Now that the writing has been rolling along for the past few weeks, I’m going to try to get back to doing reviews as well. So, let’s call this “The Return of the Reynolds Review.” I’ve got a movie and a book in store, so stick around, kiddies. Lots of spoilers ahead, so I’mma not…
Ah, the life of an author. Drinking champagne, eating caviar, traveling to exotic locations where we write under the shade of a great tree while watching the lapping waves of the cobalt blue Mediterranean as they tease the sandy shore. Or not. Well, we’ll get there some day I hope. Probably not. 🙂 There’s a…
I want to get some thoughts down about my experiences during the past week before they begin to fade too much. I posted for friends and family on Facebook, so I’ll pull some of my words from those daily missives. I arrived on Saturday evening after swinging through New Jersey to pick up Elsa, another…
There are lots of different kinds of rejection letters you can receive as an author. The most common is the very impersonal form letter. The form letter always thanks you for your submission, then quickly proceeds to inform you that your story or novel “was not right for them at this time.” Fair enough. Is…
1600 miles in 4 days. 3 pitches in one morning. Lots of panels, authors, networking opportunities, and endless talk about writing. All of those are part of my GatewayCon experience. I couldn’t have asked for a better first writer’s conference to attend, it was wonderful. So here are my overall thoughts about the experience –…
Every writer goes through bouts of depression. Or more accurately I guess, bouts of self-doubt. I suppose right now I’m going through another one. It starts with queries. These sweet little letters of torture to agents and/or publishers drive me mad. I’ve read at least a hundred of them now, examples of successful ones, and…
Crotchety is one of those rarely used words that should be thrust back into the spotlight again. And I’m just the crotchety old bastard to do so. So bear with me as I go all “get off my lawn” on your asses. That’s just how I roll. According to the much loved and every popular…
Being a good sport is hard, particularly when you’ve tried – and failed – multiple times at something. But it’s a requirement for living life the right way, so you suck it up and do it. Period. Take Pitchmadness/Pitchwars. I’ve participated several times now (3 total I think). All three times I failed to make…
The past year has been a year of milestones for me. I wrote 350,000 words last year in new fiction, finished the first draft of my second novel, worked hard to find someone interested in my first novel (still no luck), and completed a bunch of short stories. I also completed my fifth year with…
A new year has arrived. Normally this is a cause for pausing and reflecting on everything that came the year before, the good and the bad, and setting goals for the next one to come. But after watching the world lurch hard to the right, watching thinly masked racists gain power as they threaten to…