Most of this blog is about writing, so most of the posts will be categorized, ‘Writing’. You can select this if you don’t care about anything that’s not writing.
Just a friendly reminder that applications are now being accepted for Viable Paradise 15, to take place this coming October in scenic Martha’s Vineyard. SF/F writers should seriously consider applying. Why? As a VP student you’ll make use of five important resources: The instructors. Award-winning writers and editors who will read your story and tell […]
(Update: I’ve posted more on this subject here) In my professional life, I deal with metrics on a regular basis. Computer and network security in particular is (in my opinion) struggling with the transition from a qualitative to quantitative field. And hey, at heart I’m a quant: I find it easier to improve aspects of […]
How appropriate that I have a crick in my neck! 2010 is the year I got serious about writing: No more fiddling around writing (just) for my friends, no more getting one rejection and sulking for months. All together, I figure I wrote about 50,000 words of fiction this year. I didn’t sell a damn thing, but […]
In a sense, I’ve been writing for a long time. I started writing little stories for myself in grade school (mostly inspired by television), and by the time I got to high school I was writing short stories to pass around to my friends. I even wrote a few one-act plays that were performed. In […]
I just sent off my 20th fiction submission since I started writing again last year! Those 20 submissions are of six stories, four of them mysteries. I only have one complete story I’ve never submitted, and I have one story that I submitted seven times. (“Till Hell won’t have it” indeed…) All submissions were rejected, […]
The always-fascinating Jim Macdonald wrote a post some years back on the Absolute Write forums (you’re a member, right?) on the subject of becoming an instant expert in a subject.* There’s nothing hugely ground-breaking here, and yet… nobody ever really bothers to spell out this process, do they? To summarize (though you should read his post): […]
A month and a half after VP, and my submission piece is about ready to go. I got a lot of good feedback and advice on this one, and (after giving it a month to sink in so the text would be fresh to me) I have finally gone through it all, listened again to […]
This weekend was busy as hell — among other things we had to finish insulating the kitchen ceiling. Three micro-centuries in a Tyvek bunny suit working over my head. Yay. But as you can see, it really needed to be done: I had expected to be trying to steal time this weekend to work on […]
Spent part of the evening talking over my short story The Body and the Bomb with Marko. This is an Inspector Crandall mystery, one I’ve several I’ve written, in which I had experimented with having a co-investigator, local Constable Nouri. One of his comments sort of threw me for a loop: I don’t really need […]
I’ve hit pause on my NaNoWriMo progress for a few days in order to fulfill a few other major obligations, particularly, writing and practicing a lengthy talk I’m giving Tuesday. Also, I’ve been feeling ill yesterday and today, though I’m hoping that will pass. I’m expecting to restart Tuesday evening, but that means that I’m […]
John P. Murphy 