I 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.
Living 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 MoreWhen I began writing The Long Way Home I planned on it being a novelette of about 8,000 words.
Sometimes a story has a mind of its own. The completed manuscript turned into a 21,000-word novella. As with Nightmare in Slow Motion, readers of the Strengthen What Remains novels have seen part of the story, and many have asked me to fill in the blanks.
Read MoreMy friend Debby Lee is changing.
Many writers are shy, solitary, individuals that like nothing more than writing their stories and sending them off to agents and publishers. When I first met Debby I saw that reticence in her.
Read MoreSomeone once said, “There is no such thing as bad publicity.” I’m not sure that’s true, but in this case, I was very happy to see my name mentioned several times in The Chronicle, my local paper. A friend of mine, Julie McDonald Zander, writes a column for the newspaper and recently called me. Her first questions were when and why I started self-publishing. I told her I started my business in August of 2013, but I prefer the term indie-publishing.
Read MoreA friend of mine sent me a picture, and that gave me an idea.
My wife usually gets a worried look when I have ideas, but I think this is a good one. My friend, Jennifer, took a picture of her husband reading my book, Braving the Storms. An idea came to me as I looked at the picture.
Read MoreHow many people does it take to create a novel?
Recently I watched X-Men Apocalypse with one of my sons. At the end of the action, we waited to see if there were any post-credit scenes (there is). As we watched the endless scroll of credits we discussed how many people were involved in the production of my last novel, Braving the Storms.
Read MoreWattpad and Smashwords are coordinating the promotion of thriller genre books. Smashwords founder, Mark Coker, selected the books and they are featured on Wattpad. Through Many Fires was chosen to be included and will be serialized on Wattpad over the next couple of months.
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