Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 152

When it's done. Finito. Dead and buried. (And I am too.)

By Catriona

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?


Coming Oct 22nd US. Buy it here!I know I'm finished when I am sick to the back teeth of every word in every sentence on every page of the damn thing; when I can recite screeds of it without so much as glancing at the text for guidance; when no matter what the problem - m-lines instead of n-lines, continuity problems caused by a skipping a day of the week, suddenly realis...

Time is precious... by Cathy Ace

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?


This is an interesting question, and my answer to it now differs from the answer I might have given a few years ago.


When I had contracts with traditional publishers I was absolutely deadline driven…insofar as I would work on editing right up to the very last minute, THEN it just HAD to go. Of course it was then going to a publisher who would read it and might give me a bit of dire...

A Watched Pot Never Boils....

...but maybe it's hot enough.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?

-From Frank

The first question is a trick question. A story (regardless of whether it's novel length or shorter) is never finished. It's just released into the wild at some point, and we call it done.

What do I mean? I'll tell you. But keep in mind this is only how my mind works. Your mileage may vary.

Of course, every story gets "finished" in terms of rea...

Finding the Sweet Spot

Q: 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?
- from Susan
For me, it’s writing the sweet spot at the end. I write mysteries and I want something that moves me and makes me happy to conclude the tale. I sense it coming as I get to the penultimate scene, which is tense and risky for me and the protagonist. It’s like skiing – the long ride up the gondola, the moment of getting off and seeing that downslope, and then letti...

The Joy of Tax

How do you keep your taxable receipts? Log them in each month? Each day? Throw them all in a big pile and wait for tax time? Do you have an App that organizes them for you?
As you probably know by now, my day job for over 20 years was as an accountant. Therefore, you’ll understand when I tell you that I am the world’s worst, most ridiculously bad, utterly terrible person when it comes to keeping receipts and claiming tax deductions.
It’s sad. I’m like the doctor with a twenty-a-day habit who te...

Accounting 101

How do you keep your taxable receipts? Log them in each month? Each day? Throw them all in a big pile and wait for tax time? Do you have an App that organizes them for you?


From Jim



If you do any promotion of your books at all, if you attend writers conferences, you’re going to accumulate tax-deductible expenses. Too many writers do themselves a disservice by not tracking all their expenses for tax purposes. Think of it this way: for every dollar you spend on your writing career, you can save a...

Blue skies

How do you keep your taxable receipts? Log them in each month? Each day? Throw them all in a big pile and wait for tax time? Do you have an App that organizes them for you?
by Dietrich
Organizing receipts as I get them and keeping them by the month is a lot easier than sorting a box filled with unrecognized and somewhat faded strips of paper, especially as the clock is ticking and tax time is rushing up like a freight. And I’ve learned it’s a good idea to note any particulars on the receipts wh...

Dealing with Receipts

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The Taxing Work - Staying Organized

How do you keep your taxable receipts? Log them in each month? Each day? Throw them all in a big pile and wait for tax time? Do you have an App that organizes them for you?
Happy Monday - Brenda here!
This week’s question tackles a necessary but not all that scintillating business topic — the organization of tax return receipts.  It’s one of those tasks that I dread but once done, I feel an immense sense of accomplishment (and relief).
At the beginning of each tax year, I label envelopes w...

THE ‘D’ STANDS FOR DANGER

What did you do this summer? Did you take a break from writing? Continue to write while you were on vacation? Change your writing habits at all?

by Paul D. Marks

I really shouldn’t be telling you any of this. It’s classified. Top Secret. The kind of thing that if I tell you I’ll have to kill you. And, while I might be able to live with that cause people are pretty much capable of living with anything, I might get caught. Then I might go to jail. Then I might get beaten up. But worse I’d have to...