Category Archives: Nuts and Bolts

These posts will be about the mechanics of writing and blogging. Discussions of software used, hosting services, printing services, etc.

Get Your Scare On (Monster Fest 2013 panel on Writing Horror)

Rough History of Horror Fiction H.P. Lovecraft’s most famous quote about the genre is that: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” The first horror … Continue reading

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Blood in Southern Waters (Capclave 2013: why set vampire stories in the South?)

I don’t usually write vampire stores, but I set my urban fantasy stories in the South — New Orleans (NOLA) specifically, for several reasons — so I can see why it would be a top choice for setting a vampire … Continue reading

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Yurt Talk Part 2: Anthology workshop

This is a workshop I was invited to give to the Carroll County chapter of the Maryland Writers Association. Several of the members participated in an anthology I produced in 2012: That One Left Shoe. They are now ready to … Continue reading

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Yurt Talk Part 1: Tips for Writers

This post is an overview of an invited talk I gave to the Carroll County Chapter of the Maryland Writers Association, April 2014, in the Yurt at Piney Run Park. The invitation asked me to describe how I do what … Continue reading

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Artist Tools Panel: Balticon 2013

This is the first in a series of outlines/summaries of panel discussions I have participated in at various SFF (Scifi/Fantasy) conventions (cons). While not capturing the entire discussion, they are representative outlines of panel topics in my portfolio (for future … Continue reading

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Learning from House and Hitler

In case you’re not familiar with the TV show, House (Dr. Gregory House) is a brilliant diagnostician (with really cranky ways and a serious prescription drug problem).His credo is “Everybody lies”. Finding the patients’ lies is often the focus of … Continue reading

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Fantasy Rejection Letters

Fantasy Rejections Like so many of my fellow authors I have a stack of rejection letters. Well, actually, since they are emails, they don’t really stack–but you know what I mean. Reading through them, I see a lot of repetition … Continue reading

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Tips for Newbies: Anatomy of a Book 2–Title/Copyright

In the previous entry, we described Front Matter. The mandatory parts of the Front Matter are the Title/Copyright pages. This can be the first page in your book.  The title page should be on the right side when you view … Continue reading

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Tips for Newbies: Anatomy of a Book

So, you’ve decided to self publish a paperback using POD (Print on Demand) technology. Here are some basics you need to know in order to fill out the forms properly. [My comments are based on using CreateSpace as a POD … Continue reading

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Are Stories Metal or Wood?

Jeffrey Forker posed this question on LinkedIn, after hearing two friends argue about the mechanics of writing. Apparently one referred to “tightening down the screws” on a story, and the other retorted “bolts”. That really got me thinking about how … Continue reading

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