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Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith

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Category Archives: Book Daily

A Writing Biography, Part VIII: The Exoskeleton, Archiving, Publishing, The Blog, and the Long Novels, 2011-2023

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on January 16, 2025 by Michael D. SmithJanuary 16, 2025

The period from March 2011, when The Martian Marauders was accepted for publication, to January 2023, retirement from the library, already finds expression in the blog, but I hope to pull together more insight here. It’s tempting to just narrate … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Akard Drearstone, Asylum and Mirage, Balloon Ship Armageddon, Book Covers, Book Daily, Collapse and Delusion, CommWealth, Double Dragon Publishing, Editing, Interviews, Jack Commer, Jump Grenade, Literary, Man Against the Horses, Marketing, Martian Marauders, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Perpetual Starlit Night, Publishing, Science Fiction, Self-Publishing, Sortmind, Sortmind Press, Stories, Supreme Commander Laurie, The Damage Patrol Quartet, The First Twenty Steps, The SolGrid Rebellion, The Soul Institute, The Wounded Frontier, Trip to Mars, Twisted Tails, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

How Do you Deal With Your Backlog?

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on February 29, 2012 by Michael D. SmithJune 27, 2019

I can’t remember, nor does a Google search tell me, which of the great science fiction writers said, more or less: “Keep the manuscripts in motion until they are bought.”  I think it was Heinlein but it doesn’t really matter.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Daily, Double Dragon Publishing, Novels, Publishing, Stories, Writing, Writing Process | 4 Replies

Take My Word for It

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on December 15, 2011 by Michael D. SmithJune 13, 2015

No one wants to take the author’s word for it that his or her writing is good–not the slush pile reader, not the editor, not the editorial board, not the marketing staff, not the sales force, not the average reader … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Daily, Novels, Publishing, Query Letters, Trust, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

On the Essential Meaninglessness of the Word “Metaphysical”

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on November 16, 2011 by Michael D. SmithJune 13, 2015

Come on, really–what DOES it mean? Sending query letters to literary agents was one of my more useless wastes of time and energy, but one submission–and it might have been the last one to an agent, a couple years ago–brought … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Daily, Novels, Painting, Publishing, Query Letters, Writing, Writing Process | 1 Reply

Recent Posts

  • Introducing The Benign Incursion
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus
  • A Blog Post from February 13, 1976
  • A Writing Biography, Part VIII: The Exoskeleton, Archiving, Publishing, The Blog, and the Long Novels, 2011-2023
  • The Major 2024 Book Energies
  • A Writing Biography, Part VII: Organization, Lost Energies, New Novels, Publishing, 1994-2011
  • Zarreich – Publication at Last
  • The Sortmind Draft One Project
  • Dreams Used in Zarreich
  • Zarreich – The Draft Covers

Links

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  • Kara D. Wilson
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  • Sortmind the novel from Sortmind Press
  • The Soul Institute from Sortmind Press
  • Where to find my novels

Archives

Categories

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  • Book Covers (23)
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  • Collapse and Delusion (37)
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  • The Benign Incursion (2)
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  • The First Twenty Steps (26)
  • The SolGrid Rebellion (33)
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Recent Comments

  • Introducing The Benign Incursion – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The Unknown Ending for The Martian Marauders
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Trip to Mars in Paperback
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The First Childhood Appearance of Jack Commer, September 19, 1962
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The Irregular Origin of The Martian Marauders
  • Jack Commer, Supreme Commander – The Complete Series Omnibus – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on The UR Jack Commer: A Look at the Childhood Beginnings of the Commer Saga

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Michael's books

Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
4 of 5 stars
Why Meditate: Working with Thoughts and Emotions
by Matthieu Ricard
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
4 of 5 stars
WordPress Web Design for Dummies
by Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
5 of 5 stars
Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...
by Philip Plait
Using Joomla!
3 of 5 stars
Using Joomla!
by Ron Severdia
Serpent's Tooth
5 of 5 stars
Serpent's Tooth
by Toni V. Sweeney
On a cruise Melissa bonds with an older man, Travis, who turns out to be a famous celebrity in hiding from a once successful life. But by degrees we become aware that his enormous success came at the price of bonding with demonic forces...

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