David M. Pearce's Blog
April 1, 2025
Kindle Deals
I am announcing some promotions scheduled for later this month.
The Holovid Hero will be available for a free download on Amazon from April 16 to April 20, 2025.
And the sequels, The Bootlegger Broadcast and The Reality Rescue will be available on Amazon for a reduced price of $0.99 from April 16 to April 23, 2025.
Get your copies while they’re free or cheap!
And please, please leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon.
Dave Pearce
September 8, 2024
Free Book Promotion
Get your copy of The Holovid Hero from Amazon beginning on September 9.
https://www.amazon.com/Holovid-Hero-G...
June 1, 2024
Goodreads
I have added a Goodreads Author Page to that site. I am also running a giveaway of The Holovid Hero until June 28.
February 17, 2024
Free Short Stories
I have recently posted free short stories on medium.com. Please stop by the site and let me know what you think.
February 26, 2023
Rules About Writing - Don't Get Sick
So one thing I've learned from the past several years--don't get sick. I've had three kidney stones over the past two years. I'm coming up on my two-year anniversary for my first surgery to remove a kidney stone. Not fun.
I am also coming up on a one-year anniversary for being hospitalized because of my third kidney stone. After getting a clean bill of health from my urologist, six weeks later a bunch of little kidney stones ganged together and clogged up a passageway that's better left unmentioned. It ended up in an ambulance ride and a week's stay in Sarasota Memorial Hospital at the end of April 2022. Not fun.
Things have been better since that time. New medication to prevent a recurrence. New diet.
And now I'm finally getting close to finishing the third novel in my space opera. I hope to finish it within the next few months.
For those of you who end up in similar situations, remember to take care of yourselves. The writing will still be there after you recover.
September 2, 2017
You've Finished a Novel. Now what?
Now that I've finished the first draft of The Bootlegger Broadcast, I've thought a little bit about what I should do during the "cooling off" period between drafting and editing. For anyone who's finished the first draft of a novel, congratulations. Jump up and down. Celebrate. Have a glass of wine or a beer.
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Here's a thought. After you've sobered up, what's next? Start a new novel? Maybe. But that's huge project, and you've just gone bonkers finishing a big one. What about writing short fiction to keep the juices flowing? Cure the itch. Take care of the voices crying out to be written.
I didn't think I'd enjoy writing short fiction. After all, growing up I spent most of my time devouring science fiction and fantasy novels. I'd gotten used to them. I'd never really paid much attention to shorter pieces.
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But there's value in learning to write short stories. Brevity. Using context to convey part of the story. Experimentation.
In between writing The Holovid Hero and The Bootlegger Broadcast, I explored writing character vignettes, flash fiction, and short stories. I explored the backstory of two characters from these novels--Joseph Drake and Sanraya. It helped understand them better. Maybe I could use them to help introduce potential readers to the series? Hmm.
Because writing each short piece took only a few days or hours to complete, it satisfied the craving to write but didn't bog me down in the heavy slog of writing a novel. It also gave me time to read other stories and books on the craft of writing.
I'm going to do the same thing between novels now. Write some short fiction. Read. Get some emotional distance from the novel I just finished, that way I can look at it with fresh eyes in a couple of months.
Just food for thought.
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August 27, 2017
Endings are just the beginning
I finished the first draft of The Bootlegger Broadcast this weekend. It's been a long slog. Two years to write this sequel to The Holovid Hero.
My friends and family have helped along the way. A special shout out of thanks to the folks in the Bradenton Writers Group and Outland on Scribophile. I couldn't have done this without your fine help.
October 23, 2016
Writers Conferences
Back home now after a long weekend at the Florida Writers Association's conference in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Whew. I am dead tired.
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It was a great experience--my third time going to it. Met lots of new people. Gave my first live elevator pitch to a group of nice people that didn't laugh at me. A few folks even gave me some compliments about it.
Even as worn out as I am right now, a flash of inspiration hit about this blog post. And the inspiration is this--don't wait to attend your first writers conference if you're a new writer. My writing grew by leaps and bounds after attending my first one in January 2014. Learned a lot about how to write dialogue that stuck with me. And the contacts I made! Wonderful!
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I know what some of you are thinking. Conferences cost money. Registration fees. Hotels. Guess what? Bet there's a way to defer some of those costs. At the Florida Writers Conference, I ran into some wonderful folks who volunteered their time to do just that. Look for similar opportunities wherever you may live. It can't hurt.
Anyway, that's it. Off to get some much needed rest in my own bed. More stuff to do tomorrow, including work.
October 15, 2016
The Importance of Critiques
In this blog entry, I wanted to talk a little about the importance of getting critiques of your work. Don't make my mistake. Don't wait. Otherwise, you may end up like Joey Kent when he met Lawrence Wright. Ouch.
[image error]So what did I do wrong? Did I run across the middle of the field with my quarterback leading me right into the safety? No. Worse. I wrote more than 300,000 words of an epic fantasy over the course of several years before I started looking for someone other than friends to read the monstrosity. Ugh.
[image error]That abomination now sits in a dusty corner of my bedroom, where it will stay until I can stomach fixing it.
Critique groups can help you improve your writing. Really. You'd be amazed what you learn from your peers. But it takes the courage of taking your precious words and putting them out there. Point of view. Characterization. Rising conflict. On and on. All the things I didn't quite understand when I started my first novel.
I understand the fear of sharing your work. It's the same knot in your stomach associated with public speaking or a musical performance. You don't want to embarrass yourself. Afraid people will point and stare. Look at the goofball who thought he could write.
It's that first time that's the worst. The first chapters I wrote got torn to shreds when I attended those first few writers group meetings with the Florida Writers Association.
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But my writing is stronger for the experience. And I met some wonderful writers who are now my friends. (Thanks to Dona Lee, Al, Pat, Andrew, Rick, Lara, Michael, Bob, Doc, Jill and all the others that have taken the time to listen to my strange tales at the Bradenton Group.) It takes time, but slowly your skills improve. You learn from others who teach you the tricks of the trade. And you learn from critiquing the writing of others. As writers, we all have our blind spots. You get so close to your own project that you can't see the proverbial forest for the trees.
This blog entry would not be complete if I also didn't take the opportunity to thank the wonderful folks at my online writers group. (A special shout out to Kylin, Elin, Louise, Sam, John, Annie, Yoni, Tony and Mac from the Outland Writer's Colony on Scribophile.)
If you can't find the time to attend a live writers group, then I highly recommend finding an online writing community or find a critique partner online. Here are the links to a couple different places.
There are many other online groups. I just pulled a couple.
So please join a critique group. Or find a critique partner. Don't be afraid to share your stuff. We all start someplace.
And keep writing.
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