Cooking

The D.E.P. (Derail Every Plan) Method

I’m in two critique groups, one for novels and one for screenplays.  My novel group met yesterday and chapters 4 and 5 of my first steampunk novel were up. The great thing about being in a critique group is that, while all will comment on story structure and characters, different […]

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Vincent Steps Out

It was time for the 39th annual “L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future Awards Dinner”.  I had heard much of this event, and this year Dennis invited me to be his guest along with Kris.  The decorations of the Taglyan Complex were extraordinary, the centerpiece being the […]

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LATFoB 2023

LATFoB 2023 I spent this weekend at the LA Times Festival of Books volunteering at the GLAWS booth.  There, you see, here’s a picture of me at the booth. Usually, I go to big events like this and take lots of pictures, but I’m never in them.  So this time […]

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Getting ready for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

First of all, the LA Times moved its headquarters to El Segundo, so I don’t know why it isn’t called the El Segundo Times.  But anyway… The LA Times Festival of Books is next weekend.  You can see all the information, vendors and events here:  https://events.latimes.com/festivalofbooks/ GLAWS will once again […]

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Mad Woman Goes to Conference

The latest California Creative Writers Conference was recently held over two consecutive weekends.  It started on Friday afternoon, 3/3/23, then all day Saturday and Sunday, then in the afternoons Monday through Wednesday.   This was the virtual part of the conference on Zoom.  While I sat at my computer for it, […]

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Digitally Tired

This blog is going to be short. I’ve been at the Digital Authors and Indie Publishing virtual conference all weekend, and it will continue throughout the week in the evenings.  Here are some of the highlights so far: Sat. 10:00am – THE FINE ART OF PITCHING TO AN AGENT OR […]

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The Short of It

So, I’m currently working on my 165-page screenplay.  I’m trying to get it down to at least 143 pages, the length of the first screenplay in the trilogy.  By page 25, the heroes have figured out who the villain is and what he’s planning.  Now I come to two intercut […]

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The Long and the Short of it

As I have been mentioning, my critique group has now gone over my entire script for my second steampunk story.  I’ve gotten a lot of good feedback, both in the Zoom meetings and in written notes.  At 165 pages, I knew it was too long, but that’s how first drafts […]

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My Brain Hurts

Setting up and tearing down conference rooms all through the three-day weekend at the Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference.  PHYSICALLY TIRED. Stuffing my brain with writing knowledge.  MENTALLY TIRED. Saying goodbye at Karl Lembkey’s memorial.  EMOTIONALLY TIRED. Normal blog will return next Sunday. Dennis Amador Cherry 123rd blog completed. First […]

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Busy Weekend

It started Saturday morning at 6:00 am.  I was on kitchen staff at church making breakfast burritos for the woman’s conference the way we make them at the men’s monthly breakfasts.  Hey, women need burritos, too.  Luckily, I’m ¼ Mexican, so I know how to wrap a burrito. After getting […]

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