Just Keep Writing...
One piece of advice I've been given multiple times is: send out your work, then start writing something else. Always be working on something.
Last week, I had that reaffirmed. In December of 2023, I submitted a story to Collective Madness. There...
A Tribute to Dad
In 1976 Al Carlisle was one of a team of psychologists who performed a 90-day diagnostic evaluation of Ted Bundy while he was in the Utah State Prison. He'd been convicted of attempted kidnapping. As far as anyone knew, this was his first crime.
Al,...
Plantsing
Plantsing
I'm a plantser. I'm part planner and part pantser. When I write, I come up with my characters, my setting, the basic story, a few key plot points I want to hit or things I want to happen, and a basic ending to work towards....
2023 (and maybe some 2022) front page thoughts
It's December, and I am woefully behind in a lot of things.
The Woolley Awards were announced just over a week ago. I did far better than I expected. While I submitted 20 poems in three categories, I honestly hoped for two or three of them to win...
Two books and a renewed determination
It's been a crazy few months.
I wrote 70,000 words for NaNo in November, then kept working on the book in December and January. I'm finally to the final conflict and probably over 100,000 words, so it'll need to be cut back, but it gives me...
A Light in the Darkness
As I've mentioned before, I was born with a genetic disorder that will eventually lead to total blindness. It's not uncommon in my family. One brother and several cousins have it, as well as other relatives. I was legally blind by the time I turned...
Mentors and Contests and Reviews, Oh My!
I have been writing, off and on, for a long time. I'd go through spurts of activity, then get busy with other things and not do much for a while, then have another spurt of activity.
I wrote a number of poems and stories in college and...
Find Your Niche
Well, my track record for getting into the HWA's Poetry Showcase remains unbroken. I didn't even get the formal, we enjoyed your poem but... I got a brief, "we did not accept your poem". It's not the first time, and it won't be the last. I either have...
Seeing the Fruits of My Labors
For me as a writer, this has been an incredible year. It started last fall when I submitted stories and poems to several anthologies and to a magazine.
But it wasn't until this year that those bore fruit. Well, except for one anthology....
Using Pseudonyms
This is a sample blog post
I've been on a couple of panels about pseudonyms over the years. I use one. Soon I'll have two. So, I thought I'd share why.
As I've said before, my first publication was in high school, thanks...