Category Archives: Writing

People sometimes approach writers and offer them ideas. As if authors have any shortage of such things. I have more ideas than I have time for. More ideas than I can seem to focus on. At this very moment I’ve … Continue reading →

You do not have to own a physical Kindle in order to read Kindle eBooks. Amazon gives away for free a Kindle app for any computer-like gadget you might own. Do you have an Android phone? There’s a free Kindle … Continue reading →

The United States has the highest worker productivity on the planet. That is, the average American laborer will produce more widgets, or process more paperwork, or cook more burgers, or design more aircraft than their equivalents elsewhere. How does an … Continue reading →

Sometimes when you write something, it doesn’t quite work. And sometimes, you can’t immediately figure out what you can do to fix it. I have a novel which had the working title Hapax. I hated the title, but I felt … Continue reading →

Writers get questions. “How do you come up with your ideas?” is the classic. And my answer? I don’t really know. Except perhaps the simple fact that I’m always looking for them. I think everyone has stray thoughts that could … Continue reading →

Before I got published, I only knew one meaning for queries: a one page letter that a writer sends to a book publisher or agent, describing a book and asking if the publisher or agent might be interested. That sort … Continue reading →

The first thing to understand about novel writing is that autobiography does not sell. Unless you’re an ex-president or otherwise famous, people beyond your family and friends are unlikely to be all that interested in your story, no matter how … Continue reading →

Life is what happens while you’re trying to figure out what to do with it. After completing my graduate work in Semitic languages at UCLA I took a teaching position at the small private institution where I had done my … Continue reading →

If you want something done, find a busy person. Why? Because a busy person is someone who can get stuff done—otherwise he or she wouldn’t be so busy. Unfortunately, I’m a busy person. When I finished writing A Year With … Continue reading →

English is currently the primary or secondary language in many countries, and in fact it is the most widely taught and understood language in the world. Although Modern Standard Chinese has more native speakers, English is used by more people … Continue reading →