Writing

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…has really been going on since Wednesday night, for a lot of people. I plan to be there sometime tomorrow, Saturday June 7. I’m not on panels, I’m not pitching my book, I’m not in the dealer’s room. I’m just going for fun. Here’s the main page:  https://www.phoenixcomicon.com/page/1 So, it’s not as huge as San…

Read More 2014 Phoenix Comic Con
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Listing my writing projects reminds me I’m not just doing this for myself anymore. Not only are a plaintive agent and a few editors counting on me, I actually have a few hundred readers waiting for me to get my act together. Writers stop or pause writing for all kinds of reasons. For me, over…

Read More Current manuscript list
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…especially when I find out that some anonymous, enterprising soul has just read and given me kudos on my old, obscure fanfiction pieces on AO3. Most of  ’em. Maybe around 20 of them. Stuff I haven’t even looked at in years.   Dude/Dudette/Dudeperson, I totally adore you right now.

Read More I love my fans
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In 2000, the same year Meisha Merlin published Grimsley’s Kirith Kirin, they also published the anthology containing my first-ever pro short fiction sale. In another universe, Meisha Merlin would have survived and possibly published my debut novel (whichever one that turned out to be.) MM had a rep for taking on daring, quirky books that…

Read More Kirith Kirin, by Jim Grimsley
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At least one major SFF publisher* has cottoned on to something that small-press digital romance publishers and many self-publishers already know. The e-book market had revitalized the novella format and made it so profitable that novellas and novelettes are all many erotic romance authors publish. In wider self-published genres, shorter fiction is also well-represented. Tor.com…

Read More Return of the SFF novella?
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Gone at the age of 86. …But to describe her as only a poet denies the scope of her life and work. Great poetry is dear to me, all the more because I am a lackluster poet. Maya remains a titan and an inspiration, and the world is a darker place because her flame isn’t…

Read More Maya Angelou, poet
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In honor of Douglas Adams, the universe of ‘the Hitchhiker’ s Guide to the Galaxy’, bemused travelers everywhere, and the elusive recipe that is the *real* PanGalactic Gargleblaster…don’t go anywhere without your towel. Towelday.org will tell you more.  

Read More Happy towel day
by 4 comments on "R.I.P. Mary Stewart,17 September 1916 – 10 May 2014"

I just found out that British author Mary Stewart died a few days ago. Three writers defined my introduction to ‘grown-up’ writing when I was around ten or eleven years old: J.R.R. Tolkien, Andre Norton, and Mary Stewart. By ‘grown-up’, I don’t really mean the kinds of ultra-explicit adult fare I often read and write…

Read More R.I.P. Mary Stewart,17 September 1916 – 10 May 2014
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Don’t get me wrong: I like Writer’s Digest and Publishers Weekly, and many of the other paid periodicals and free forums aimed at writers. They often have tips I can use, or inspiring stories and interviews. Publishing industry periodicals give those of us outside the NY environment an invaluable glimpse into the industry. When I…

Read More Caveat Emptor: writers’ magazines
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Informed persons tell me literary agents and editors have learned to dread the first week of December. Why? Many NaNoWriMo (November is National Novel Writing Month) newbies, flush with the endorphin high of finishing large blocks of text, immediately send out queries for those miraculous manuscripts. Or the entire manuscript, depending on the market and…

Read More Editing strategies for fiction
by 6 comments on "Sneak Peek Sunday – Moro’s Shield, M/M space opera romance"

As promised, here are six non-explicit paragraphs of Moro’s Shield, the sequel to Moro’s Price. I offer no explanations of the action, or any promise that the published version will even look like this. It’s why they call these rough drafts, or Works in Progress, after all… *** “Ready?” asked the Ambassador. “Val, you need…

Read More Sneak Peek Sunday – Moro’s Shield, M/M space opera romance
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For my wonderful readers who keep buying my crazy book, and telling other people about it, I’m working up a tiny reward.  This upcoming Sunday I’ll be posting a rough draft excerpt of Moro’s Shield here, and linked here: http://sneak-peek-sunday.blogspot.com/ This will be a non-explicit, six-paragraph look at what the boys will be doing in…

Read More Sneak Peek Sunday alert
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Here’s a useful resource even if you don’t write for stage or screen: Scriptshadow. One of the most-referenced scriptwriting sites on the internet, this is a trove of sold-but-as-yet-unproduced scripts, calls for entry, industry news, and insightful essays on aspects of scriptwriting. It’s been two decades since I last wrote a script. But a couple of recent…

Read More Writing resource: Scriptshadow
by 2 comments on "Games Boys Play, by Zoe Rider (adult content advisory)"

My fellow Loose Id author Zoe Rider has a new book out this week: a M/M contemporary erotic romance called Games Boys Play. It’s edgy, funny, and rather sweet (but don’t think that takes away from the sizzling bondage-play or character angst!) Here is the buy link from Loose Id. Here’s a great character interview, and…

Read More Games Boys Play, by Zoe Rider (adult content advisory)
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…Because stuff like this keeps happening, to people who should maybe know better, but let greed, hope, and inexperience cloud their judgment. Case 1. Silver Publishing When I first started looking at publishing erotic romance in the summer of 2011, there was a rock-star publisher rising in the ranks, with some gorgeous covers, great writers,…

Read More Why we research publishers