Telling Your Story: As Fact or Fiction?

You've lived an interesting/horrible/painful/amazing life and you want to share your story with the world in order to entertain/warn/help others. Cool! But you need to ask yourself a simple question (or two) first. The answers won't be simple, but the questions are. Will you be telling your story as a fictional tale? Or will you...

The Master of My Own Domain…Name.

I'm a wee bit odd, but unless you're new here, you knew that already. I like websites that don't exist. I don't just like them, I own some. (This is where you ask "Why would a usually semi-half-sane writer want to own fake domain names?") (And this is where I answer such an insightful query)...

Mentors Make the World Go ‘Round

...someone who takes you under their wing, guides you, encourages you, and watches your back that you have what I believe to be a true mentor.

Genre-Hopping on One Foot

Hi. My name is Tim. I'm a writer with a problem. Hi Tim. My problem may seem simple to some, irrelevant to others, and overwhelming to one or two of you. You see, I can't pick just one genre to write in. So far I have published novels in Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, and Fantasy;...

Life is What Happens When You’re Making Other Plans

Yes, I know it has been awhile since I've posted any words of wit and wisdom here, but it's not like I haven't been writing, I just haven't been writing here. I finished the first book in my retiree mystery series (it's being read by an agent at the time of writing) and started the...

5 Tim’s Writerly Secrets

Well then. Robert Bose thinks that because he’s challenged me to reveal five author/editor secrets that I’m just going to give away my treasures for free. Ha! Not likely! I’m just going to make some crap up and hope that makes him happy. 1. If YOU don’t love the story you’re writing, then no one...

I’m Not a Machine!

Some people are under the impression that I've written all three novels recently. Not at all. The fantasy took more than three years to write and was finished last summer. The thriller took over three years to write and was just finished last week. The mystery took six months to write and was just finished...

Write, dammit, write!

Okay. A short note. I've just sent two manuscripts off to agents for consideration, and one is ready, willing, and able to go off to a publisher for a look-see. A psychological thriller, a mystery, and a fantasy quest. That means it's time.... to finish the next one, which is really the first one. The...

Mostly about Beta Readers

I had hoped for a big weekend of writing but decided that naps were important, too. I managed to clear the 70,000-word hurdle, with 5 days left to reach 80,000, though. Yah. No problemo. One of the harder parts of writing the first draft of a mystery novel is fighting the temptation to go back...

Stop Believing in Soul Mates

In the News this week: A boy murdered a girl because she broke up with him. Then he died from a gunshot wound. While we're pointing fingers at his father for owning the gun, or the mental health industry for not seeing whatever they didn't see, or the gun lobby for being the gun lobby,...