The “777 Slowly Becomes A 790 Challenge” (And More Silliness)

On July 31, 2012, in Humor, Just for Fun, by rsguthrie

First of all I am honored that writer Scott Bury thought enough of me to pick me as one of his “seven”. And I am going to comply—well, at least I am going to my WIP and I am going to page seven, but I am going to pick nine sentences from that page. Truth […]

 

Don’t Get Fooled Again (By The Ridiculousness Of “Word Count”)

On July 30, 2012, in Indie Authors, Opinion, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

Did you ever, even once in your life, dismiss a song you loved because its length didn’t meet some standard you’d been convinced by the culture is appropriate for a particular style of music? I grow weary (and even a bit perturbed) at hearing writers talk about their books in terms of size (i.e. word […]

 

Starbucks Coffee And The Imprisoning Effect Of Twitter (And Other Social Media)

On July 29, 2012, in eBook Pricing, Future Ideas, Indie Authors, Marketing, The Market, Twitter, by rsguthrie

I had one idea for a blog that became two, that are somewhat related (Indies trying to succeed in a cruel, isolated world and the pricing challenge faced by all). So I mashed them together here. I hope it turns out better than that potato recipe I tried last year. Bad. So very, very bad. […]

 

Idol for Authors, Part Deux

I was replying to comments on the original “American Idol for Authors” post and the creative juices (and pitch man) in me started into overdrive. I noticed the other day a Tweep retweeted the blog post to Oprah—now I am not a loon and I have no expectation that she read the blog (or tweet, […]

 

How To Write The Best Book You Can Possibly Write, With No Guarantees

On July 25, 2012, in Encouragement for Indies, Indie Authors, Reviewers, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

You’ve taken the classes, attended the workshops, read every Writer’s Digest book they’ve put on the market. You’ve written, and written, and then when you thought the calluses couldn’t get any harder on the ends of your fingers, you wrote some more. You’ve suffered the rejection slips. Oh, how those rejection slips sting. To hell […]

 

American Idol for Authors

Had the idea for the wildly successful (yet perhaps waning) American Idol not been born in the mind of Simon Fuller and then finally realized as a television show, singers like Carrie Underwood likely might never have been “discovered”. Clearly Underwood had “it”. She was and is enormously talented, yet prior to the fourth season […]

 

A Slow-Reading Author (Am I Dyslexic?)

On July 23, 2012, in Dyslexia, Learning Challenges, Reading, by rsguthrie

I began reading as a child, as most avid readers do. I talked about it in a previous blog, having just recently ordered a copy of an old childhood favorite, Nunzio, from a used bookstore through ABE Books. Until I started talking with friends later in life, however, I had no numbers with which to […]

 

Colorado Shooting: More Questions Than Answers

On July 21, 2012, in Uncategorized, by rsguthrie

I felt like I should say something, being from Colorado and actually having worked (and once lived) a couple miles down the road from the Aurora Century 16 theater where the unspeakable atrocity occurred yesterday. I used the word “unspeakable” intentionally. In this day and age nothing could be further from the truth. From TMZ […]

 

For Whom The Blog Tolls

I received a thought-provoking email from a reader this morning that immediately spurred my next blog post, its thoroughness and the points it pondered being: A) Completely relevant to my (and any other author/writer’s) blog and B) Timely, as I had been considering my blog, the fact that I really would like to blog about […]

 

Dark Prairies Book Trailer

On July 19, 2012, in Book Release, Book Trailer, New Books, Video, by rsguthrie

For you blog readers, here’s the new trailer for my book. Music by Kenny Wayne Shepherd (“Blue on Black”): Because I love this song so much, here is an ultra-cool version performed live at one of the Guitar Center Sessions (not unlike “Unplugged” on MTV). Well worth the watch: