The Author Guy Blog

  22nd January 2025 Hello out there, Welcome back. While I regularly purchase releases of new books online from either Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites (my books can be found on both), I also occasionally “haunt” used book stores (where my books can also be found). These stores can be a treasure trove of previously published books going back several decades and can usually be purchased for between one and five dollars. When shopping at these stores, I first seek out the sections of prolific authors I study, especially those who are no longer with us, authors such as Stuart Woods and Robert B. Parker. I’m especially drawn to these two because their books are dialogue-driven, and that is my writing style, as well. Last week, my search was rewarded with a rare find – an authentic autographed first edition of Parker’s  Widow’s Walk  published in 2002. If you’re ever tempted to order an autographed copy of an author’s current book, a note of caution. Years ago, I spent a ...

13th September 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. I’ve long admired the late Robert B. Parker and was even more drawn to his books when I began my own author journey eleven years ago. I’ve emulated two hallmarks of his writing – short chapters that are dialogue-driven. Parker is best known as the prolific author of bestselling crime novels separately featuring the protagonists Spenser, Jesse Stone and Sunny Randell. This past weekend, I re-read Parker’s 1983 novel  Love and Glory , a departure from most of his other works because it is, in fact, a love story, and here are a few things I rediscovered. The novel is set in the 1950s and 1960s when I was growing up, and the protagonist, like me, went to college intending to be a writer before life, like me, took him far away from that destination. The protagonist “Boone or Boonie” loved F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic 1925 book  “The Great Gatsby ” and, no lie, that book is near the top of my upcoming vacation to-be-read stack. The ...

16 th February 2024 Hello out there, Welcome back. Last week I commented that opinions are like noses – everyone has one. I wrote it because I disagreed with what I felt was an untrue and unfounded statement of absolute posted to an author-centric Facebook group. It caused me to ponder so many other “absolute” statements and admonishments I’ve read over the past ten years regarding the craft of writing. It’s been my (albeit limited) experience that most of these proffers of advice come from people who are either not published authors, or if they are, unsuccessful ones. I’m remined of the old saw: “Those who can – do. Those who can’t or won’t – teach.” Here are just two that came two mind that I felt were worth sharing. A now-deceased supposed writing “expert” by the name of Bickham had an entire chapter in his book entitled “Don’t describe the weather.” He goes on with the added admonishment to never begin a book with weather. Well, perhaps he had in mind the infamous and much-maligned...