Now that we have Netflix, Tonya (my better half) is watching every episode of Cake Boss. Of course, I’m writing, plotting, and planning my short stories and novels while this goofy show is playing in the background. After episode 16 of season 3, where they travel to Italy, it struck me that some reality shows […] The generally accepted format for numbers in prose differs from technical writing. Most of the time, technical documentation will deal with more numbers, especially measurements and statistical data. When writing a large volume of numbers in this instance, stick with using the Arabic numerals. It keeps the numbers in context, and is easier to compare […] 
Is it time to consider writing professionally, at least part-time? Writing professionally means writing as though you need to pay the rent – tomorrow. You need to devote time to your craft. You need to develop effective habits. Remember the old adage, Practice Makes Perfect? It’s wrong – practice makes improvement. Developing a good writing […] Originally posted in the Horror Writers Association newsletter. The vast majority of an author’s fans have a Facebook page. Writing is a business, and savvy authors take advantage of this marketing tool. Love it or hate it, an author should use this avenue for connecting with their fanbase. There are three separate types of Facebook […] 
Recently, the blogosphere was all atwitter concerning the story of Mandy DeGeit, a new author who discovered the story she submitted to an anthology wasn’t the same as the story that was published under her name. Heavyweights like Neil Gaiman and Jonathan Maberry waded in to give their take on the carnage. Authors who […] As authors, piracy is a constant threat to our income and property. Some don’t mind having their works available for download, while others are adamant that their work should be purchased. Should you find your works posted on a pirate website — or worse, plagiarized with someone else’s name as the author — you can […] 
You know it’s coming. Perhaps Darwin will have the last laugh and a mutant superbug will evolve in the grease on a McDonalds grill in South Dakota. Maybe there’s some crazy Al-Qaeda splinter group working with a stolen Cold War-era Russian virus. All they have to do is slap on a label with Hanna […] 