The SLUSHPILE Blog

Crunch Time:
The Florida Writer’s Conference is coming up this coming week! Considering I was booked nearly a year ago. . . well, the old analogy about time flying certainly fits.
I’m making the final brush-ups on the material I want to go over, I’m hearing from people planning to attend inquiring what material I’ll be interested in [...]

Jim Spurr’s Reflection in the Wake continues to grow in the way of images. He’s requested a couple more in addition to the ones already added, and I can’t help but think that it is going to be a very handsome book, with nearly an image for every chapter. A real treasure trove of information, [...]

About two months ago I received an invitation from Night Owl Romance Reviews to submit my work, In the Brief Eternal Silence for review. This requet took me by surprise for two reasons:
1. I didn’t recall contacting them offering them the book (or, if I had contacted them, it had been so long ago I couldn’t [...]

Over the course of the last two weeks, I’ve talked to several new writers (so if any one of you is reading this and thinks that I am talking specifically about ‘you’ — relax, it’s a composite of you and several others in the recent past mixed in with the observations I have had in [...]

There are several things cooking on the publishing stove right now that I find exciting. The first, I blogged briefly about previously, which is the addtion of a new writer whose work I admire very much. Alas, despite its literary qualities (or possibly as a result of those literary qualities) I don’t foresee a block-buster [...]

Hitting the end of June doesn’t merely mean that the year is half over and that summer is fast flying by. It also means that another sales period is ending here at Double Edge Press, which means another Royalty statement and checks due out to authors before the end of July.
Despite the writing of checks, royalties [...]

As an invited presenter for this years Florida Writers Association Conference, I have been following their Florida Writers Conference blog regularly. I follow it with a great deal of fascination.
When I was ‘merely’ a writer I had little opportunity to attend such functions, and I viewed those that could attend with envy. Four kids, a corresponding [...]

Last year at Art in the Park, it worked well to get our name out there, but the sales were less than encouraging.
This year, I am happy to report, the sales were moving briskly. In fact, I ‘escaped’ my public speaking slot because, I’m sure, every time our coordinator glanced my way, I was busy [...]

About a year ago, my husband brought me home a copier. Massive, heavy, and retailing for well over $5,000.00 used (heaven only knows how much it cost new), he and my son unloaded it from the back of our small pick-up truck by way of sliding it down a couple of two by fours (lifting [...]

The problem with a one man shop is that you have to do everything. I could argue that this is also the greatest advantage, because it gives you control over all aspects and you never need wonder if the to-do list is getting done, and getting done the way you want it done.
However, it does [...]