In my day job as a publishing lawyer, I often get asked how copyright impacts an author’s ability to use a specific setting in works of fiction. Like many other copyright questions (and, honestly, every other question a lawyer gets asked), the answer is “it depends.” Fortunately, the applicable rules are fairly straightforward and easy to analyze. The…
Category: General Interest
Taming the Worry Monster
Quick – grab a piece of paper and a pen and jot down a list of things you are worrying about. Don’t stop to think whether they are rational or irrational. Don’t try to prioritize. Just scribble them down. Do it now. I’ll wait. While I wait I will contemplate this still life photo of…
The Afterglow of Revision
At last, I hit Control Save on my revision of my second thriller, Red Sky, and emailed it to my editor. Woo hoo!! As writers I’m sure you all know how great it feels to type the end and know you’ve finished a scene, a chapter, a book. You also know how painful it can…
The Writer’s Nightmare Before Christmas
The holidays are coming…can you feel your writing time slipping away? I love the holidays, the lights, the costumes, the decorations, the family, the baking—presents. The one thing is, those months ALWAYS knock me off my word count track. Usually this is not a huge problem. I pick back up in January and keep plugging…
When Scouting Goes Live
On September 23, I finished yutzing around with my Scout entry and uploaded it. The campaign is now underway, ending on October 23. How are things going? I have no idea… But I’m learning a lot. One of the things I’ve learned is to ask for votes everywhere! So please! If you’ve enjoyed this series…