I was asked the other day by some high school students who wanted to be writers about how to go about securing collaborations. I had no clue, since I agreed to do a collab with Travis S. Taylor after we got into a huge verbal brawl about who is better, the Tennessee Titans or the Indianapolis Colts (the Colts, of course). I would recommend not fighting with any author you may want to write with. Not all of them have a good sense of humor.

There's a few books on my wishlist this summer that I can't wait to get. Normally, I tend to find an author that I really enjoy and stick with them religiously until either 1) They start to suck, or 2) I realize that they already sucked and I'm just slow, or 3) Author (or publisher) discontinues the series. And trust me kids, you really have to suck to earn your way to my donation bin. I can easily count just how few books have made it to the recycle bin over the past ten years. Oddly enough, they're all by the same guy...

Your best friend in publishing, next to your agent (should you have one), is not the publisher. Nor is it the guy who stands at the counter and is buying your book. It's not your mom, nor that one fan who follows you around to EVERY con you might attend. Egads, right?

It was only later, while munching on chocolate covered raisins that I realized I had made a tactical and costly error.

The irreplaceable Sarah A. Hoyt is blogging over at R. F. Long's site today about the MUST BE OBEYED rules of world building. Hop on over and take a look.  World Building!

I often wonder just how authors back in the days before the internet managed. Did they have to hire a publicist to get any sort of notoriety for their upcoming novel? Did the publisher shell out more money just in hopes that independent bookstores might carry their new author? Or was it a pure "shot-in-the-dark" attitude and, if so, does this explain a lot about the current state of the industry?

On the flip side of this, a stupidly awesome cover can cover a very bad book.

So remember, while participating this month in NaNoWriMo, 50,000 is a lot of words. Stay focused. You can do it.

In our society, it's easier than ever to communicate with others while not even leaving our rooms, but the amount of distractions seem to be even greater. So how do you juggle it? No, put away that shovel. There will be no burying of bodies while reading the blog.

Good advice is hard to come by in the industry. All too often you’ll have conflicting advice given by multiple authors.

I've harped on this in the past, but one of my favorite tricks while writing is the creation of a fictional town based off of a real one. For example, in The Green Jewel the town of Purgatory Peak, CA is based off of two of the towns I grew up in. I used a … Continue reading To Guide The Butcher

Someone once equated writing a novel as staring at the computer screen until a drop of blood appears on your forehead and drops onto the keyboard, from which the Writing Gods are appeased with your sacrifice and allow you to create literary masterpieces.