Author Archives: R. Doering

I have been working diligently on my novel and passed the halfway point. It’s always a pleasure to meet important milestones and make progress. I’m 180 pages into the book, and it’s going well. It’s a Jack Whitstone book; there are three others in the tetralogy (Indian Spirits, Weeping Woman, Music Master), all available onContinue reading “Halfway There”

I just completed the first chapter of my new book, and it looks good. Progress could best be described as a trickle, slow but steady. I looked back into the first book of the set, Indian Spirits, and was amazed how grim that book was. Jack Whitstone has been on a long journey, and inContinue reading “Trickle”

After a month of work I have finished the outline for my next novel and typed it up so I don’t lose it on my computer. I’m taking a few days off before starting the actual writing. Though I write a detailed outline, often the finished novel only superficially resembles that outline. I’ve heard writersContinue reading “Slow Progress”

I bought a copy of one of my books on Amazon, and Amazon said it would arrive in ten weeks. I freaked out. I needed that book in four to six weeks. Every day I checked in with Amazon, wondering what was taking so long; in about two weeks the book came to my door.Continue reading “Looking for Trouble”

I have had all sorts of problems using WordPress, most recently the disappearance of all my old blog posts. No way am I going to rewrite those, so suddenly six months of posts are gone. Sometimes it seems that a WordPress techie watches me type and messes with me as I go. Are any ofContinue reading “Wonky WordPress”

I have gotten past the research phase of my latest book and have started in on making the outline for the whole thing. This is probably the most important phase of writing the book, because the outline is the backbone of the finished product. I have never heard of a writer who stayed wholly onContinue reading “Outlining A New Novel”

While researching for my latest Jack Whitstone novel I couldn’t help but notice the difference between book covers with an image and words (title and author name) and those with only a single large image and no words. I have a visceral dislike for the wordless covers, because it takes a reader in a bookstoreContinue reading “Full-Picture Cover Images”

I grew up reading books from the libraries in the schools I attended. The first book I can remember reading was a science fiction book about the aftermath of a nuclear war, where only a few people survived and most of them were in dire need of food and water. That was a post-apocalyptic novel,Continue reading “Library Boy”

Where do you get your story ideas, whether it be for a short story or a novel? I get my ideas by living life. Taking walks in the pine forests, or on the beach. Of course the media kicks out a lot of good ideas. And my friends and family give me tidbits to workContinue reading “Inspiration”

Whether you have a hundred online friends or a dozen, it’s relatively easy to keep in touch with them and see what they’re up to. For me, as a writer, typing up a blog post on my word press site is a good way to send a message to many friends at once. A postContinue reading “Friends”