In their blog section Terry Bison offers “60 Rules for Short SF (and Fantasy)“. No matter what your genre, you will find something of use in Terry’s list tips.

What’s your favorite writing blog?

I know, I shut down for a while, but I have been working my but off. The big news this week; according to NANO, I am a winner. I managed to write a short novel of over 50,000 words during the month of November. 50,000 words in one month. I’m impressed with myself. Now if I can ever find the time to do some revisions, I may actually have a book to share.

In other news: my shoe book is coming along and I have found and illustrator for my comic book. Combine that with a couple classes at the local college and I have a lot of irons in the fire. Look for more info on these things soon.

I also found out that I am going to miss the APE again. Not the giant flea eating simian, but the Alternative Press Expo. I have been trying to keep this on my calendar for a couple years now, but something always seems to get in the way. This year, I some how scheduled the principle photography for my student film that weekend. Yes, I am actually making a student film.

While I am slaving away that weekend, stuck behind a camera,  pretending that I know what I am doing, you can make your way out to the APE, and let me know what you think. For those who have never been, it’s a small press gathering where you can find lot’s of indie comics, workshops, and all kinds of independent publications. It’s produced by the same guys that do Comic-con, but with a low brow, DIY feel to it. Check it out. Let me know what you think.

If anyone wants to blog from it, I’ll pick up your ticket.  You can get your opinion out there in front of my tens of followers.

I’ve already made my order through Amazon. Now I just have to find a way to get work to reimburse for this sort of stuff.

This also seems a timely place to mention I still have that little contest running. Send me a picture of the best typo you can find in print. You can check newspapers (if you can still find one), advertising, even your junk mail. Still have that prize to give away.

Linda’s latest book, Seaworthy, is a recounting of her return to deep-water fishing after a ten year absence. Still holding the distinction of being the only female swordfish boat captain in America, Greenlaw shows that anything she lost in the last ten years because of age, she has more than made up for in experience. Her writing style matches her personality: straight forward, conversational and matter of fact. Sometimes you have to look up from the page to remind yourself that you are not sitting on a bar stool next to her.

In person Linda was easy going and easy to relate to. I found myself getting lost in her talk and the Q&A session was filled with great information and showed just how good she is at dealing with people, even the difficult ones. I love her no nonsense style. When asked about the trip chronicled in Seaworthy she said, “Was this trip a bust, yes. But I’ve been in the business long enough to know that some trips are like that.” Greenlaw was obviously un-phased by the financial calamity and went on to say that she is looking forward to getting back out on the water again. Her matter-of-fact reasoning is clear when the subject of her arrest for fishing in Canadian waters, which is covered in Seaworthy, came up. Her response was simply, “I was there and I was fishing.”  One very telling question asked by an attendee was, “Have you ever felt any pressure from you publisher to neutralize gender specific terms?” “No.” was the answer, “I’m a fisherman. That’s what I do.” She is the kind of person I would love to work for, just maybe not on a sword-boat.

Greenlaw splits her time between writing and fishing. I am looking forward to the next season of Swords – Life on the Line and delving into her first foray into fiction, Slipknot. She is someone I look up to a great deal. She has had more success as a writer than I can hope for and is more man than I’ll ever be.