The Blog

It was brilliant. I think they are planning a horror week next.  Some of the days recorded events can be found on YouTube.  Day 2: Of the three events, one 2 were of interest. As I had work the next morning, I watched the replays and really enjoyed "editing with ProWritingAid", although I have edited a book with the program there seems to be more options that I wasn't aware of how to use.  Day 3:  On this day, I only wanted to see: Thriller Writer Panel Discussion (12 PM ET / 5 PM UK). And it was a real blast. Some insightful thoughts and a barrel of laughs.  Day 4: There were 5 events. I wanted to see all of them but missed a couple (lucky there were all recorded and placed online). I did see: How to Market Your Self-Published Crime Novel. I'm not planning of self publishing but still got a few good tips/ideas.  The Interview with Fiona Cummins was great as well. I especially liked (and can relate to) her editor asking if she was writing crime or...

Late 2019, my wife and I were approached by performance company to translate Rakugo plays for a New York audience. It wasn't as easy as I first thought. You see, Rakugo is a very traditional art form of story telling. There's a man (or woman) sitting on his/her knees, telling a story. Usually funny. Rarely scary. The stories were developed in the Edo period (1603–1868).  The New York performance was cancelled due to Covid-19. It was also cancelled for this year as well. But the students (performers all 55+ years old) had practiced for a year. Most do not speak any English. They did a good job.  I say Rakugo play because this wasn't a traditional performance. There were 8 or 9 people and they acted the story. There were also some songs and dance routines. But they made them funny. It's hard to explain the actual performance as a bit of Japanese ancient culture knowledge is required. They did have a lady standing to one side to introduce the story, with a bit of the backg...

  We kicked off with Leigh Russell. A lady who first got published in 2009 and now has 25 books out and a contract for four more. She spoke of her experiences with setting/structure/plot and characters. It was an interesting hour, getting her perspectives and a few questions answered. She has 89 more question available at Facebook on the pro writing aid hosted group.  There was a brief mention that Leigh doesn't use an outline. Me neither. I posted this on Twitter, this afternoon I'm a discovery writer. I can't stick to my outline. An outline is a lighted highway from point A to point B. Usually I veer off at the nearest exit. The dark and unlit road offers tastes unexplored. #writer #marketing #writing #writerslife   An astute viewer commented that 'pantsers' (I say, Discovery Writers--it's more eloquent) outline in their head as they go along. I can't say that's wrong. I usually play out a scene in my head while walking the dogs. While the idea is fres...

Cover make make or break a book. Truth be told, a great cover gets us to glance at the book, pick it up and read the back copy (blurb) to see if it is for us.  Does it sound exciting?  Does the language pop?  Important questions. The same questions sound be asked of your cover. Does it look exciting? Does the image pop? There are some shocking covers out there. Some are mine. LOL. But true.  I always believed a cover should preview what the book is about. Recently, I've discovered that's not exactly true. There are a lot of legacy published titles that have awesome covers that have nothing to do with the story (mostly, not always. For example: T. M. Logan's covers --so far-- match the story).  Let's look at a couple of examples:     The links to these books are below (not aff links). Dancing girls is a beautiful cover.   Keeping in mind that all these book covers are stunning and seem not to relate that much to the story, I decided to pop ove...

Hello all, I'm debating on whether or not to us a pen name for my crime novels. You see, way back in 2001 when I made my first sale, I used the name Richard Lee ( http://threeand10.com ). In 2009 a publisher of my second novel, The Last Church convinced me to use my real name. Although I announced the name change to my massive Ning group, MySpace and Twitter, not a lot of people took notice and The Last Church didn't sell as well as it should have with the Richard Lee brand. I had no idea about branding back then. Now, I do. In 2015, I returned to write under the Richard Lee brand and some comments I got were: I wondered what happened to you. Welcome back, Dude.  Missed you. Are you still writing? etc. My books now sell in several languages. Richard Lee wrote horror and science fiction (usually blended together).  Now that I'm writing crime, ( http://www.thriller.nz ) I decided to switch to my real name, and start crime fiction branding (no idea how to do that). But, now I...

 Damn these look good. 

See you there! I've signed up.   Have you always wanted to write a thriller? This is the event for you. ProWritingAid's Crime Writer’s Week is a series of events all geared towards crime writers. Whether you're crafting a police procedural, a whodunnit, or a good old-fashioned mystery, you'll learn how to keep readers turning pages. Attend live sessions with bestselling authors, including  Karin Slaughter ,  Lisa Gardner ,  Ian Rankin ,  Peter James ,  F iona Cummins ,   and more. Crime Writer’s Week is jam-packed with events for crime authors. Get insider publishing advice from the  Deputy Publishing Director for Crime Fiction at Simon & Schuster , attend workshops on writing and editing your novel, and learn from real police advisors to help make your book truly authentic.  As a Crime Writer's Week participant, you get access to: Training, workshops, and Q&As specifically curated for crime writers Daily networking events w...

Over at #Reddit, I stumbled upon a Tictok thread.  It was a rabbit hole of the abyss.  Some things cannot be unseen, like Barbie III.  However there was this video that cracked me up.  I've posted it here for you. I walked the madness of TicTok, so you don't have to.  You're welcome. 

  This is good. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.  #motovation Find your path. The choice is within you.  #inspiration   #mindfulness

 This even has ended.  Fantasy Writing Master Techniques Everything you need to add depth and texture to your fantasy stories Next week, ProWritingAid is hosting its first ever Fantasy Writer's Week, a series of events with fantasy experts who will help you develop and strengthen your writing process. To get you in the fantasy-writing mood, we've collected our best fantasy writing articles together in this newsletter.  Writing a fantasy novel isn't easy. With far-reaching plots, large character casts and vast worlds that you'll build from the metaphorical ground up, there's a lot to consider before you start writing.  This can be daunting, but don't worry! Keep reading to find detailed guides to help you create convincing characters, immerse your reader in your world and even create whole new species. We also get into the nitty-gritty of outlining and plotting your novel.  Whatever stage of the fantasy writing process you're at, there's something here f...

Did you miss me? Probably not, judging by the amount of comments I get.  LOL I must apologize for not being on here as much as I should, I've been fuck-arse busy with work, my own mini school here in Japan and editing Death World. Not going as fast as I'd like. Also, I'm searching for an online place to write instead of using my trusted scrivener as I now write in two or three locations with my Mac (11 years old), desktop (at home) and the work laptop (a low-end Dell--cheap bastards. It died on the second day, and I only used it for a few hours). The Quill looks great but no prices have yet been supplied. Some monthly subscription fees are sky-high. Some of the free ones are dodgy i.e. the blog hasn't been updated in a few years. I can't trust that my work would be safe there. I know use Goggle Docs, or ZOHO docs, or even, Readsy. And I've used all of them, and Word, also Word Online (not 365). ZOHO was the best. Reminded me a little of Pages. ...

 #Writing Because of one author in the UK So, I have been writing for many, many years. In my teenage years I was too much into sex, drugs and rock n roll. Nothing too heavy. This was New Zealand way back in the 80's. From 14-24, I barely wrote a word. A few short stories here and there. Stories that moved into a box and stayed there. I still have that box of work, but it is inaccessible as the storage key is lost and the government owner apartment in run by people who don't give a shit. (Gee, I thought I was over losing that box. Guess not.) Recently, I listened to R. R. Haywood's awesome book, A Town Called Discovery. And I noticed something. To confirm, and because I loved the book, I bought Extracted and listened to that (Review soon). I would like to thank R. R. Haywood for showing me something many books and YouTube videos couldn't. How to move up to the next level. The thing that stalled me at the small press. It's a little thing, but to clean requires...

  A king gift for ya'll via:  StephenKing.com “Stephen has written a new short story, “Laurie,” which is available now as a free download exclusively on  stephenking.com . You may download and/or print the sto ry for yourself or to pass along to others, but may not charge any money to share it.” I have lost a lot of faith in King and his ability to horrify me. The movies do a good job (IT), but his books seem to wane from the midway point and I often close the book--and curse. Can one outgrow an author that gave many hours of joy? An author whom held the attention of this fella from the age of 10?  For those who still rock out on King and (Koontz) Here’s the link to King's present: https://stephenking.com/other/stephenking-laurie.pdf