Giving Up and Letting Go

There’s a difference between giving up and letting go. This week I had perhaps my last face to face encounter with a colleague named Angela, whom I greatly respect. She really sees me. She sees beneath my superficial polish to the interesting person that’s underneath it. Practically no one...
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Closure

No, I don’t plan to stop writing. I do plan, however, to stop rewriting my first novel, A FALSE DAWN. I’m now working on the fourth – fourth – version of the book. Who self-publishes four versions of the same book? Some people tell me I’m obsessed with getting...
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Here We Go Again

I’m revising my first novel, A FALSE DAWN. I’ve decided to go through the tedium of revising, proofreading and reprinting my book because, four years after it came out, I’ve received enough good feedback (all from women readers) telling me that changes were necessary. More than necessary. I’ve determined...
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Bowing to the Inevitable?

I’m considering hiring a social media specialist, for advice on how to try to reach audiences in ways that I never have before. Yes, this is a blog site, but nobody reads it. I have no idea how to “drive” people to this site. “Driving” makes it sound like...
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Writing a YA Novel

I’ve written a new novel that is so short I think it will have to be a YA (young adult) novel. Which is, now that I think about it, a terrible reason to label it “YA.” Just because it’s short does not mean that young readers will automatically enjoy...
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This Isn’t Working

It’s time for a new approach to inviting readers to experience my books. History doesn’t bring people to my face-to-face lectures. And writing these missives on WordPress, while fun for me, does not attract a lot of attention. It’s not your fault, dear reader (who mostly isn’t there). The...
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You Have to Be Selling

All the time, of course when you’re not writing, but even when you are, you have to be selling; that is, figuring out how you’re going to bring your newest “masterpiece” to the attention of the world. Over the past four years, I’ve done a lot of slide lectures...
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All You Can Do

I always go back and forth about why my novel has not received more attention or a stronger response from readers. I need to keep telling myself that all I can do as a novelist is the best of which I am capable. If I do my best, if...
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Writing About Women

Since my novels all center around lead characters who are women, I often get asked, “How does a guy write about women? And why?” One irate woman asked me once, “What makes you an expert on women?” All perfectly good questions. My first answer is simply that women characters...
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New Book, New Plan

The writing feels wonderful, but not the marketing. I’m working on my third book in the LOUISE trilogy, a short novel that might work well for a young-adult audience. With a new book, however, you generally need a new plan for promoting it, and you have to start thinking...
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