The SLUSHPILE Blog

For weeks, possibly months now, we’ve been bombarded with the mortgage foreclosure crisis in the news media. We’ve been told of the tragic consequences of families losing their homes from the struggling single mother trying to make a better life for her children down to the abandoned dogs and cats.
We’ve seen the government leap into action, [...]

Normally I do everything else in my morning routine first, and then blog. This morning, I’m blogging first. I have so much on my mind that I don’t feel I will be productive in the least until I unload.
As those following this blog know, we have a family member diagnosed with terminal bone cancer. He [...]

It’s Monday again, which brings us back around to our editing series. We’re continuing on with One Sloop and Slow Match by James Spurr which we’re looking to release in February.
We’re working in Chapter 1, Page 1, Paragraph 4 from the edits posted here.
The paragraph originally read like this:
Black Partridge, a young Potawatomi of [...]

Yesterday I was at the hospital visiting our relative who has terminal bone cancer.
It was a strange and exhausting day. But I imagine anyone who has gone through this finds the days strange and exhausting.
Our relative is well-off in a monetary sense. Before going to the ‘check-out’ facility my mother and I went to his home to [...]

Our 2007 catalog, which was the first we put out, was based on the concept of looking like our web-site. You can view it here as a pdf if you so wish. It’s a large file, so it will take a few moments to load depending on your internet connection.
The website concept was chosen for [...]

FOR A MORE INDEPTH LOOK AT UNDERSTANDING POV AND TRANSITIONING POV, GO TO MY WORKSHOP PAGES FOR THE FLORIDA WRITERS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE (OCT, 2009).
Four ways to transition POV without losing or annoying your reader (examples follow):
 a). Switch the POV at the beginning of a chapter.
 b). Switch the POV at the beginning of a new scene, [...]

The next paragraph in our Editing 101 series is the third paragraph of the first page. Originally it reads like this:
Edward called, “Run, Sarah!  To the water, don’t stop!”  He sensed she needed no urging and called more to assure her of his presence, still behind her, if she had even comprehended the threat to [...]

It’s mid-month of January and the doldrums have set in. The cold, the grey skies, the long nights (although it is staying lighter a few minutes longer each day, which is encouraging). The Christmas shopping scramble is over and the business is settled down for what seems to be a long winter’s nap.
As my title [...]

If you’ve noticed that I’ve been missing in action for several days, this is what is going on.
I took an outside position. After the Christmas season, sales slow considerably at the beginning of the year, and as I have several big marketing plans, and a possible trip to NYC in February, I don’t want the [...]

On Saturday, I met with a local, talented author about the work he is currently involved in. He is Christian, his work is a glorification of Christ, and his current title has what I believe to be a universal theme: finding time to pursue our relationship with Christ.
All this being said, at the beginning of [...]