First Cup of Coffee – September 2, 2024

The role of luck/serendipity in publishing success, how it’s not who you know, but how you can know people. Also, the problems at NaNoWriMo, and why I believe being a writer and the process of writing is more important than having generated a book.



First Cup of Coffee – February 23, 2024

Some big news on the official title of the book that was Oneira and a release date! Also, a thing I bought because of Taylor Swift that has Changed My Life, and more on coping as a creative when people hate you/your work.



First Cup of Coffee – September 22, 2023

About my tumultuous week and how wonderful Mary Robinette Kowal is. Also, by request, an explanation of what AI is and isn’t, and what it has to do with writing stories and creating art.



First Cup of Coffee – June 26, 2023

How I’m getting better at balance, increasing my wordcount, getting business done, and having more time to relax! Also, using AI “tools” as a writer and examining the whole point of being a creative in the first place.



First Cup of Coffee – June 16, 2023

Happy to report that my training program to increase creative flow and word count is working! Also, additional thoughts on the ethics of using AI-generated work and how money factors into that for some people.



First Cup of Coffee – May 22, 2023

Zencastr borked on me, so there’s an abrupt ending, but I’m talking about self-publishing careers vs. trad-pub ones, AI and creativity, and writing a book that is an artistic conversation with another book.



First Cup of Coffee – March 20, 2023

How you know when your creativity is flowing, which story ideas have enough juice to sustain a novel or series, and how to handle those New Shiny ideas when you have other works in progress to focus on.



ROGUE FAMILIAR Delayed (Again) – But Not as Much as You Think!

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what’s going on there with the creative professions. I have Opinions, which boil down to my conviction that nothing can replace human creativity. But a lot of very smart people have written on the topic and SFWA has been collating those. Go read those excellent articles.

For my part, I’m trying to get ROGUE FAMILIAR written. I’ve passed 60K words and I’m closing in on the Act II Climax. I’m getting there! But I’m not there yet. No way can I make a March release date. So I’ve pushed the release back. Amazon will tell you the new release date is April 24, but that’s a handy lie. That’s just the farthest date I could push to, just in case. I’m guessing it will be more like April 7 or 10. I can always release early! I know you all are patient and supportive, so I don’t need to apologize. (But I feel I do.) Anyway, I’m working away on this!

No AI involved.