IT’S OFFICIAL! Pleased to announce my association with new management in NYC! We are going to rock this!
 
I will be collaborating with Rachel Vaswani and the very fine, not to mention discerning folks at Citizen Skull. Rachel will be representing me as we traverse the ins and outs of a little business that I call show.
 
You can learn more about Citizen Skull by clicking on the link below. 
 
My posts may be a bit sparse in the next few weeks going into the fall. I have a novel to turn in and getting acclimated with a new manager as well as getting material ready to pitch and shop.
 
As usual, fine people, I will keep you posted.
 
Most Sincerely
 
J.P. Linde

​We chatted a bit last week regarding your writing day. Well, here is an update on mine. Work on the pulp epic continues at a rate of 1500 words a day. Not too vigorous a schedule, and yet one I think I can live with. I have met my goal more often than most and am nearing the end of a final draft in the next couple of weeks,
 
I never go back and edit or rewrite as that can be a distraction. So, knowing that I fully realize that I am going to have some real shit back there. And I mean shit in a bad way. Not like great shit, Maynard. So, I have a feeling there is going to be some shoddy writing, great big plot holes, horrific character arcs, and a general potpourri of crap. But it will be my crap. And, more importantly, it will be my crap and I will work from it. 
 
On another front, I tasted for the first time the nectar that is Chuck Norris Water. For the record, it tastes just like water save for just the slightest of notes of action star perspiration. I don’t know where you buy it, but for god’s sake try it. In all things, EXCEPT political, be like Chuck.
 

​1000 words? 1500? Write all morning and party all afternoon. Like Hemmingway, do you have a standing desk and write standing up? All our perfectly valid as long as you are WRITING.
 
Are you a daily devotee of Elements of Style? Do you practice Saving the Cat or do you prefer the ancient philosophy of The War of Art or Zen and the Art of Writing? Quite commendable but none of them will do you any good unless you are WRITING.
 
It is simple and been said over and over again by many writers much better than me. Do get good, you have to write gooder. No, that wasn’t it. Let me try that again. You need to write ever day. Exercise the muscle. 
 
Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond (and not Cubby Broccoli as some might suggest), was famous for writing fast and never letting the editing process slow his output down. Number one priority for him was the output of words. 
 
“I don't even pause from writing to choose the right word or to verify spelling or a fact,” he explained. “All this can be done when your book is finished.”
 
I love this quote. How many of us write and then go over thousands of times, never getting any further. Plenty of time for rewrites. Son of Ravage took a year to write and two years to edit. Why? Because that’s the way I roll.
 
Whatever your practice, do it every day. Your fiction will thank you for it.
 

It’s time for another addition to J.P. Linde’s popular series: A Writer Must…
 
This is a total fabrication. There is no such series. Never has. But there sure as hell should be.
 
Today’s blog: A writer must be resilient. 
 
“Able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations.”
 
Gee, I don’t know. Would this include unrealistic editors? Why, yes. Yes, it would. How about broken promises and downright lies? Sure does. Okay, here’s a tough one. How about rejection, countered with a stunning creative blow? Yep. It covers all of these and many, many more.
 
I understand that some of these blows can be devastating, but I can assure you that all writers, good and bad, have all suffered from one or more. Hell, I have probably suffered more than anybody.  But I can also tell you that you will survive if you never stop believing in yourself, never stop attempting to get better, and never let harmful and toxic people sway your creative life. And, if you do this, particularly paying attention to the “never stop attempting to get better,” you will eventually arrive at some opportunity. Not promising a big one necessarily, but something will happen. I guarantee it! And if it is only proofing a sign for the neighborhood pharmacy (do they even still have these?), it is a writing job. 
 
For the past few years, I had a possible writing job that I was sure would happen. It was like a lousy marriage; the more I put into it, the less I got out. And it was my own damn fault. I kept believing in it…over and over and over again. I was finally faced with more unreturned emails. No, I don’t think an email once a month is a big deal. For whatever reason, I had enough and divorced the creative relationship. Am I sad about it? Yes. Do I feel it is the end of the world? Hell no!  Once the legal separation was complete, I solicited the interest of another person. Guaranteed outcome? Nada. But it is called being resilient. Something we must all learn to do.
 
On another note, I signed a book contract which I will work on over the next several months. Contract signed, and I have already started. Mother Superior from The Sound of Music was right. “When God closes a door, he locks it and throws the key through the nearest window.” Or something like that.