doesn’t get much better for me in my current circumstances than enjoying a steaming cup of black tea & two pieces of toast slathered with butter & honey. The last few days have been a challenge since my aches & pains intensified before finally backing down enough for me to get outside for…
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Morsels
Sometimes I think my writing life can be measured in morsels—tasty & bite-sized to be sure, but not, I’m happy to report, as in the sample sentence in the last connotation listed in Merriam-Webster: “a negligible person.” Yeah, I still like to look up words, especially the roots of any I happen to be focusing…
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Staycation Update
Previously I shared my decision to take a month off from posting in order to focus on serializing my unpublished novel set in the same fictional world as Pearl Fields and the Oregon Meltdown. That turned out to be a productive strategy even though I could easily fall into grumbling about only truly accomplishing one…
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The novelty of it all (update)
Time to pause & celebrate a bit since I’ve nearly reached the halfway mark of my first foray into serializing a novel. I’m happy to report it’s going even better than I’d hoped (surprise, surprise). Dividing longer chapters into shorter episodes has proved fairly easy, but deciding what to keep, cut, or add in order…
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The novelty of it all
Time to pause & celebrate a bit since I’ve nearly reached the halfway mark of my first foray into serializing a novel. I’m happy to report it’s going even better than I’d hoped (surprise, surprise). Dividing longer chapters into shorter episodes has proved fairly easy, but deciding what to keep, cut, or add in order…
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Taking the plunge
In my last post (“Episode 1”), I mentioned considering trying my hand at serializing a story I’ve already sketched out/written that as of yet hasn’t seen the light of day. As the title of this post indicates, I’m actually giving it a go. So far so good, I’m happy to report—aside from my usual stumbling…
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Episode 1
Here’s an interesting question: what do the following have in common? That’s right—serialized storytelling. Not that I would ever imagine tossing my hat into the prestigious ring listed above, but for some reason, I am intrigued by the idea of writing in such an age-old tradition. Maybe it reminds me of podcasts or everyday storytelling.…
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Time for a reset
Well, nothing like reaching the end of a concentrated marketing push on my recently completed novel to make me wholeheartedly embrace my next dance with fiction writing. As I’ve previously mentioned, the promotion side of my independent author journey has been the most difficult for me all along, but like most challenging paths I choose,…
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Getting closer by the day
As I started writing this post, I realized how childlike I can be at times like this—downright giddy—while of course, maintaining my adult sense of calm & clearheaded perspective on my self-publishing journey. (Cue the laugh track.) Yes, dear reader, another milestone approaches. This one has to do with navigating the marketing shoals looming ahead.…
