I’ll be one of the judges for the ConDFW short story contest so now is the time to get cranking. You still have a few months but you don’t want to end up writing something at the last minute. So what makes a contest-winning story? The same things that make a sellable story. Character, setting, plot, good writing. You know, that stuff. At this point I don’t know who all the other judges are going to Read more…
It was a weekend of good food, good friends, and copy edits. I do two passes — the first is the in-depth cleanup pass through the manuscript. The copyeditor has gone through in red pencil with corrections and queries. I go over her changes and add my own. I hardly ever stet a change. I know what it’s like to copyedit; these editors know grammar, punctuation, and style, and I figure they are the experts. When Read more…
Book 2 copy edits are coming along, but this is Thanksgiving week! There’s some serious food going on this week. We are sharing Thanksgiving this year with friends. I said I will make the cranberry sauce, a green salad, and a chocolate mocha pecan pie (and maybe a regular pecan pie too, because once you start one pecan pie, it’s easy enough to just make two). We’re frying a turkey — or rather, the guys Read more…