The Blue Night Blog

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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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Two posts today, because I’m likely to get distracted and forget this one. Into every life must come some garage cleaning. Like many artists, I have paintings. Big ones, left over from a stint as a commercial decor artist for a company that only wanted canvases 36″ x 24″ or larger. And then promptly went…

Read More Bronze Oasis (art)
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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
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If I had to plot out and embroider a large-ish beaded tapestry all in one go, I’d drive myself madder than I already am. Thankfully, through the magic of piecework and applique, I can do little bits of it at a time, while aiming for that final 24″ x 36″ wall hanging piece. Some of…

Read More Spring Moon embroidery
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)
by 2 comments on "Blue Corn Chain"

I put this up on Pinterest, but it deserves a mention here. Blue Corn Chain is a necklace I originally finished in 1999. It’s a 37-link chain made of multicolored peyote stitch segments 6 beads wide and 24 beads long (before joining into a link). The colors are dark red, bright red, blue-purple, turquoise, teal,…

Read More Blue Corn Chain
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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
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Part 1. Last Saturday I was fortunate enough to attend another one of the Origins Project presentations at Arizona State University’s Gammage theater. ‘Transcending Our Origins’ was a wonderful group presentation across many scientific fields of expertise, including astrophysics, political science, human evolutionary medicine, criminology, biological anthropology, business, and genomics. The presenters were Lawrence Krauss,…

Read More The Origins Project, and more good news