Newsletter 041 – June 23, 2023 Hi, Disclaimer: This newsletter and the eight that will follow it were written in advance. This was done to allow me to focus on tasks I have to complete before I can publish my next books (Flood and Fire and Jagged Man). Update (6-22-2023): I have been adding to …
Newsletter 039 – May 26, 2023 Hi, Quick Update: The first draft of Flood and Fire is now about 26,000 words, but far from complete. I’m working on it a couple of hours a day, in between video training on some of the software I’ll talk about below. I usually lose a quarter of the …
Newsletter 035 – March 24, 2023 Hi, In the previous newsletter I mentioned that I do try to write and edit for several hours each day, but sometimes life’s little interruptions keep that from happening. I’m often awake before sunrise, and a recent day was no exception. That day I woke up around 5:00 am …
Newsletter 009 – February 25th, 2022 Hi, About the image above: Late in the afternoon on May 15th, 2010, Minay and I arrived in the town of Little Sutton, about five miles across the River Mersey from the Beatles’ original stomping grounds. I desperately wanted to go over and wander along Penny Lane and see …
Throughout the centuries, left-handers have been maligned, and often forced into right-handedness (especially as concerns, but not limited to, their handwriting). I’m left-handed, and at a very early age I became convinced that the deck was stacked against me. When we were first learning to write cursive in school, my teacher tried to make me …
Recently I was asked to interview for a member profile for a group I belong to, The Gutsy Great Novelist. Here’s a copy of it. Let’s begin with your origin story. When did you first realize you wanted to write a novel? Was there a particular person or experience that inspired you I think I’ve …
fallow, adjective. 2: dormant, inactive —used especially in the phrase to lie fallow A New First Post The final posts in my previous blog were written in 2016, roughly five years ago. What was happening between then and now? Why did I let those websites lie fallow all that time? I could make a number …
[Originally posted on my former blog, Michael Runs the Gamut] I’ve been involved in creative fields most of my life (actor, deejay, voice work, photography, graphic design, etc.), so I understand how much work goes into the product before the public gets to see it. Rehearsing for a play is often six to eight weeks …
[Originally posted on my former blog, Michael Runs the Gamut] I was honored to be interviewed recently by the nice folks at Scribe, the Writers’ League of Texas’ blog, for their Meet the Members segment. It posted today. Here’s a copy of the interview. MEET THE MEMBERS Posted by Writers’ League Staff, March 17, 2014 …
[Originally posted on my former blog, Michael Runs the Gamut] I have (over the past two years) written a few posts about the idea of using the phrase “What if” as an idea generator for developing a plot. “What if” novels are often about large historical events, like Kennedy’s assassination, the D-Day invasion, or the …