Somebody comes up to you and says, “I wanna be a writer. I really wanna to be a writer!”
What do you say?
Category Archives: Reader Friday
Reader Friday: Health Insurance and the Self-Employed Writer
Many in the thriller writing community are aware that writer Tom Piccirilli is battling brain cancer. Surgery to remove a tennis ball-sized tumor was successful, and now a long recovery and ongoing fight are in store. So are medical costs. Which brings up the issue of health insurance for the self-employed writer. Thanks to frequent commenter Terri Lynn Coop for suggesting this as a Reader Friday topic. Let’s start a discussion on strategies for writers who must find their own health insurance coverage.
[NOTE: This is not a political forum, so let’s keep partisan politics out of it. This is about what to do right now with options currently available.]
[NOTE: This is not a political forum, so let’s keep partisan politics out of it. This is about what to do right now with options currently available.]
Meanwhile, if you’d like to help Tom out, here are some options.
Reader Friday: Time For a TKZ Redesign?
UPDATE: After a spirited discussion in the comments, we have decided to keep the template as is. For those of you who prefer black-on-white to read, we remind you (as commenter K S Ferguson did) that you can scroll down to the end of the post and click on “comments.” Just under the title you’ll see “Show Original Post.” Click on that and you’ll get the simple text. We trust that will take care of the major issues discussed here. Thanks, everyone, for chiming in.
From time to time, loyal readers, we have gotten a tweet or a toot or an email asking if we might consider changing the look of the Zone from white-on-black text to black-on-white. It is said the latter is easier on the eyes. And while we like to make trouble in our fiction, we don’t want to do the same to our readers.
So let’s talk about it. Would you like us to make the switch? Do you feel strongly one way or the other?
Reader Friday: Knock Out!
What’s the first book you can remember reading that really knocked you out? That carried you away into a story world that you didn’t want to leave? That got you hooked on reading?
I read The Hardy Boys as a kid, but the first “real” novel I remember getting hooked on was Tarzan of the Apes.
What about you?
Reader Friday: I Wish I’d Written That!
We’ve all read (or heard in a movie) a line we wish we’d written.
Here’s one of mine. It comes from a classic hard-boiled noir by Dan J. Marlowe, The Name of the Game is Death:
I’ve been in front of X-ray machines that didn’t get as close to the bone as that woman’s eyes.
Okay, now it’s your turn. What line do you wish YOU had written?
Reader Friday: What Series Character Do You Love, and Why?
Reader Friday: Stop It!
Welcome to Reader Friday, your chance to dive in and make your voices heard! Today we present an opportunity to share a pet peeve you see in novels and film.
Here’s mine: I was watching a recent, and forgettable, movie via Netflix streaming the other day, and up came a line of dialogue I can just as well do without, thank you very much. There was a tense emotional exchange, then this:
“It’s not about ____! It’s about ____!”
How many times have we heard this? I thought so! So I just want to say, Stop it!
What about you, dear reader? Here is your chance to tell filmmakers and novelists alike, Stop doing that!
What’s your pet peeve?
Reader Friday: Where do YOU write?
Last Friday we shared some pix of where the TKZ bloggers write. This week, it’s your turn. A number of readers responded to our request with some great photos of their writing spaces. Here we go!
Basil Sands:
Basil is a self-described “on the go, write-where-you-can” kind of guy.
“I have three primary butt parking spots where my literary juices tend to spike highest,” he says.
I vote for #2, the comfy, cozy chair.
John Gilstrap:
Blogger Emeritus John Gilstrap sent in a view of his office as you come in from the front door. I have to say, John’s writing space comes closest to my ideal vision of a bestselling author’s writing space!
Mike Dennis:
OK, forget the office–just look at Mike Dennis’s place (I think it’s hidden behind the palm trees). It must be great to work in paradise!
And here’s his office…
Mike Jecks:
Mike from the UK accused us of cleaning up our desks for our photos last week. Guilty as charged, Mike! He included a photo of his office and canine muses.
“As you can see, British writers don’t tidy up the desk before wandering off to pointlessly take photos, even leaving both dogs in the shot to prove we’re not idly ambling around the lanes instead of working,” he said, with lovable British sarcasm. “No. We’re sitting indoors pretending to concentrate on the next book, while actually taking photos of the ‘workspace’ instead. Work displacement activities are a wonderful thing! Hope you like the way I took one photo, didn’t like it, so took a second while leaving the first on the screen … yeah, I forgot.”
Oh, and the second dog? If you look under the desk, you’ll spot a nose.
Zoe Sharp:
Zoe gets her creative juices flowing in an unlikely spot–her car.
“I get a lot of productive work done in the car on motorway journeys,” she says.
Seriously, Zoe? Be careful doing that in Southern California–they hand out tickets here for texting and using a cell phone, much less tapping out the Next Great American Novel!
Michael Harling:
Michael is shown working in his office.
“This is me, our dining table and, yes, that is my permanent ‘office.’ It is where I work when I am not writing on the bus or a train,” he says.
I’m a dining room table writer too, Michael. Thanks for sharing!
Richard Mabry:
Richard Mabry sent us a photo of his office from his iPhone. Very cool!
Mark Terry:
“My office used to be in the basement… and my youngest son wanted to move down there so I switched with him,” Mark says. “I rather liked the solar system hanging from the ceiling, so I left it up.”
The acoustic guitar provides an additional outlet for creative expression.
Terri Coop:
Terri describes her office as “very much my cocoon.”
“This is my little corner of the world where I write and run my business,” she says. “It is in a free-standing apartment built inside my warehouse. I rescued the desks and wall mount cabinets from the alley behind an insurance agency (there is another on just like it to the left holding all my graphic design printers). Then I decorated the office around the desks.”
I love the HOPE sign on top of the cabinet. Every writer needs one of these!
Thank you!
Sending out a big thanks to everyone who shared their pictures and stories about their writing spots this week. Hope we didn’t overlook anyone. Please share your story today in the Comments!