The other night, I had a dream. It was a dream based on reality. In the dream, I was supposed to do a podcast about me, but I couldn’t find anything interesting to say. I thought about recording my book,… Read More ›
#Writing
IT HELPS IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
“Something to say.” — Blogging Insights 3.0 # 4 I would say it another way: “Writing is easy. Getting a book published is hard.” For many or most writers, they have no problem putting words on a page. Turning those… Read More ›
MY ROYALTIES ARE IN!
Every month or two, I get money for my book. Last month it was $0.39 — thirty-nine cents. This month was even better. For anyone who wants to know why I haven’t bothered to write another book, this is the… Read More ›
BALLS, NERVE, AND חוצפה
“You’re one tough broad,” my friend told me. I recognized this as a compliment. Maybe you have to come from New York or New Jersey to “get it,” but I got it. “Tough” includes brave, determined, and hard to kill…. Read More ›
SELF-GENERATING AIs?
Fandango’s Provocative Question #198 Unless AI “brains” suddenly develop an ability to grow intelligence beyond what was built into them, it won’t happen. That being said, it doesn’t mean they won’t take over huge sections of writing currently held by live… Read More ›
DO WRITERS NEED TO VACATION FROM WRITING?
Blogging Insights NF # 65 — Holidays for writers/bloggers? “A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing.” – Eugene Ionesco When I was writing professionally, I needed a periodic break… Read More ›
“THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS” or “A VISIT FROM ST. NICHOLAS”
By CLEMENT CLARKE MOORE Read it aloud! After all these years, this is still one of the great read-aloud poems. I used to know the entire poem by heart. Now, I remember about half of it and need reminders from… Read More ›
THE MONDAY PEEVE – DON’T YOU HATE WHEN THAT HAPPENS?
Where did my pictures go? So here’s the scenario. I have my card in its reader in my computer. Instead of doing what I usually do — copying the pictures from the card to the newly-created photo folder, I use… Read More ›
IF IT WORKS, IT IS WHAT IT IS
Blogging Insights – NF # 64 : Writing Advice “The only truly universal writing advice is ‘If it works, it works.’ ” – Audrey Driscol Or, to put it another way, “It is what it is if it works. It… Read More ›
INTUITION?
Blogging Insights – NF # 62 : Intuition What do you need to be a writer? This one offers you just one sentence: intuition. Well, hot flash. I takes a bit more than intuition. Far be it for me to… Read More ›
DISTRACTION?
Blogging Insights NF # 61 – Distraction So. Here’s the quote: I have never been distracted by the internet. I’ve been distracted by life. Illness. Moving. Remodeling. Major life changes that fall out of the sky. Reading a book too… Read More ›
FIRE AND ICE – Robert Frost
He was our “local” poet. I have always loved his poems, but even more since I moved to New England. He understood this place and its people. We have a portrait of him taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt hanging in our… Read More ›
STATS AND OTHER BIG NUMBERS
IN RESPONSE (IN PART) TO “VIEWS” BY FANDANGO We all want to know why some posts are popular and the rest? Not so much. Everyone wants to know the secret. I think the secret is getting Google to notice you… Read More ›
FOLLOWERS AND COMMUNITY
Blogging Insights NF # 56 “Successful blogging is not about one time hits. It’s about building a loyal following over time.“ — David Aston I don’t know who David Aston is, but that’s a pretty solid, reasonable statement. A lot… Read More ›
THE ART OF THE HEADLINE
Blogging Insights NF # 55 — Headlines “On the average five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” — David… Read More ›
LORD OF THE WHAT?
Fandango’s Provocative Question #183 The right question, but the wrong “slant.” I could care less what race they show them to be, but I do care how much they distort the story and how little they apparently care for J.R.R. Tolkien’s… Read More ›