Hey all — a few tips, for blog writing in particular, but I thought they'd be applicable to writing of all kinds — here you go!

Blogging can bring your business exposure, credibility, and whole lot more revenue - so it's in your best interest to deliver a steady stream of powerful writing. But for a lot of us, that's a tall order. If you're finding your creative juices running a little dry, this list of quick and easy tips is sure to get them flowing again.

 The rest of the articke may be read here.

Every author I know gets asked the same question: How do you write a book? Scott provides simple, basic information about writing and book and links to more practical advice.

It's a simple question, but it causes unexpected problems. On the one hand, it's nice to have people interested in something I do. If I told people I fixed toasters for a living, I doubt I'd get many inquires. People are curious about writing and that's cool and flattering. Rock on.

But on the other hand, the hand involving people who ask because they have an inkling to do it themselves, is that writing books it's a topic so old and so well tread by so many famous people that anyone who asks me, with the seriousintent of discovering secret advice from my small brain and limited writing experience, is hard to take seriously.

Here's the short honest truth: 20% of the people who ask me are hoping to hear this - Anyone can write a book. They want permission. Truth is you don't need any. There is no license required. No test to take. Writing, as opposed to publishing, requires almost no financial or physical resources. A pen, a paper and effort are all that has been required for hundreds of years. If Voltaire and Marquis de Sade could write in prison, then you can do it in suburbia, at lunch at work, or after your kids go to sleep.

Check the rest of the article our here.

Scott is an author, public speaker and consultant. He worked as a manager at Microsoft from 1994-2003, on projects including (v1-5) of Internet Explorer, Windows and MSN. His blog is pretty solid.

He started his own consulting practice in 2003. Wrote the best seller "The art of project management" (O'Reilly 2005). And teaches a graduate course in creative thinking at the University of Washington.

His newest bestseller, The Myths of Innovation, about the truths of creativity and innovation, was published in May of 2007. You can watch a video of him talking at amazon.com's headquarters about the book.

He's an excellent speaker for hire, and frequently performs interactive talks, workshops, and courses for organizations, conferences and the occasional living room couch.

Well, I was re-reading a cool book - one that I remember from my early 20s called "Nature's End" by James Kunetka and Whitley Strieber, lo and behold I discover that one of the authors, Streiber, has revealed the greatest unknown fear from his life with a book published back in 1988 called Communion: A True Story.

I didn't know this, but it was on the New York Times bestseller list for seven months after publication.

It is the implausible story of his having been in contact with (to quote the dustjacket copy) "intelligent nonhuman beings in his isolated cabin in upstate New York." Encounters with "visitors" which, Strieber alleges, have been occurring throughout his lifetime.

Since the book was published, the subject of abductions by alien or "nonhuman" beings has brought forth a flurry of new books on the subject - thanks X-Files! - but Strieber's best-selling volume has faded from discussion.

Thisstory gets weirder, though, according to Wikipedia he refers to the beings as "the visitors," a name chosen to be as neutral as possible, and leaves open the possibility that they are not extraterrestrials and even that they exist only in his mind.

Since the book was published, he has repeatedly expressed his frustration with what he feels are fantastic claims incorrectly attributed to him.

Strieber went on to write three more books about his experiences with the visitors, Transformation (1988), Breakthrough (1995), and The Secret School (1996). Each was commercially less successful than the last, and all three are now out of print. I haven't read any of them, but am trying to track down some copies.

Interesingly, moreso - according to Wikipedia - Strieber co-authored The Coming Global Superstorm (1999), a book about the possibility of rapid and destructive climate change, with Art Bell. He has said that it was based largely on things the Master of the Key had told him about the environment. The book served as the inspiration for the disaster film The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and Strieber later wrote a novelization of that movie.

Haha... Just found this neat little thing while travelling the inter-web...

Click here to find out what your blog is rated. I am like that Disney channel. Maybe I should write some tougher posts.

Just found out I won a short story contest today — in a local journal. There were 132 entries.

*DRUMROLL*

I placed first! I am so totally pumped. I got high marks from the judges and lots of helpful comments to polish the story up. So I'm going to do just that and send it in for the Writer's Digest Short Short Story contest. I've thought about it several times, just haven't actually worked up the nerve to do it. But now I think I can.

So now I'm pushing forward. I did a story for a contest that was due a few days ago. For that one, I ran through several options of stuff that "sort of" hit their guide and I went through a couple false starts as options didn't please me (for this contest) and got set aside for pursuit of something else.

I finally submitted a short story based loosely on an old set of legendsI had written. I had a rough outline in mind and then, as things started going, I just went where the storyled me.

I think I wrapped up all my "loose ends" and essentially hit the editors' wishes. I guess we'll find out when the winners list comes out.

 Just came across this announcement; considering entering this as well (despite the entrance fee): 

FenCon and the Dallas Future Society are proud to announce the return of the FenCon Short Story Contest for a third year. We're once again looking for a science fiction or fantasy story on any topic. The only limits are your imagination, a maximum 5000 word count, and the short list of rules below.

The first entry is free for members of FenCon and the Dallas Future Society and just $10 for non-members. Final judging will be conducted by top industry professionals and the winner will be published in the FenCon IV Program Book!

All submissons must follow these official rules and include a completed entry form. The contest entry deadline is July 14, 2007.

I've pretty much not had internet access the last couple of weeks.  Obviously I haven't posted much, though there seems to be interesting things happening.

I am still here though, and following goings-on as best I can.  In some ways I'm really enjoying being unplugged for a couple of weeks.

I'm taking a little vacation right now, in the last six months, I've started a job, resigned, been unemployed, started another job, moved into a new apartment and managed to stick with my weekly review deadline.

Regardless, I know that my output hasn't dropped off because I haven't had time to write. I've been able to write just fine. I'm still making time to write. I'm finding time to write, but I haven't been writing too much fiction. For quite some time now.

More later!

On Monday night, I went to a book launch. One of the members of my group, published her second book of short stories. Short fiction is a tough market to get into because it's so small.

There's something satisfying about seeing a project go from conception to published book, to hear the drafts, and to make suggestions, however small, along the way. That's one thing I like about creative writing groups-hearing someone suggest something and seeing the possibilities. I also like the support that we give each other. There's a lot to be said for a group where everyone works cooperatively rather in competition, which can happen too. Cooperation leads to everyone celebrating each other's success.

I'm always circumspect about celebrating too early, because my first story accepted never saw the light of publication. The story, about 1500 words long, was accepted, and I was offered $320, much more than I've had for any similar-length story I've soldsince. Then, a month later, the journal folded and that was that. I wasn't able to place it anywhere else. Sometimes, I think I should rewrite it and send it out again, but it's so old now that I look at it and cringe.

Mark Leyner is one of my favourite authors, but I've never read anyting non-fictional from him. Until now that is. A friend lent me Why Do Men Have Nipples?

Here's Vintage's (the publisher) description:

Compiled by Billy Goldberg, an emergency medicine physician, and Mark Leyner, bestselling author and well-known satirist, Why Do Men Have Nipples? offers real factual and really funny answers to some of the big questions about the oddities of our bodies.

Finally, answers to all those strange questions you'd like to ask your own doctor but haven't had the guts to do so. If you've ever wanted to ask a doctor . . .

• How do people in wheelchairs have sex?
• Why do I get a killer headache when I suck down my milkshake too fast?
• Can I lose my contact lens inside my head forever?
• Why does asparagus make my pee smell?
• Why do old people grow hair on their ears?
• Is the old adage "beer before liquor, never sicker, liquor before beer. . .," really true?

I was seeking a fast, uncomplicated read to offer my evening to and this tiny tome captured my heart. It is alot of fun to leaf through and I especially liked being able to shatter some of the preconceptions that I harboured. This is one of those tomes which is great for reading/quoting to friends, etc.

I have seen a number of reviews go after this book for not providing enough education. Personally I think there are more than enough earnest books out there and I love that this one is written in a satirical and is worded in such a way that everyone can understand -- it just doesn't take itself too seriously! The anecdotes contained herein are often pretty funny and it definitely reminds us all what a strange world we live in. That said, I still came away from this little gem with many new things learned and I am sure you will too.

 This is the best sci-fi related news I've read all day! Sci-fi Writers Pournelle and Niven have more imagination and brainpower in their fingernails than the Department of Defense!

Pournelle especially. The man's resume' and collaborations are a "who's who" of modern strategic warfare. Google "Project Thor" or "A Step Farther Out" to see an example of how these people think about real-world problems. Or just go to Pournelle's web blog (started in 1999) and you'll see that asking people like these their opinions is a step in the right direction. http://www.jerrypournelle.com/:

Oh, and they also happen to be excellent writers. Gotta pay the bills...

USA Today has reported in "Sci-fi writersjoin war on terror" that a small group of science fiction writers have been contacted by the U.S. government to advise on new and innovative ways that security could be improved. The group, called Sigma, was formed about 15 years ago by writer Arlan Andrews and was specifically intended to advise the government on advanced technology issues.

Their motto seems ominous in context of recent-history political trends and frighteningly nationalistic: "Science Fiction in the National Interest". I think their involvement is a bit horrifying, misguided, and more than a bit egotistically self-grandiose. Read on for more details.

Six writers - nicknamed the "Sigma Six", after "Six Sigma" (a set of practices for reducing defects through process improvements - see related Dilbert cartoon), met with the Homeland Security group with members of the government's High Impact Technology Solutions ("HITS") program leaders to speculate on innovative ways that technology could improve the government's ability to monitor individuals, identify and assess threats. The six writers involved were Greg Bear, Sage Walker, and Arlan Andrews, Jerry Pournelle, Larry Niven, and Yoji Kondo "Eric Kotani" (USA Today apparently failed to mention Kondo's involvement).

And if this doesn't work, they're going to try using romance novel writers to battle terrorism!

Got a recommendation for you folks , really something different. It's from Australian comedy science fiction writer Ian Taylor, author of the popular Spindle series, has just won the 2007 Indie Excellence Award for Science Fiction.  Spindle, the 2005 comedy science fiction novel by Ian Taylor, has won the 2007 Indie Excellence Award in the Science Fiction category.

Spindle tells the story of Peter Turner, a 22nd-century Earth guy who joins the Space Force, expecting an exciting and fun new career enforcing justice around the galaxy. But the Space Force is a bureaucracy like any large company, and right away they get Peter's name wrong, assign him to a dilapidated ship—he Spindle—and partner him with a violent misanthrope with a serious dislike for authority.

In his first week, Peter is shot at, maimed, beaten up and endures several cruel remarks about his hair. Also, there's a monster that eats planets. Peter must use all of his cunning, experience, his Master's degree in trivia and more than a bit of ingenuity just to survive his first week in the Space Force.

This hilarious satire manages to mock all the sacred cows of modern science fiction while maintaining a compelling futuristic narrative.

 A good read—thoroughly recommended