Zen Talk: A Quote by Buddha about the Wise

“As a solid boulder does not shake in the wind, the wise are not moved by censure or praise.” This saying by Buddha lets us meditate on our inner conviction and resolve, as well as our understanding of ourselves, lives and accomplishments. Now, do I think that we should never feel pride when complemented or [...]

Topical Tuesday: Anger Strikes an Unpublished Writer, Prompting the Rest of Us to Say, Who Hasn’t Been There?

The following are my thoughts on the post that can be found on Absolute Write’s forum, “Rejection and Dejection,” and that I’ve posted at the end of this entry. It’s Cold Out Here The accusation he makes this whiner makes is that the publishing industry is a waste of time, that its agents are morons [...]

The Zen of South Park Progress Report

I am glad to say that I’m finally back to work on The Zen of South Park. After packing in Atlanta, moving to San Fran, finding an apartment, setting it up with furniture and crap and then a few nights of sickness, I have, at last, begun to sit at my desk daily and plug [...]

Author and Computer Scientist, Hank Simon, Talks about Publishing and Writing

Hank Simon has been a wonderful asset to me as I began the writing, querying, proposal and publishing processes with The Zen of South Park. I wanted to bring him on as a guest blogger this Monday so that you could get to know him a little better and reap the benefits of some of [...]

Topical Tuesdays: Volume and Pitch – The Noise a Writer Needs to Do the Deed

And just to clarify for those of you with less than savory minds (or particularly savory minds, as the case may be), that deed is writing. Yes, this Topical Tuesday is all about the volume: TURN IT UP! Or maybe for me, turn it down. We’re all a little different with our noise preferences when [...]

Exercising Mind and Body: Avoiding the Potentially Stagnant Life of the Household Writer

Like many authors, I write from home. I feel comfortable at home. It’s my comfort zone. Home has my stuff and my books, my computer and my desk: my collective work station where my mind is most free to do its thing and my fingers are most free to follow it through the keyboard. But [...]

San Francisco and The Zen of South Park

Writing while moving is a particularly difficult feat and one that I have neither mastered nor even really attempted. There is a nagging sensation in my brain all the time telling me to get back to work – to sit down and do anything productive – to please please please write this book and at [...]

Featured Guest, Kush Tavakoli, Talks about The Zen of South Park

Today’s guest blogger is Kush Tavakoli, a friend of mine from college. After we graduated his job happened to be in my home town of Atlanta so whenever I came home, it was great to always have him there. What’s more is that he’s become an integral part of the writing process for The Zen [...]

Topical Tuesdays…on Wednesday! – Self Publishing

First, an apology. As some of my loyal readers (and for the record I love you all) will notice, this promised Topical Tuesday is not happening on Tuesday. It’s Wednesday (to be honest – I’m in San Fran so it’s still Tuesday here but since it’s Wednesday on the East Coast and most people on [...]

Oxford Commas – I mean, really

The Oxford Comma is a highly debated topic central to all of our lives. Okay, it’s not really that debated, but it is relevant to our lives. While I’m not going to go into all of the details and examples, I am going to say my piece and then ask for your thoughts and reflections [...]