Would you believe that The Grapes of Wrath was an influence on the writing of The Martian Chronicles? Well, it’s true. When asked what author most influenced him, Ray Bradbury said Steinbeck. More specifically, Bradbury noted that he used The Grapes of Wrath as a model for The Martian Chronicles.…
A few days ago, I was pressing to complete a re-write of Search for the Host, the third in the Host series. I was actually doing pretty well. I was down to only 19 areas for corrections in the book which I had noted over two re-reads and re-writes. I…
We all need writing help. In my last writing retreat, Deb Cavanaugh mentioned something that I didn’t know (not the first time). She said that Harper Lee was essentially not alone in writing To Kill a Mockingbird. Based on my own experience, I can believe it. Lee did write the…
Oh boy, schedule delay again. I dragged my feet and now my proofreading won’t start until the first week in January. I wanted it to be in December, but I waited too long to schedule. My fault. I have the copy edits back for Books 1 and 2 but I’m…
I recently received an email inviting me to attend an on-line writing seminar with the above New Year’s heading. It’s a good question though I suspect it’s eclipsed by “I’m going to lose weight”, “I’m going to finish my degree”, “I’ll get a better job” and so forth. On the…
Ok. I reached a new milestone today! Books 1 and 2 have just been sent to the copy editor. . . finally! I’m sure they could be better, but sometimes in writing you get to the point of diminishing returns, when your head just won’t work anymore. Each time I do…
Editing continues. After writing my note on my US Naval Academy Classmates, I realized I haven’t talked much about what I’m doing now as far as writing is concerned. I have gone fishing a few times, but I’ll save that for later. About two weeks ago I finished making the…
Just came back from my third Write On the River experience at the home of Best Selling Author Bob Mayer and Deb Cavanaugh on the Tennessee River in Knoxville. It‘s a beautiful place as you can guess by the poster picture. And the two labs, Becca and Gus make you…
I’m just about finished with my second re-write of Future Discovered and am still amazed at how much I am learning and how much more I have to learn. Fortunately, my editor Tammy Slayer is really good and a great teacher as well. I mentioned that I had 125 comments…
Another step in the process was completed on July 29th and August 1st when I sent the second drafts of Future Discovered and Immortal Guardian back to the editor. I got the editors comments on Future Discovered a week after submission, and it was better than the first edit! Even…
