Welcome

My author page is for you, as a reader, and maybe a writer. I'll use it mainly to promote my own writing, and my podcasts, but I'll also tell you about interesting books by other authors, and pass on some background on the life of a writer.  

I've published two novels, drafted several more, and written almost 200 Flash Fiction stories. Check out my Short Story List -comments are welcome. 

Below is information on my two novels, Kirk's Landing and Return to Kirk's Landing.

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The Trio

Well, it's been a while, but here's another Flash Fiction Friday offering. This one took a bit longer than the normal week - several, in fact. I'm trying to relax a bit and write without constant self-editing and the accompanying procrastination. Could be better, I'm sure, constructive criticism is welcome. 

The challenge was to write a story, examining a character, and the way they manage their stress. Plus, use a random character generator to give them three character traits. 1000 words max. I got naïve, caring and coarse, and decided to do as three characters. 

Like I said, took longer than planned and is a bit over at about 1080 words.

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Some thoughts on editing (edited)

I know the cost of an editor seems expensive to many writers, but like any profession, quality work will require expertise and time. If you are on a tight budget, there are many suitable tools out there to proof read and even copy edit (Grammarly, ProWritingAid, etc). I would use one of those to clean a novel up initially.
After this, money could be focused on hiring an editor that can look for plot holes, pacing, and character development issues, and also provide suggestions on improving your work. If that's still not in the budget, I would suggest find some Beta readers with those skills.
Once you deal with their feedback, you could start sending to agents and/or publishers. Or self publish, if that's your route.

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Some readings

I've been doing various readings via my Twitch stream, as a test. My son lent me a wireless webcam, which I've put in my 9th-floor window, to show off a lovely view of the park, the river, and the city. I decided to add some audio to the video, so I did some readings from various authors - Stephen Leacock, Mark Twain, P. G. Wodehouse, Lewis Carroll, A. A Milne. No editing, but I am pretty good at reading aloud it seems. I stream simultaneously to Twitch, Youtube and Facebook, but I think a podcast would be better. Too hard to manage via Facebook. I had looked into podcasting last year, and got stalled - time to kick-start my project, I think. You can find my stories so far archived on Youtube here.  


The Peripheral -by William Gibson

The Peripheral (The Peripheral #1)The Peripheral by William Gibson
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

2015 - I have enjoyed other books by Gibson, but found this one just too hard to get into. Maybe some character lists and careful re-reading would have helped, but I guess I just wasn't in the mood. Too many books to read/edit/write, and not enough time. I bailed at about the 30 page mark - sorry William.
Update - I usually like Gibson, so I really did want to like this book, so put a hold on it from my library. It popped up mid-move, but I tried to tackle it when I could.
Nope. Too confusing for me - storylines in the first 10 pages for Easy Ice, Netherton, patchers, Lorenzo, Daedra - a future world consumed with gaming and paparazzi - I got to page 51 this time.

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Mythos - by Stephen Fry

MythosMythos by Stephen Fry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well, I got to page 181 of 350. Not completely the author's fault, as this popped up on my library hold list mid-move. But I did work at it here and there.
It's the Greek myths retold by Stephen Fry - as advertised - and covers many many of the various deities. Too many for me, dozens and dozens it seems. Too much time at the start spent explaining the detailed genealogy and not enough of the fact-based fiction he is so good at, with Fry's wry sense of humour. I'd advise starting this 1/3 of the way through - you won't know exactly who is who, and which god married his mother that was also his daughter, but carry on.
I may re-read this later - I'll add it to the things I do when I have some spare time. or when I get old.

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A Zen Romance

This week's story was to be set in a bookstore, and include a random six words form a list of twenty. I got broken, music, mechanical, grubby, backpack, and cowboy. I've bolded the six words in my story. It took me much to long to get started, but I am happy with the result.  917 words, many of them good. 

Note:  These stories used to be posted on my Ravensview blog, but I'm going to start putting them here.

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