At least not on Christmas Day.
I posted this earlier because, on this day when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I’m going to be with family and friends and hopefully have a joyful Christmas day.
Read MoreI started this blog on August 21, 2012, with the release of my first book, Titan Encounter. Most of those posts are now in what I call the “Early Blog.” I’m gradually updating their format and bringing them into this new journal. Back then the sole purpose of the blog was to promote my books, but gradually that changed.
That’s how it started but, over the years, I’ve mused about other things that are important to me, such as my family, my farm, rural life, and occasionally about politics and country. However, I try to limit the politics in this journal. If you want to know more about my political leaning go to The Conservative Alternative.
At least not on Christmas Day.
I posted this earlier because, on this day when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I’m going to be with family and friends and hopefully have a joyful Christmas day.
Read MoreAs I gazed at three recent pictures it occurred to me that each had something to say about where and how I live.
The first picture is of my friend Pat and me (blue shirt) standing in the middle of the dirt road that passes in front of his house. We were waiting for a friend who had never been there before and the road seemed like a good place to keep an eye out for her.
Read MoreI enjoy National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
During the month of November, the NaNoWriMo goal is to write 50,000 words of a novel. I have a strong internal editor that always wants to correct or improve what I’ve written, so I’ve never been able to write 50,000 words in a month. But, I love the comradery of fellow authors and enjoy watching as they work to achieve their writing goals.
Read MoreI had to deal with a crime a few days ago.
I’ve done well as a writer. Every year I sell more books than the previous year, but I’m still small enough to know all of my online book distributors, Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play, iTunes, and a few more. So, when I received word that my novel Through Many Fires was available on Behance.net I was immediately suspicious.
Read MoreI am a happy man.
Author rankings change constantly, and I tend to be more focused on writing and sales than my position on Amazon, but when I break into the top 10—well, I’ve just got to lean back and enjoy the moment.
Read MoreScary things are a natural part of Halloween.
So, my contribution to this frightening time is to make the ebook edition of Through Many Fires available to more people. Now and through the end of Halloween, Through Many Fires is available for 99 cents.
Read MoreLiving close to nature means that there are annual chores that must be performed.
On a sunny day last week, I took some time off from writing and prepared the farm for winter. I opened the one beehive we have this year and made sure the colony was healthy. The workers had sealed every crevice and joint with propolis, a good sign. I added a special insulation box to the top and slid in a bottom board. Winter is a hard time for bees, but the colony is now as ready as it can be.
Read MoreThis year’s Southwest Washington Writers Conference is over and we’re already being asked if there will be one next year.
Yes. As some of you know I’ve been involved in the planning of this conference from the start and this year, like those past, it did well. The organizing committee quickly decided to proceed with the fourth annual conference.
Read MoreThe third annual Southwest Washington Writers Conference was held this last weekend in Centralia, a nearby town to where I live in western Washington state. I’ve been involved in the planning and operation of this conference all three years, and believe this conference was the best one yet.
Read MoreI’m excited to announce that the print editions of my novels are now available on Walmart.com.
Since writing is my business I work hard to expand the distribution of my stories, but I didn’t have anything to do with the addition of Walmart distribution. I didn’t even realize my books were on Walmart.com until a fellow author mentioned that their books were. So I checked.
Read MoreWell, at least at my house.
As I write this, the service has been down for eight days. Fortunately, the phone part of the service still works so I’ve been able to call (nag?) my provider, CenturyLink.
Read MoreThis has been my best year.
Since I released my debut novel, Titan Encounter, in 2012, my book sales have grown each year, but this year has been exceptional. With more than a third of the year remaining, my sales have already exceeded those of 2015.
Read MoreTonight the Cascade Awards were presented at the Oregon Christian Writers Conference.
During the awards dinner, I sat with friends Barbara Blakey and Kristie Kandoll. Barbara is a past Cascade Award winner and Kristie was up for the Unpublished Historical Fiction Award tonight along with another friend, Julie McDonald. I really expected one of them to walk away with the award, but the winner was the third finalist, Kathleen Freeman, with her book Children of the Revolution.
Read MoreI had a chance to talk with author and editor Ben Wolf on my second day at the Oregon Christian Writers conference.
Ben edited my upcoming novel Seekers of Earth, and will be editing the second book in the series, Recall the Earth.
Read MoreI never set out to make book proposals to agents and publishers. I’m a successful indie publisher, what could a traditional publisher do for me? Well, I put that question to Sue Brower, vice president of acquisitions for Gilead Publishing, at the first dinner of the conference.
Read MoreThis Thursday, August 11th, I’ll be on the Prepping for Tomorrow podcast with bestselling author Bobby Akart.
Bobby is a five-time Amazon Top 50 author of seven number one bestsellers in both fiction (Blackout Series and Boston Brahmin Series) and non-fiction (Prepping for Tomorrow Series) genres.
Read More