Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 151

Tools of the Trade

Laptop, desktop, Underwood or pencil. Do you budget based on book sales, or do you just go for it? What’s your dream office look like?

"Did you have a good day at the office, dear?" by Cathy Ace

Laptop, desktop, Underwood or pencil. Do you budget based on book sales, or do you just go for it? What’s your dream office look like?


I’m so lucky to be able to say I already have my dream office.


1      1) I work at home = 1 minute commute, being within cuddling distance of my dog and husband (yes, that’s the right order), snacks, and being able to get jobs like the laundry done.

2     2)  I can choose which “office” I use – either the dining table upstairs, or m...

Another Day at the Office

Laptop, desktop, Underwood or pencil. Do you budget based on book sales, or do you just go for it? What’s your dream office look like?

-From Frank

There are times when I use my laptop -- basically when I'm not at home -- but I work almost exclusively on my desktop computer. This all happens in my study (Kristi calls it the office, I call it the study, but somehow we make the marriage work). On the advice of my good friend Jill Maser (and after some achy tendons), I made the small but important...

A Room of My Own

Q: Laptop, desktop, Underwood or pencil. Do you budget based on book sales, or do you just go for it? What’s your dream office look like?
- from Susan
If I had based my expenses on my advances or royalties… 
When I committed to a fiction writing future, I spent what it took to be all in. That meant squeezing a writing space into our second bedroom. It meant upgrading my home computer, buying a few highly-touted “how to” books on the craft, and spending the money on a writers’ conferenc...

A Writer's Life for Me

Besides writing, what else do you do? What’s on your writer’s bucket list?
What does a writer do when they aren’t writing? That sounds like the opening to a bad joke. I hadn’t really thought about it until this question was posed and made me focus on the empty, writing-deadline driven husk that is my life. So, thanks for that.

Seriously?
I suppose the most interesting thing I do is the bi-weekly podcast called ‘The Red Hot Chilli Writers Podcast’ that I co-host with my friend and fellow author,...

Get a Life

Besides writing, what else do you do? What’s on your writer’s bucket list?

This week’s topic challenged me to think about my life outside of my writing. I really need to find more things to do.

I suppose it’s fairly common for people in the prime of their careers to wish they had more time for other activities. When I was working at NYU, and later in Hollywood, sixty- and seventy-hour weeks were the norm, not the exception. When you’re building your career you tap into youthful stores of energy...

Showing up for downtime

Besides writing, what else do you do? What’s on your writer’s bucket list?
by Dietrich
It’s too easy to get wrapped up in a story. Even when I’m not writing, I often want to jot down notes as I think of a scene, or work out details for one in my head. So, it’s important to pry myself away and leave time for other things. Writing is solitary, so I need time to be social. And writing means a lot of sitting, so it’s important to get off my butt.
Art is entertaining, and I like anything from theatre...

Reality and Dreams

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Not Just Writing All the Time - by Brenda

Besides writing, what else do you do? What’s on your writer’s bucket list?
I have many pursuits aside from writing to fill up my days, although some activities are season-dependent.
In the summer, I enjoy gardening and spend an hour or more each morning watering, deadheading and weeding. My husband commented this year that my garden “is a pleasure” so my puttering seems to have been worthwhile. I also like getting my bike out and most mornings find me on my way to the store to pick up some supp...

Lightning vs. The Lightning Bug

How do you know when you’re finished and it’s time to submit? Do you take a break or start right on the next one?

by Paul D. Marks

Second question first: In the Good Old Days, I used to take breaks before next project, not these days—in fact these days I usually have more than one thing going at one time. Work on more than one at once and they overlap. No rest for the wicked.

And now to the first question:
Me after I'm done editing
You never really know when something is done—because you’ll always...