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So my first-ever book signing is in the rear-view mirror! How did it go? Well…in truth it was a mixed bag. Sales weren’t great, but that is due to a very slow day for foot traffic at that bookstore, which the owner said was highly unusual. He speculated that a local music festival was drawing people away, and he apologized for how slow it was every time he came out onto the porch to see us sitting there. We had a few sales, but nothing major. That, however, really wasn’t the point. The point was to get our feet wetDown the rabbit hole….

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In: The John Lazarus novels, Writing

Greetings, Programs! So it’s not “All Forgotten Stars all the time!” over here. What else is there? Well, how about my next novel, set for release in late September? It’s time to start the buzz on The Chilling Killing Wind, which is a supernatural thriller/horror book. Obviously I’ll have more to come on that project, but right now I’m in the formatting and book design phase. Then I’ll have to order a proof and go over it. Once that’s done, I’ll assign the actual release date. But you might be wondering what The Chilling Killing Wind is about, so…here’s theDown the rabbit hole….

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In my ongoing quest to become a Real Writer, I have a Real Writer Event coming up! Behold!!! Off the Beaten Path Books is an independent bookstore in Lakewood, NY, on the picturesque shores of Chautauqua Lake. This event is happening under the auspices of The Geekiverse, a local website that’s an up-and-coming one-stop-shop for all your geeky needs. I’ve been slowly coming into The Geekiverse’s orbit (more on that in weeks to come), and this will continue that trend. So! If you want a signed copy of Stardancer, The Wisdomfold Path, or Amongst the Stars, come to Off theDown the rabbit hole….

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In: Life, Meta, Uncategorized, Writing

Greetings, Programs! Welp, I haven’t been very good about posting here lately, have I? Three months is…bad. But I’m still around, and still hoping to add more content to this space (as well as others…but nothing I can really discuss yet)! So, what’s been going on of late? First, I’m still working on The Savior Worlds: The Song of Forgotten Stars, Book IV. This one has been proceeding in fits and starts. I got off to a great start, and then I faltered as I ran into story problems, then I ironed those problems out and got going again, only to runDown the rabbit hole….

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Greetings, programs! Let’s talk about comedic timing for a bit. I’m not talking about the kind of timing that actors and actresses need to have, in which they deliver their funny lines with sufficient timing that it maximizes comic effect and gets the biggest laugh. I’m more talking about the placement of the joke itself within the story. You can’t just have a joke any old place. You have to plan these things. If you put a joke in your story’s most emotional moment, it has to be good, and it has to allow for a certain release of theDown the rabbit hole….

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In: Uncategorized, Writing

Greetings, Programs! Back in the day, The West Wing was one of my favorite shows. I don’t think it’s aged as well as many, and I’ve found that I have issues with Aaron Sorkin over the years, but still–when the show was at its best, The West Wing was superb. One facet of its success was its approach to storytelling in miniature. The West Wing was an ensemble show, telling the stories of a large cast of characters as they worked in the White House to run the United States. Ensemble shows (and books) pose their own challenges: which stories do youDown the rabbit hole….

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Hey all! 2017 is over, and 2018 is here. A bit of looking back and forward is in order. 2017 At first glance 2017 felt like a mixed bag to me, but when I really look harder, I got quite a bit done, even though a lot of it was work that isn’t likely to bear fruit for some time. I posted on this site a lot less than I intended, and I do hope to rectify that in 2018. But, to sum up: :: I published Amongst the Stars! It’s out now! The first act of the grand adventureDown the rabbit hole….

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Late last night, I dragged myself, weary and bloodied, across the NaNoWriMo finish line. Well, not bloodied, but I was quite tired when I got there…especially since at one point Scrivener had my word count at 50,200 but when I plugged my text into NaNo’s validator, it came back with a result of 49,850. So I had to stay up a bit and do a little extra work to get myself over that line. I could have just done it today, but when I’m that close, I just want to kick it into gear and get it done. So afterDown the rabbit hole….

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In: The Song of Forgotten Stars, Uncategorized, Writing

Goodness, I’ve really let this site go fallow, haven’t I? Over three months of radio silence here. That’s not because of any bad developments or anything like that; just that I’ve been plugging along with writing and not really saying much here. I should change that, I think. But anyway, here’s what’s going on: I’ve been prepping a lot for NaNoWriMo 2017. For the uninitiated, that’s National Novel Writing Month, set for November when writers the world over, amateurs and professionals and folks in the middle like me alike, all commit to attempting to produce 50,000 words of something inDown the rabbit hole….

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Hey, everyone! Hoping everything is going well. If not, then I hope that your enemies are at least doing less well! I’ve been thinking a bit about process lately. That’s something that we “aspiring” writers tend to think a lot about, in my experience. We think about word quotas and what time of day we should work or how many hours we should spend. We think about which word processor to use and which computer or which pen and which ink on which paper or in which journal. And for the most part, that’s fine! Most writers I know aren’tDown the rabbit hole….