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Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith

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Category Archives: Writing Process

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NOW! – or – Early Marketing Efforts

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on January 15, 2015 by Michael D. SmithJanuary 15, 2015

Not long ago I was astonished to rediscover childhood Jack Commer marketing tools. As outlined elsewhere, my first Jack Commer, Supreme Commander plots unfolded in the fifth grade, and by the eighth I’d abandoned the draft of The Martian Marauders … Continue reading →

Posted in Early Writing, Jack Commer, Marketing, Martian Marauders, Novels, Science Fiction, Stories, Trip to Mars, Writing, Writing Process | 2 Replies

Commer of the Rebellion – Characters and Some Rough Draft, Part I

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on December 21, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJuly 12, 2020

Some characters from the first draft of Jack Commer #6, Commer of the Rebellion, now in progress. The text is taken from the rough draft, about two hundred pages so far, and is obviously open to revision. We had the … Continue reading →

Posted in Character Images, Commer of the Rebellion, Excerpts, Jack Commer, Novels, Science Fiction, The SolGrid Rebellion, Writing, Writing Process | 2 Replies

A Writing Biography, Part III: Unhappy Kid Interlude, Yet Two Novels, Sort Of

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on October 14, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJune 27, 2019

Or: Wandering in the Wilderness with New Discipline, the Consciousness Expansion of Adolescence, and Many To-Do Lists This is an odd period to write about, and only this year, after I made plans to write about first The Gore Book … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Drawing, Early Writing, Jack Commer, Martian Marauders, Novels, Science Fiction, Stories, Trip to Mars, Writing, Writing Process | Tagged A Writing Biography | 1 Reply

A Writing Biography, Part II: The Blue Notebook

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on September 28, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJuly 12, 2020

A previous post, The First Childhood Appearance of Jack Commer, covered the origin of my space hero Jack in the fall of 1962 and my elation at writing the story “Voyage to Venus” for a fifth grade spelling assignment. That … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Drawing, Early Writing, Jack Commer, Science Fiction, Stories, Trip to Mars, Writing, Writing Process | 3 Replies

A Writing Biography, Part I: First Efforts in The Gore Book

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on September 24, 2014 by Michael D. SmithNovember 5, 2014

I wrote my first stories in July 1960 in Fair Haven, New Jersey, around the time of my second operation for a head injury in a car accident earlier that year. I was seven years old. My friend Sabin Russell and … Continue reading →

Posted in A Writing Biography, Early Writing, Stories, Writing, Writing Process | 5 Replies

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

Character-Driven Boasting

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on September 2, 2014 by Michael D. SmithDecember 20, 2016

I need to keep reminding myself about characters. Because I almost fell into this trap working on the notes for the sixth Jack Commer novel, Commer of the Rebellion. Boy, I really was straining for a dazzling plot, but it … Continue reading →

Posted in Commer of the Rebellion, Jack Commer, Marketing, Novels, Reviews, Science Fiction, The SolGrid Rebellion, Writing, Writing Process | Leave a reply

Try to Give Something Back as Well (or, The Martian Marauders on Sale through Sept. 2)

Sortmind Blog - Michael D. Smith Posted on August 24, 2014 by Michael D. SmithJuly 11, 2020

Writers are told to self-promote everywhere but it’s beginning to seem as if folks are pulling into your driveway at 3 AM and blowing their horn MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! then charging off to blare some other victim down the street. At least … Continue reading →

Posted in Character Images, Collapse and Delusion, Commer of the Rebellion, Double Dragon Publishing, Jack Commer, Martian Marauders, Nonprofit Chronowar, Novels, Publishing, Science Fiction, The SolGrid Rebellion, The Wounded Frontier, 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 | Leave a reply

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  • Asylum and Mirage: The Draft 2 Milestone – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Caspra Coronae Draft One Blast-Off
  • Progress: Asylum and Mirage and the Title Change – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Interview with the Burlcron/Mercer/Singletree
  • The Damage Patrol Quartet: Four Stories – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on Homage Part 2: The Zarreich Enigma
  • A Writing Biography, Part IV: The Perfect Cube and Beyond – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on A Writing Biography, Part III: Unhappy Kid Interlude, Yet Two Novels, Sort Of
  • A Writing Biography, Part IV: The Perfect Cube and Beyond – Sortmind Blog – Michael D. Smith on A Writing Biography, Part I: First Efforts in The Gore Book

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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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