Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 61

How to Survive When Not Writing, by Josh Stallings

Q: Writers say they write because they have to. Is that true of you? What happens if you don’t write? Do you get cranky? Bereft? Restless?

My office is dark tonight

A: If you have any other choice, don’t love too deeply, don’t get married, don’t have children, and whatever you do don’t become a writer. Every one of these actions will sooner or later break your heart. 

If you are the sort of person who sees that the upside of these choices outweighs the risks. If you are willing to gamble it all on ...

Imaginary Friends, by Catriona

But first a note from my ego:

I was gobsmacked and flabbergasted to get the news on Monday that In Place of Fear and Scot in a Trap have both been nominated for Anthony awards at this year's Bouchercon. Already looking forward to going back to San Diego, after Left Coast Crime 2020 was so rudely interrupted, I'm now fizzing with the prospect of getting to be on panels with Wanda Morris, Raquel Reyes, Ellen Byron, Greg Herren, Jen Chow, Erica Ruth Neubauer, Karen Odden, Mariah Fredericks and Lev R...

Mind Games... by Cathy Ace

Writers say they write because they have to. Isthat true of you? What happens if you don’t write? Do you feel cranky? Bereft?Restless?

I’m one of those writers who doesn’t write every day. Let meclarify – I do write every day, but I don’t write my fictional worksevery day. To be honest, I can’t think of a single day when I don’t writesomething, even if that’s an email to a colleague with whom I’m working on somesort of project or other, or something personal, or – say – a blog post! I kno...

The Writer Donkey by Gabriel Valjan

 

Writers say theywrite because they have to. Is that true of you? What happens if you don’twrite? Do you cranky? Bereft? Restless?

 

Guess.

 

This is a playful question because literature is filled withcharacters who are Gloom and Doom types, Grumps, Moody Misanthropes, andNegative Nancies, yet nobody talks about the author behind the page. Nobodywould argue that Scrooge enjoys the lemon more than the lemonade. Mr. Darcy isrude and surly. Sherlock Holmes and Coraline...

I Am a Writer

Q: Writers say they write because they have to. Is that true of you? What happens if you don’t write? Do you cranky? Bereft? Restless?

 

-from Susan

 

Truth is, I’ve been writing since I was about seven years old and I can’t imagine a life without writing. I remember playing teacher at age seven with my younger, captive siblings, me writing assignments with my fingernails on green leaves in the yard. Yes, a writer! 

 

At ten I wrote, edited, laid out, and published The Wolff Weekly, an illustrated bro...

Harold - The Middle-Aged Master Criminal

  

Do you have old unpublished manuscripts that you might revive? Why did you abandon it (or them?) What would it take for you to go back to them?

 

By Abir

 

I was born lucky. At least that’s what my mum says. And when it comes to writing, that’s probably true. I didn’t start writing my first novel till the age of forty. I know – I don’t look a day over twenty-five – but trust me, I’m old and I’m lucky.

 

The first full novel I wrote was published, and in the years since I’ve been fortunate to always ...

Prisoner of Love from James W. Ziskin

Do you have old unpublished manuscripts that you might revive? Why did you abandon it (or them?) What would it take for you to go back to them?

Yes. Plenty of unpublished manuscripts, but none I want to revise. Those were stories and words that served their purpose. Training.

Now that that’s done, on to a different topic. 

Since I had a new short story drop this week, I want to write about that.

“Prisoner of Love” is part of GET UP OFFA THAT THING, an anthology of crime fiction inspired by the songs...

fusty and forgotten

Do you have old unpublished manuscripts that you might revive? Why did you abandon it (or them?) What would it take for you to go back to them?

by Dietrich

I have an unpublished collection of a dozen shorts that I put together before I wrote my first novel. It was signed with a small press, then the publisher went bust before the collection ever saw daylight. I was busy working on my first novel, and I didn’t pursue another publisher for the collection, and I haven’t done anything with it since...

Terry here, talking about the business of promotion: Do y...

Terry here, talking about the business of promotion: Do you set aside dedicated time to do promotion for your book and your brand? If so, how much time and what do you concentrate on? If not, why not? 
 Oh, how I wish I did. It seems like the professional thing to do. Instead, for me book promo is a chore I’ll do almost anything to avoid. It wasn’t always that way. At one time I felt inventive, excited about promoting my books, exhilarated even. I felt as if my publisher appreciated everything I ...

The Ones in Waiting

Do you have old unpublished manuscripts that you might revive? Why did you abandon it (or them?) What would it take for you to go back to them?

Brenda here.

Like many (most?) writers, I have several unpublished manuscripts tucked away that might never see the light of day. Each took months to write and the stories still haunt me, yet I don't consider any of them a waste of time. I enjoyed the process of writing each one, and I like the stories even if the publishing world turned them down for one ...