Here’s a checklist of five items I’m looking to get from an editor. Sometimes it makes sense to let a potential editor you’re interested in hiring know what you’re looking for. Be Brutal. When I submit something to an editor, particularly if I am paying that editor, I expect them to be honest and as […] When writing prose or poetry, most folks are used to the standard dictionaries and encyclopedias. These tools are useful to make sure an author is using a term correctly. When delving into specialist, or niche, subjects, it may be a good idea to check and see if a dictionary or encyclopedia exists to make sure […] You might be surprised to learn your Amazon.com AuthorCentral page does not magically transfer to Amazon.uk. (You do have one in the USA, don’t you?) Using the same email address as the US version, pop on over to AC in the UK: https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk/ Why the same address? To save you from forgetting your login information and […] Parlez-vous français? For those that speak or, more importantly, write French, there’s something cool happening over at the Amazon.fr website. On July 1st, Amazon’s French subsidiary announced a new literary program to expand their Kindle Direct Publishing ebook lineup. Self-pubbed books that are in KDP Select over on Amazon.fr are eligible. Ebooks that are downloaded […] Malcon Denver Schedule August 14-16, 2015 Friday 10:00 – 10:50pm in Room One: Is It True You Always Have Story Ideas? Saturday 11:00 – 11:50am in Room One: Violence and Horror 2:00 – 2:50pm in Room Two: Sympathetic Villains 7:00 – 7:50pm in Room Three: NanoWriMo 9:00 – 9:50pm in Room One: Steampunk in Fiction: Is London […] 
I happened to Google the book Freakend Madness, and received a big surprise. Apparently the book has been pirated and shared all over the place, particularly in China. The interesting thing is that there is currently no eBook version. Someone scanned the book and posted it somewhere — possibly in the eBook pirating lair in […] Announced by the United States Navy: The the last remaining Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate on the West coast was decommissioned today after 31 years of service. The USS Gary (FFG-51) had two hangar bays for helicoptors, and that’s where I served on a detachment from HSL-43. We had a couple of Sikorsky Seahawk SH-60B helos. On […] So I’m binge-watching Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and I have to admit I’m really liking the show. I’m up to season two, episode nineteen, and it’s been solidly entertaining for the whole trip (so far!) One of the funny things is there are a couple of folks from Sons of Anarchy showing up as minor […]