Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 147
June 13, 2014
Friday Fantasy ~ Number Twenty-Eight
The Queen’s Tragedy
~ She’d been doing so well…
Image courtesy of Penny Mathews ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/zoofytheji
Things had been rolling right along…
All the signs were auspicious…
It came from nowhere.
It stunned her soul…
She was sickening rapidly…
Her burden drove her into a strange solitude.
She met her friends from youth.
She met the love she had abandoned.
She met her King but he was a stranger to her.
~~~
She found herself, again, back with her youthful friends—cavorting in the forest...
June 12, 2014
An Online Writing Group that Looks Like It Could Work . . .
I’m not the kind of writer who works well with groups, though there’s no way I’d ever discourage others to take part in good Writing Groups.
Image courtesy of carl dwyer ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/wagg66
My Best Friend, a writer in Australia, has been in a small and dedicated writing group for many years.
Others I’ve known have treasured the time they spend receiving critiques and sharing literary opinions.
So, I want to introduce you to what seems a very promising endeavor—Scribophile.
H...
June 11, 2014
Something Any Aspiring (or, other kind of) Writer Should Consider . . .
Writers have more ways to publish then ever before.
Image courtesy of Tracy Olson ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/designkryt
Not that long ago, I wrote a post called,Are There Too Many Ways ToSelf-Publish?
It can get complicated, quickly, when a writer begins considering how they want to publish.
If you’re a writer who wants to stay away from the traditional route, I recommend checking out the company I use—FastPencil.
In just a bit, I’ll give you all the basics about what this Publishing-Aid...
June 10, 2014
Do All Writers Write “What They Know”?
There are so many “rules” for writers—so many dos and don’ts—so many restrictions on creativity…
Image Courtesy of http://www.freeimages.com/profile/rawku5
Certainly, each writer discovers their own set of Writing Principles and, when decent authors share their principles, other writers can benefit.
So, what about that ancient piece of advice, Write What You Know?
Does a crime novelist have to go out and kill people to abide by the advice?
Should a romance writer dive into multiple flings?
A sci-fi...
June 9, 2014
Can A Singer Teach Anything To Writers ?
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, born 2 October 1951—Wallsend, Northumberland, England.
Image (with manipulation) courtesy of Helge Øverås ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sting_21111985_06_700.jpg
Adept in rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat.
Human rights activist.
Parents died from cancer in the 1980s. Did not, however, attend either funeral stating that the media circus would be disrespectful tothem.
Practices Ashtanga Vinyasa,Tantra, and Jivamukti yoga.
An avid chess player.
Ad...
June 6, 2014
Friday Fantasy ~ Number Twenty-Seven
The Terror from The Forest
Image courtesy of Made Wirawan ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/emol
~It had always stayed in the forest—seven feet tall and thirteen feet long—nine legs and hard carapace—oozing acid and smelling something awful…
But notice had been received fromits courier, Nuess, through the clicks and scraping sounds it used, that the monster, Blattella, was about to visit the Keep.
Something was horribly amiss if Blattella needed to raid the stores at the Keep—certainly, the wea...
June 5, 2014
Writer Beware !
None of wants to be told we’re acting childish.
Image courtesy of Umut Kemal ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/umutkemal
Yet, how many times have you thrown caution to the wind, thrust your trust out front, and been sorely burned because you didn’t act in a completelymature manner?
I’m 68 and I still, occasionally, do that—though much less than in my fifties :-)
But, if you’ve spent years creating a novel and you’ve decided to not wait years for a possible contract with a traditionalpublisher a...
June 4, 2014
Self-Publishing Revolutionaries
Self-publishing isn’t a new thing—it’s been going on for hundreds of years.
Image courtesy of Nick Winchester ~ http://www.freeimages.com/profile/nickwinch
What’s relatively new is Digital Self-publishing.
But, while the masses are now able to self-publish, mass-media is creating a fractured hall of mirrors when it comes to the true Potential of self-publishing.
The digitalrevolution is not oftenproclaimedas the domain ofdeeply revolutionary writers because the landscape is congestedwith “genre-w...
June 3, 2014
Financial “Entitlement” Morphs Into “Legal” Outrage ~ Amazon & Hachette
Heard about the Battle—major retailer andbig publisher?
Image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bouquin_%C3%A9lectronique_iLiad_sur_une_pile_de_livre_dehors_au_soleil.jpg
Does it “matter”?
Perhaps…
But, probably not in the way most of the news coverage would have you believe.
I’m going to give you a few links to some of the more ridiculousstories; but, first, I need to give you some defense against the verbal barrage.
Last year, in the post, So, What The Hell Is Wrong With Traditional P...
June 2, 2014
A Writer and Their Computer . . .
There are many writers, even famous ones, who either don’t use computers at all or use only the most basic ones possible.
Yet, I imagine most do use them, even if they start with paper and transfer the words later.
Since I’ve gotten myself in gear and settled into full-time writing, I’ve had four computers—still have three of them butgot stupid with one and damaged it beyond repair…
I have my main computer, my back-up computer, and my tablet computer which goes wherever I go.
All but the tablet w...
