R. Brady Frost's Blog, page 15

A Short... Short Story

Originally posted on August 10, 2011 at HuntingTheMuse.com


I had a unique opportunity this week to attend a Fundamentals of Writing class held at work. For those of you who may not know, I am a civil service employee and I primarily do System Administration work. So you can imagine my excitement when I saw this gem advertised in my inbox. An opportunity to get paid to learn about an important hobby of mine? Sign me up!

I will admit, I do have a bit more experience writing than might be expected...

Carole A. Ward Survives with her Writing Associations

I've done this from time to time, where I share a link to a post on another blog that really struck home for me. It seems to work pretty well in telling you what I'm interested in and giving you an idea of who I am as a writer. One issue I struggle with is feeling alone as a writer in an Information Technology world.

I don't work with other writers. I don't hang out with other writers. My online interaction with other writers is very minimal. It's no wonder then that I often feel like my writi...

Comments and Ratings - The Measure of Writing Success?

I got my first Amazon review recently and I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to see the four stars and the very nice comment regarding my short story, "The Itch -- A Zombie Short."  On the other side of the spectrum, I got a comment on one of my hubs over at HubPages that instantly evoked negative emotions. It was pretty hard to take a step back from the latter of the two experiences. I instantly wanted to lash out, but what good would that do?

As an author I fall prey to the same thing...

The Best Writing Advice isn't Free, but doesn't Cost a Thing!

I know I'm a nobody. Just some random, two-bit author on the internet slinging words and opinions like I know something. Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Who knows? One thing I do know, though, is a saying that's been around for a very long time. Experience is the best teacher.

I've seen a lot of tweets on Twitter lately about writing seminars and advice "classes" offered by other authors for a fee. A quick look through my past issues of writing magazines shows page after page of fee-based learning...

Famous Writers Don't Write Blogs

Famous writers don't spend their days writing to the world about the intricacies of their writing. They don't tell everyone who surfs by their page about the new secretary working for their agent who they can't stand. Some of that stuff might be interesting, and believe me, books have been sold with just that sort of juicy information that sets the publishing industry a rockin'. But it isn't for blogging and it would be beyond scandalous to see regularly.

Why don't famous writers blog? Or rat...

Authorship as a Business Plan

The problem many authors face these days centers around an inability to view their writing as a key component to a successful business. Some classes I took while I was working on an MBA, before I gave it up, taught me how many components are required for a business to run smoothly.

Can you be a successful writer? Yes. Can you be a good writer and sell books? Yes. Is there a teeter-totter where more effort must be drawn away from writing and into activities such as promotion and sales if you c...

How Fast Can You Write a Book?

I'm a pretty slow writer. It's not because I type slow or do it the old fashioned way with graphite to wood pulp. I write slow because I over-think things. I self-edit in the middle of my writing sessions. I focus on small, unnecessary details for no good reason. I am my own worst writing enemy.

I've often thought about starting a writing project just to see how fast I can finish it. I'd use one of my "lesser plot ideas" for such a project. It's not that I wouldn't be as invested in the outcom...

The Itch -- A Zombie Short is Free Today!

I'm running another promotion on Amazon to offer my short story, "The Itch" for free today, May 4th, 2012. Now, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can access this story free through the lending library any time for the next few months. Otherwise, you've got to wait for one of these special promotions to snag it for free.

Check out "The Itch -- A Zombie Short" today. I'm sure you'll be surprised by the unique human perspective I've tried to incorporate into the writing.

This is an odd part of...

Promoting Yourself as an Author

While you can find my works on ebook vendor sites such as Barnes & Noble, Apple Bookstore, Kobo, Sony, Smashwords, etc. I often tell my wife I'd love to have a shirt that says, "I'm an Amazon Author." I honestly couldn't tell you why that is. I mean, should one vendor sales mean more to an author than pure commission pay-basis? If that were the case, Amazon wouldn't be at the top of my list. Especially as a short story author. That may change when I publish my first full length YA novel,...

Taking a Moment

We just landed at St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands aboard the Disney Fantasy. It's a beautiful ship, and such a beautiful island. We didn' get our server request of our server from last time, Gabriela Svorcova from the Czech Republic, but our new servers have been great. We've got a lot of food concerns at the table this time with Tara and her family having gluten intolerance and Tara having trouble with casein - or dairy. We didn't know these things on our last cruise so dining was much e...