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Ro and Jules / Writing

Of Big Things Coming Soon

I’m pleased to announce that my second novel, Ro and Jules Across Heaven and Hell, will be released in the second quarter of 2017. All your questions are answered below!   Is the novel like your first book? Well, it’s written in English, by me – so kind of. But not a lot. The Tuning Station will […]

Writing

Embracing the Odd

This site is undergoing a redesign, thanks to the upcoming release of my new novel, TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON. You might be asking, “why call your website The Oddest Duck?” The answer is pretty simple. THE recurring theme of reviews of The Tuning Station is that it’s a bit unique. I particularly enjoyed one that […]

The Tuning Station / Writing

Four Books that Influenced The Tuning Station

No idea comes out of thin air, and mine was no different. Listed below are the books that were most important to developing The Tuning Station. Ender’s Game “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it’s impossible to […]

Writing

The Pain of That First Rejection

“In this business of show, you must have the heart of a lion, and the hide of an elephant” – Tobias Funke   There was an episode of “The X Files” that focused on the show’s villain, known only as the Cigarette Smoking Man. “CSM” was the epitome of hidden power, manipulating policy and policymakers […]

Writing

Intuition and the Creative Process

When going to work for The Container Store, one of the first things they do is introduce you to their foundation principles. Feel free to read them all if you want, but now I want to focus on one: Intuition is defined as “the quality or ability of having such direct perception or quick insight.”. It is an almost magical ability to be able to see […]

Agile / Writing

Writing Fiction with Agile Methodology: Revisited

I have failed to post the third part of my planned series on “Writing Fiction with Agile methodology”, and there is a good reason for that. My plan was to discuss how I’d implemented it with an Agile software tool, complete with screen shots and detailed instructions. The more I got into it, the more […]

Agile / Writing

When Plans Go Horribly Wrong: Writing Update 3/17/2013

This sprint was, most definitely, not a good one. There were some huge setbacks in my progress during the last two weeks, and I’ve gone through a range of emotions while dealing with them. I can’t say this is unexpected; in fact, I decided to use Agile partly because I knew there would be problems […]

Agile / Writing

Writing Progress 3/2/13: Going to dark places

Well, it’s been two weeks since my last writing update, and I’m hopelessly behind getting part 3 of my Agile series completed. I do still plan on completing it, but am not sure when; thankfully, it’s my novel writing that is pushing it back. A part of the Agile process is a “Sprint Retrospective”, where […]