There is no try – only do.
Sometimes it’s too easy to find yourself hesitant to put words to commit words to paper. We’re not sure what to write next. We have something else we need to deal with first, but don’t set a definite time to get back to writing. We don’t know if our ideas are any good. You have to find a way to keep moving forward. Continue reading
In my youth… I worked for a solar energy company for a couple of years. I was the team lead on a crew making parabolic mirrors out of cast aluminum ribs, pipes, laminated aluminum sheets, metal strips and rivets. We were the fastest crew – putting out 50% more mirrors than the other crews. Our … Continue reading
In 2015, I started writing my first novel, and three-and-one-half years later I published Swordsmaster. Well, it’s not entirely true that I started writing it in 2015. Swordsmaster really first came into my mind in 1979, and I managed to generate eighty hand-written pages. I set the story aside at that point (the character of … Continue reading
I have written before about how much of my life has been lived through luck. A friend nicknamed me Domino (there’s apparently a comic character of this name whose super power is luck.) Another friend became furious with me once because I was calling my dice pips in advance of rolling them, and they were coming up as I called them far too often. He accused me of cheating (that I was influencing the dice as opposed to predicting them. Another way of “making my own luck”?) Continue reading
In the face of what our country is going through, I need to say some things. I believe that we live in the greatest country this world has ever seen – the most tolerant and free collection of people from around the world. People around the world – those huddled masses yearning to be free … Continue reading
Will John Charming be able to influence the story line enough to gain his heart’s desire, or will his fickle fate be further flailed by a fickler author? Continue reading
All writers (and all stories) are different. What works for one often doesn’t work for another, so you should always be cautious in how you decide to take advice. Continue reading
When I listened to George Guidall reading Neil Gaiman’s American Gods some things struck me. First of all, what I take as the narrator’s true voice – and Wednesday’s – sounded remarkably like Anthony Hopkins in the Marvel Thor movies (trying not to do a spoiler here, but there’s a link between that role and … Continue reading
The expression “The Wolves Will Come” was supposed to be a negative and represent a danger; colonists are on the run from their enemies, and they are forced to leave their home and their elderly behind. I wanted the elder to be abandoned by necessity, but proudly, not as a victim. It wasn’t until I … Continue reading
Me and my opposable thumbs – that, and the use of tools, are part of what is supposed to distinguish humans from the rest of the animals. Continue reading
William Mangieri's Writing Page 