tomthewriter.com

Tag: books

  • How A Book Can Begin

    Some people plan. I even had a job that required it, and I enjoyed it. And then there are those events that spring up on a mix of whim and opportunity. I live northwest of Seattle. There was a family celebration happening on an island in North Carolina. I decided to drive there and back…

  • Muddling By – Seventh Draft Finished

    Grammarly approves. Of course, I’d be surprised if it didn’t. The seventh draft of Muddling By has passed through Grammarly, my impersonal, unemotional, always available, sometimes confused editor. Next step, book formatting and building as I declare the text done, not perfect, but good enough – unless I want to start over and rewrite the…

  • Muddling By – Sixth Draft Finished

    Is it finished? Let me close my eyes for a few moments while I decide – and hopefully not fall asleep. (snork) Huh? Oh yeah. I guess it is done -for specific definitions of ‘it’ and ‘done’. I now, grudgingly, concede that the sixth draft of Muddling By is complete! For specific definitions of ‘complete’.…

  • Whidbey Island Comicon – 2025 – After

    Hey! They asked me back! Er. They asked for me back. Hmm. They asked me to return. ‘They’ were the organizers of last year’s Galaxy Edge event where I was a panelist because I was local, and a writer of science fiction. (Firewatcher, Fire Race) This year, a name change for them. For me, it’s…

  • Whidbey Island Comicon – 2025

    The quick post to social media: Back for my third year as a guest speaker at theWhidbey Island Comicon – this weekend ! (July 18-20).Cool.See you there.(Details to follow, as time allows, eh?)address: 390 NE Midway Blvd, Oak Harbor, WAhttps://www.whidbeyislandcomicon.org/ The longer post: What? Whoa! Yay! Eep! I just got the word that the event…

  • Muddling By – Fifth Draft Finished

    A fifth draft? Whew. And done soon. The fourth draft was done less than a month ago. Ready to publish, right? Not right. But progress is being made. The fifth draft of Muddling By is done. And yet, what I intended to do isn’t done. Every draft hopefully pulls a manuscript one bit closer to…

  • Being A B Writer

    I wonder what grade Grammarly will give this post, probably a B. That’s good enough for me. What’s good enough for you? Every collaboration involves a negotiation about what is good enough. Are we aiming for perfection, or even expecting it? Or, are we trying to shove something out before a deadline, or so we…

  • When A Sale Is A Donation

    Donation donated. That’s satisfying, and also never enough. I sold a book! That’s not grand news, but a specific book sold in a specific way that meant I donated the proceeds to a charity. That’s the satisfying part. Understanding the need is why I also know it barely helps, yet I do it anyway. I…

  • Cover Art Prep

    What to do in the gap between finishing the third draft of Muddling By (working title) and the fourth draft? Take a vacation, right? Ha! I did set aside the writing, but my brain popped up creating the book cover. As if there wasn’t enough to do writing the book. Years ago, I heard some…

  • Muddling By – Third Draft Finished

    “Celebrate good times, come on!“Hmm. Maybe that’s overstating the case. Lose the “come on” and the exclamation point, but keep the essence.“Celebrate good times.“The introverted part of my nature is more satisfied with that.I finished the third draft of Muddling By (working title). Whew. Little yay. Pardon me as I plagiarize my email to some…