Life got crazy and then I got sick, so my challenge to finish my rough draft in ten days died on the vine. But my plan is to finish it by end of business tomorrow, Friday, February 21. I’ll do a longer post tomorrow, assuming I do what I say I’m going to do. […]
I just posted on Threads about how I’m struggling to get myself to write. Not write in general, but work on my book. I don’t think I have writer’s block, because I know where the story is going and have even been working out scenarios in my mind to carry the plot forward from where […]
I’ve been struggling to come up with something to write a blog post about, so I thought maybe one of my old posts from years gone by might spark something. I came across this one that seemed quite appropriate to my predicament. So I thought I’d share it. This is a real blast from the […]
It was fewer than 400 words. Barely a page. But I’ve begun my first cozy mystery. I honestly have no idea where it’s going yet. At this point, I’m just introducing characters, getting to know the setting. Regardless, it’s a start and I’m excited to see where the story takes me. I’m also excited to […]
I’m going to be frank. I’ve been struggling to write lately. Specifically, I’ve been struggling to get myself to work on a new draft of my first Jamie and Pip Halloran Mystery, which I wanted to think of as a complete re-imagining of my old first book, Harsh Prey. It felt a little too much […]
It’s a surprisingly cool morning here at my house for this time of year. I’m just praying the temperate conditions hold out until Saturday for my daughter’s wedding. As life is about to get pretty crazy for about 48 hours, I thought I’d take a few minutes and talk about the West Virginia Writers Spring […]
The final draft is written. It’s been edited and proofread and rewritten and edited and proofread again. I’m ready to make a decision. Do I want to send this book off to agents and publishers, or do I want to bite the bullet and self-publish? I’ve tried the self-publishing route and it didn’t go well, […]
If you started your visit to my site on my homepage, you’ll see I am author JD Stephens. I used to be author Joe Stephens, but I took a long break from writing for some pretty life-altering things, such as meeting and marrying the love of my life and adopting her beloved daughter, making her […]
I saw a question on a website for writers about what advice we, as writers, would give to young people who are interested in becoming writers. I may be completely wrong about this, but I feel like I have a slightly unique perspective on this, in that I started writing at a young age (I […]
Book titles are an interesting phenomenon. Some are strictly utilitarian–they are literally descriptive in some way, like Robert B. Parker’s The Godwulf Manuscript or Looking for Rachel Wallace or Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Others are all or part of a phrase or sentence drawn straight out […]