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Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith

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Category Archives: Essays

Are You Ready for AI Authors?

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 28, 2022 by Michael D. SmithJune 19, 2023

This is not really a review of How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market by Richard Fayet, free on Kindle, but the book is a useful guide and it did inspire further thoughts on something I’d been … Continue reading →

Posted in AI, Dystopia, Essays, Marketing, Publishing, Self-Publishing, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Top of the Hour

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on September 10, 2014 by Michael D. SmithSeptember 12, 2014

Consider that the top of the hour is the same everywhere: 10:00 AM in Dallas, 4:00 PM in London, 11:00 PM in Beijing, 12:00 AM tomorrow in Tokyo … There may be some renegade time zone somewhere whose inhabitants insist … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Novels, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Writable Novel Notes

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 11, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJune 27, 2019

Cribbed and slightly expanded from a 2013 blog post, where it got lost in the middle. But as I start looking over my notes for a sixth Jack Commer novel, all this rumination applies anew! Notes for a novel have … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Jack Commer, Novels, Perpetual Starlit Night, Science Fiction, Writing, Writing Process | 2 Replies

Justification, or, Flush These Notes Out of My System Before They Wreck a Novel!

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on July 5, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJune 12, 2015

“Some guy at the bus stop disrespected me, so I blew his head off.” I could load this post up with a thousand examples, but let’s make it short and let that one serve. I’ve been struck by the appalling … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Novels, Trust, Writing Process | 1 Reply

If No Internet or Word Processing

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on March 9, 2013 by Michael D. SmithMarch 29, 2023

What would my or any current writer’s career have been like if there were no Internet or word processing, no eBooks or online publishers? Even if the invention of digital computing machines was inevitable, consider that there was no guarantee … Continue reading →

Posted in Editing, Essays, Marketing, Novels, Publishing, Query Letters, Reviews, Stories, Wiess Cracks, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

The 2011 Harvest

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on January 5, 2012 by Michael D. SmithApril 7, 2013

Several years back I began compiling a timeline of what writing projects I was working on.  It’s always interesting to see how much builds up over time, and it’s easy to keep up with–just note the start and stop dates.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Art Process, Collapse and Delusion, Double Dragon Publishing, Editing, Essays, Jack Commer, Martian Marauders, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, Stories, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Trust

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on August 19, 2010 by Michael D. SmithJune 28, 2019

It’s odd to consider that, by definition, trust begins with complete strangers.  Each must assess the level of honesty in the other.  There is no “communal trust.”  It’s always between two people.  A hundred thousand people might trust a writer, … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, Novels, Publishing, Query Letters, Trust, Writing, Writing Process | 3 Replies

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

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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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