tomthewriter.com

Tag: writing

  • Muddling By – Proof 092425

    I get to say it again. “The book is done!” and yet, not. Muddling By passed kdp/Amazon’s test of the interior and the exterior. I want proof. Specifically, I request a Proof Copy. They might think it’s done. I want proof. I will also have to wait about a week. Here’s a bit of what’s…

  • A No Writing Writers Day

    Backups. Consulting with a friend. Organizing a group. Preparing for a film Festival. That’s part of today’s agenda. None of it involved writing, as in physically recording or chronicling anything. Which, ironically, inspired me to write this post. Writers write. Some need a degree. Some need a dedicated space. Some need to be visited by…

  • Muddling By – Eighth Draft Begun

    Authors get to celebrate being ‘done’ with a book several times: the first draft, every subsequent draft, the book build (internal), the built book (internal and external), the upload, the publication, the initial receipt, the entry into the Library of Congress, and whatever other hurdle a writer wants to proclaim as an accomplishment. Muddling By…

  • 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…

  • Renting Table Time

    Let us give thanks for coffeeshops, tea houses, and open spaces that have wi-fi, characters, and someone else to keep the place clean. There may be a few caveats, however. Writers can write anywhere. Right? Yes. No. Sort of. Where are you going to write? Costs? Details Enough of lists and logic. If you’re going…