Archive | December, 2016

Supporting Fellow Writers

20 Dec

003Before I forget, which I have a tendency to do lately (hey, I’m old, live with it), I want to give a shout out to my online Lil Sis, Cynthia.  She has this great offer for those of you who like to meditate or who like coloring in coloring books….follow this link to her blog and you can download a free meditating coloring book.  No tricks to this offer…absolutely free!

Okay, let’s get down to business!

OH, HELL, ONE MORE PLUG

Why not, right?  If I can’t support friends on my own blog then who can I support?

Mike Friedman is his name, and if you’ve never read one of this short stories about the Carriage Driver, then you are missing out.  So let’s correct that deficiency.  Mike has two books out about the Carriage Driver, and here is the link that will take you to those books.  Great Christmas gifts for anyone who likes to read….I promise! Mike is also the guy who does the covers for my books, so his talent knows no bounds.

Okay, let’s get down to it!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.” Pete Carroll
THOUGHT OF THE DAY

Now I’m talking to all of you, my writer friends, and it’s a message I’m very passionate about.

We need each other!

I’m still blown away, and confused, by this phenomenon where our families don’t really support our writing endeavors.  I’ve heard this over and over again from so many writers, and it’s just the strangest damned thing.  I can’t wrap my brain around the why of it.  I just published my fifth full-length novel and, besides Bev, the rest of my family was pretty ambivalent about it, and I know many of you understand that and have had the same thing happen to you.

So, we need each other.  We need our writing friends to offer words of encouragement. We need our writing friends to share our work on social media.   We need our writing friends to offer suggestions and give advice.

We need each other!

This is not a competition.  I know some writers who think it is, who think, by helping another writer, they are taking sales away from themselves.  I know other writers who feel they don’t have time to support others.

It’s all nonsense!

We need each other!

PLAN FOR THE DAY

I’m going to challenge each of you.  I’m going to challenge you to support a writer today, either with words of encouragement, or by sharing their work, or, if you have the money, by buying one of their books.  Reach out and give of yourselves.  I really do believe this is important for each of us to do….and no, I’m not talking about supporting me in this challenge. I get more than enough support from all of you.

Are you up for the challenge?

THANKS TO BUDDY GREG

My friend Greg, a fine freelancer in his own right, offered up this new site where freelance writing jobs are posted…it’s called XPlace and you can find it here.  Check it out if you’re looking to make some money.untitled-8

THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY

I’ll see you next week.  I want to wish you all a very Happy and Blessed Holiday Season, and if this isn’t a time of celebrating for you, I wish you a blessed life.

Thank you!

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

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Shameless Self-Promotion

13 Dec

untitled-8It’s finally here!

Cue the song “Shameless” because that’s what this post is all about.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Without promotion, something terrible happens… nothing!” P. T. Barnum

PROMOTION OF THE DAY

I really spend very little time actually hawking my books.  In a perfect world, my perfect world, my books would sell themselves without me once dipping a toe into Lake Self-Promotion.  Wouldn’t that be a lovely situation?

But this isn’t a perfect world, and if I don’t promote my work occasionally, who in the world will do it for me?

So it is with great pride that I announce the release of my new thriller,

SHADOWS OVER A HANGMAN’S NOOSE!

It is now available on Amazon, Kindle, and CreateSpace, and I sure hope you purchase it as a Christmas present for friend or family, or as a gift for yourself.

I make this promise about this thriller: it’s the best thriller I’ve written to date!  It’s not the best I have in me because that one hasn’t been written yet, but I can say with no hesitation that this one is a dandy.

What’s it about?

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

The dreams arrive, un-invited.  Eli Baker is visited by the dead, and they always have one request of him: find out the truth about their deaths.

Melanie Hooper is missing and yet, as an orphan, there is no one missing Melanie Hooper.  Her co-workers find it odd that she left, and unsettling for sure, but she is, after all, an adult, and perhaps she simply decided to start a new life somewhere else.  With no body or suspicious circumstances to go by, the Seattle police do not consider Melanie’s disappearance to be sinister at all.

But Eli Baker has dreams, and Melanie Hooper has visited him in one, along with four other orphans who are also missing.

The search is on, and Eli Baker is the right man to delve into the case of the missing orphans. However, Eli soon finds that evil acts are not only performed by evil men, but by Evil itself.

Eli, his girlfriend Liz, and his deadly friend Striker are about to face off against a foe the likes of which they have never encountered.

FIND IT AT

Follow this link to find it at Amazon paperbacks, and this link for Kindle.

And I’m already working on the next in the series, “Shadows Fall On Rosarito.”

A NIUME UPDATE

So far, and it’s been about two months now, I have no complaints whatsoever with NIUME as a posting site.  I find it very, very easy to post an article there, and I’ve found the other writers to be supportive.  I had my first payout within the first month, they paid promptly….so no negatives at all about NIUME from this writer.

SO THERE YOU GO

I have nothing else for you.  This is all about me.

Thank you!

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

 

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Satisfaction in a Job Well-Done

6 Dec

003The snow is falling here in Olympia.  It’s the first sighting of snow in two years here, and it’s beautiful.

We don’t get much snow here, so I make sure I enjoy it as much as possible while it lasts.

And that just happens to be my message, to you and to me, this Monday morning.

But first, a quote.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.” Theodore Isaac Rubi

THOUGHT OF THE DAY

I doubt seriously if I will ever be a famous writer.  Riches do not seem to be in my future.

Still, I write!  Each day I get up and do the best I can with the words, and talent, I’ve been given.  There are days I will not hear a word of praise from family or friends.  There are days I will not sell one book.  There are days when, what I write, will not affect a single human being.

Still, I write!  And because there are many days when tangible rewards do not appear, I have to find satisfaction in the fact that I am doing the best I can to add to the beauty in this world.  I am trying, hard, to perfect my craft, and in so doing to raise the bar in literature.  I try hard to support other writers and encourage them through my comments.

I have talked to countless writers who all say the same thing, that they receive very little support from family and friends, and they are discouraged.  And I say to them that happiness is an inside job, that we must learn to find satisfaction in a job well-done.

That is my message to you this morning.

That is my message to me this morning.

TAX TIP OF THE DAY

Linda, are you paying attention?

If you consider yourself to be a freelance writer, or if you have formed a writing business, you are eligible for certain tax deductions.  Do the research and benefit where possible.  A tip before you venture into this scary area:  the IRS loves documentation.  Keep all your receipts.  I’ve been using these tax deductions now for six years and not once have I been questioned, but if I am questioned in the future, I’m confident I can support my expense claims.

Documentation is the word of the day!

MARKETING TIP OF THE DAY

The best time to try and pitch your book to the public library is during June or December . . . right around budget appropriations and spending seasons.

COMMON SENSE TIP OF THE DAY

Don’t get so busy that you don’t take time to give back to your community.  If you are asked to speak for free at a writer’s group or a school, jump at the chance and say “it’s an honor.”  You may not be getting a speaker’s fee but you are still getting free publicity.town_904

FINAL TIP OF THE DAY

Get out there and promote.  Ask local businesses if you can sell your book in their store, even if they aren’t a bookstore.  What’s the worst that can happen? They’ll say no!

Call up local newspapers and radio shows, and ask for an interview. What’s the worst that can happen?  They’ll say no!

AND THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK

Yes, my new novel, “Shadows Over A Hangman’s Noose,” is being released this week on Amazon.  It should be out by Thursday and I’m excited by it.  It is the best thriller I’ve written to date.

And I’ve decided my next book will also be in the Shadows series.  The plot came to me this weekend and I’m eager to get started on it, so my Sixties reflective book will have to wait six months.

Such is life!

Bill

“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”

 

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