I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Ralph Ellison There are so many places I would have rather been this week – like rallies, protests, volunteering to help in some way. George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis and I live in the Twin Cities. This was hard for me to not… Continue reading Time for change
I’m on my last read through of my book before sending it to the beta readers. I have some people handpicked for the first round of reading. I’m nervous about sharing my work. I’m thinking this might be the scary part of being an author – opening yourself up to criticism. Not really like my… Continue reading Almost there
These are the books that I have read or am reading while staying home: I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall is a survival story about a teenager who is trying to survive the Alaskan wilderness alone. It’s a brilliant book if you like the Hunger Games and if you want to read about… Continue reading Books to read
Guess what? Today is my four-year blog-versary. So, I have changed the theme, design, whatever it is to the website. The reason why I changed my design is it felt like a change was needed. And, what else to do when I’m stuck at home. Tour of the new site I created a static home… Continue reading 4-year anniversary of Justin Smith Writes
So I just finished reading Frankenstein. Just to be clear, Frankenstein is the doctor who created a monster, not the monster. Check out John Green's Crash Courses on Frankenstein - great resource for all of those learning at home: Don't Reanimate Corpses! Frankenstein Part 1 Frankenstein, Part 2: Between reading good books, I’ve been editing… Continue reading I’M ALIVE
Are you ever going to get something published? Maybe I will, might take a while to get this book published. I have started editing and that can take a while. This is technically my second book. I trashed my first book. Writing anything else? No, I’ve started outlining the next one and I am focusing… Continue reading Frequently asked and unasked questions about writing, social media, etc.
A couple thoughts for this week. I’m stuck I’m not exactly endorsing any democratic presidential candidates for one reason: TOO MANY CANDIDATES with things I like and dislike about each of them! I think I’ll be deciding when I get to the voting booth on Super Tuesday. No matter who you support, show up and… Continue reading Just super
I have started planning the next book and I mean that quite literally. I say that because I pantsered the last two books. Although I didn’t know this, I think that I might actually be more of a plotter. Wait, what is a pantser and plotter? Ok, when I wrote my first two books, I… Continue reading Plotter or pantser?
Did it! 1st draft of my 2nd novel is done! When I started my second book, I wanted to do this narrative as a twenty-one-year-old who is looking back on the time when she was sixteen. For the narrator, I draw upon my own experiences of having cerebral palsy, using a communication device, power wheelchair,… Continue reading Done!
The video that my dad took is on my YouTube channel. Imagine a small group of 10th graders sitting around a computer in my bedroom. There’s laughter, discussion, sharing ideas, and lots of cookies. I had my section about Civil Rights and sports in the 1960s ready to be added to the lengthy PowerPoint. Another student was creating the… Continue reading Looking Towards the Future High School Graduation Speech
Justin Smith Writes 