#430

I just sent in my 430th novel. I used to confine posts like this to more significant milestones, but hey, at my age, every milestone is a significant one. My goal is to make it to 450 novels, which I believe is within reach barring any of the proverbial unforeseen circumstances. I got a good start on #431 while Livia was editing #430, so I had best get back to it. 

49 Years Ago Today

#425

I wrapped up my 425th novel yesterday. I think that's a milestone worthy of a blog post and something I never seriously dreamed of achieving when I started out in this business all those years ago. I'm more convinced than ever that writing 500 novels is out of reach for me. Even 450 seems like a stretch considering how much I've already slowed down and how much I'd like to slow down even more. But that's one thing about life . . . you never know. For now, I'm proud and happy to have gotten this far, and I appreciate all readers and editors and publishers who have made it possible, and special thanks, as always, to my daughters who have helped so much, and to Livia, without whom it never would have happened.

Now I have another book to write, so I'd better get at it.

48 Years Ago Today

 

The Annual December 27 Post

Regular readers of this blog know that today marks the anniversary of my first fiction sale, back on December 27, 1976. 47 years ago today, a number that makes me shake my head in disbelief. I’m sure that back in 1976 I hoped I would still be writing and selling almost half a century later, but I’m equally certain that I wouldn’t have bet money on it.

But here we are, and if you want to read the background of that first sale, you can find it in my original post on the subject from 2004. I noticed when looking up that post that there are comments from Todd Mason and Juri Nummelin, who are still good friends and regular commenters here all these years later. I’m thankful for that continuity.

I’m thankful as well for everyone who’s contributed to me being able to stay in this business for so long, including all the fine editors and writers I’ve worked with over the years, as well as all the readers who have ever sat down and cracked open one of my books. And of course I couldn’t have done any of it without Livia, Shayna, and Joanna. My thanks and love to all of you. I’m at the point where I’m genuinely curious to see how long I can keep this up.

By the way, that isn't the exact model of typewriter I used in those early days, but I typed thousands of pages on one very much like it.

Half a Million Words and Counting

I used to tell people that if I was writing half a million words a year, I'd feel like I was retired. What that cocky comment failed to take into account was that my productivity could erode to the point where it takes twice as long to get anything done. So today I hit the half-million word mark for the year, but I don't feel retired. I just feel tired.

But at the same time, I tell myself, hey, half a million words isn't bad. I'm still turning out books and they're not terrible (I hope). So I guess I'll keep at it for a while yet. Still have stories to tell.

#415

I've turned in my 415th novel and gotten a good start on #416. There was a time when a book had to mark a real milestone before I'd mention it, but the older I get and the closer I come to the end of my career, even these smaller increments mean something to me. I'm committed to enough work for the rest of this year and next year to carry me to #425. Will I pack it in after that? I don't know, something about 450 seems appealing to me. 500 is out of reach. I'd have to write hard for another 15 years to do that, and that's not going to happen.

Whatever the total winds up being, I've had fun and entertained some folks.

The Annual December 27th Post

Regular readers of this blog may recall that today is the anniversary of my first fiction sale. 46 years ago today, on December 27, 1976, I became a professional fictioneer. I told the story here, in the first year of the blog, and I can't sum it up better, so if you haven't read about how I broke into this business, you can check out that post if you're of a mind to. Almost half a century later, I'm still at it and intend to keep going for a while yet. I think 500 books is out of reach (I just started novel #414) but I ought to be able to make it to a full 50 years as a professional writer.

In related news, there will be no "A Million Words and Counting" post this year. As I've threatened for a long time, I slowed down some this year (not entirely voluntarily) and will finish with about 900,000 words. So the streak comes to an end after 17 consecutive years. I'm fine with that.

My sincere thanks to everyone who's helped make it possible for me to keep spinning yarns all these years.

The Wrap Up

As we all know, 2021 has been a rough year in many respects. At times, I’ve felt as if I were keeping busy just so I wouldn’t think about how many unpleasant and downright tragic things were happening in the world.

But I did keep busy: I wrote somewhere around 1.1 million words, the most in several years. I read 202 books, the most I’ve ever read since I started keeping records 41 years ago. (My previous record was 186.) I not only kept my own writing going, but I also sold my publishing imprint, Rough Edges Press, to Wolfpack Publishing and stayed on as the editor, guiding the development of a line that I think can compete with anybody in the mystery/suspense/men’s adventure field. So I think I accomplished quite a bit, although it wasn’t enough for me to feel caught up. I’ll never be caught up . . .

Not for a while yet, anyway. But another thing I’ve done this year is decide on the date when I actually will retire, except for maybe writing a few more books of my own and keeping this blog and the WesternPulps email group going, assuming those platforms still exist. More about that later, as the time approaches. For now, full speed ahead.

Which means listing my top ten favorites of all the books I read this year, in the order in which I read them:

GUN RUNNER, Larry Correia and John Brown
THE SPIDER: FURY IN STEEL, Will Murray
A WRITER PREPARES, Lawrence Block
MAGAZINES I REMEMBER, Hugh B. Cave
THE COMANCHE KID, James Robert Daniels
5 DECEMBERS, James Kestrel
MASTER OF MYSTERY: THE RISE OF THE SHADOW, Will Murray
STRIPPED AND BRANDED, Peter Brandvold
AMBA, Andrew Hallman
DROWNING ARE THE DEAD, Brent Towns

The last two on that list aren’t available yet. They’re books I’m publishing at Rough Edges Press, and they’ll be out next year. I read a lot of good books this year, and there are twenty or thirty more that could have made the cut for the top ten. I especially want to acknowledge the three issues of MEN’S ADVENTURE QUARTERLY from Bob Deis and Bill Cunningham, BATTLING BRITONS and the two follow-up issues from Justin Marriott, the Levon Cade series by Chuck Dixon, THE COMPLETE CASES OF THE RAMBLER, VOLUME 1 by Fred MacIsaac, THE GUN WITH THE WAITING NOTCH by Stone Cody (Thomas E. Mount), and two thrillers by William Christie that I’ll also be publishing next year, DARKNESS UNDER HEAVEN and BARGAIN WITH THE DEVIL. I’m very glad I had so many good books to read, and I want to give a big thank you to all the authors, editors, and publishers who made that possible.

I mentioned above that I wrote around 1.1 million words this year, the 17^th straight year I’ve hit the million word mark. This is where I always say I won’t do that much next year, and then I wind up writing that much anyway. Right now, I’d say it’s doubtful that I’ll do a million words in 2022, but stranger things have happened. I still have some ghost work lined up, and I plan to write a few books under my own name, if I can get around to them. So we’ll see.

And that pretty much sums up my attitude toward everything that’s waiting for us in 2022. We’ll see. Because there’s nothing else we can do.

A Million Words and Counting, One Last time

I knew I was approaching a million words again this year, but I've been so busy I just forgot about it. So it slipped by me on Saturday when I passed that mark for the 17th straight year. This is actually the earliest I've achieved that in several years. There had been some rough patches this year, but some really productive stretches, too. However (and stop me if you've heard this before; on second thought, don't), this will be the end of the streak. When Rough Edges Press was relaunched as part of Wolfpack Publishing and I agreed to stay on as the editor, I knew that job would take up a lot of my writing time. I still had (and still have) quite a few writing commitments, so I've been juggling both jobs for the past couple months and will continue to do so through much of next year. But I don't have as many books under contract anymore, so I can start easing out of that full-time writing schedule over the next six months or so.

Of course, one should never say never. I have several books of my own I'd like to write, so who knows how much I'll find the time to do. Really, though, I expect my output to be more like half a million words.

As always, thanks to Livia, Shayna, and Joanna for making everything I do possible, not just the writing, and to all the editors over the years who have put their trust in me, and most of all to the readers who enjoy my books and stories. You've all made this journey a lot of fun.

#400

Earlier today I sent my 400th novel to my editor. It turned out to be a house-name book. I had thought I might be able to do one of my own for #400, but the schedule wants what the schedule wants. And honestly, I'm fine with it. House-name work has been largely responsible for keeping me in this business for almost 45 years, so I'm just grateful for the opportunities I've had. I might reach 450 books, but I think 500 is unlikely unless I start writing books that are considerably shorter. 400 is a pretty good milestone, though, and I'm proud of it.

A Million Words and Counting

This was the year the streak was supposed to end, but it didn't work out that way. And so, for the 16th year in a row, I've written at least a million words of fiction. I'm sure any number of writers have accomplished that much and more (Frederick Faust and H. Bedford-Jones come to mind), but I'm proud of hitting that mark, anyway. As always, thanks to the editors who have had faith in me, the other writers who have worked with me, and of course, Livia, Shayna, and Joanna, who make all of it possible.

16 is a nice round number, don't you think? 

A Million Words and Counting

A little while ago, I finished a chapter in the book I'm writing, and that put me over a million words for the year for the 15th straight year. I never set out to do that, but as the years piled up, I kept thinking, well, one more won't hurt anything . . .

15 is a good number to stop on, though, especially since for most of the year I didn't believe I'd be able to do it this time, what with all the real life stuff going on. I honestly thought the streak was going to come to an end at 14 years, which, by the way, wouldn't have been anything to sneeze at. But I had a very productive October, November, and December, and so here we are.

Next year, I have approximately 750,000 words worth of work lined up. That's a pace I maintained for years and years before I ever started this million words nonsense. I'd like to try that again for a year or two and then maybe ease off even more, down to half a million, say. I think I could keep that up for a long time yet. But we'll see. You never know in this business. Some project might come along next year that I can't turn down. I've lived by the creed of the freelancer--"Sure, I can do that"--for too long now to turn my back on it. So I'll be interested to see how things turn out.

And no matter how they do, I'll probably be here yammering about them.

In the meantime, thank you so much to Livia, Shayna, Joanna, and all the editors, agents, and publishers who have helped make this possible.

A Million Words and Counting

A little while ago, I reached the million word level for this year, which makes fourteen consecutive years I've written that much fiction. Every year I think I'm not going to make it, and then I do. Every year I say that I probably won't write that much next year. Well, I do need to write that much next year, or at least pretty darned close, and you know if I get close I'm going to go for it. But year after next, now . . . Yeah, that's my story. Year after next.

Thank you to everyone who makes this possible, especially Livia, Shayna, and Joanna. I couldn't do it without you.

Writing Update

Late yesterday afternoon I finished my 365th novel. If somebody wanted to read one of my books every day, the project would take a year to finish. I think that's kind of cool. Also, at the time of the fire in 2008, I had written 215 novels, so this means I've turned out 150 in the ten and a half years since then, for an average of a little more than 14 books per year. Admittedly, some of those books were on the short side, but I've also done a great many that were in the 90,000 to 100,000 word range, so I think it all balances out. Mostly I don't like patting myself on the back, but every so often I stop and think, hey, that's not bad.

And now, having done that, it's back to work.

A Million Words and Counting

Today I reached a million words written for the year, for the 13th year in a row. Superstitious? Who, me? But I think there's a good chance I'll try for that mark again next year, and hey, if you're gonna write a million words a year for 14 straight years, you might as well go for 15, am I right?

A Million Words and Counting

Yes, I know I kept saying I planned to slow down a little this year. And my writing pace did fall off, enough so that for most of the year I was convinced there was no way I'd get that million words again.

But then I realized that with a really good December, the million was in reach, so I couldn't just turn my back on that. I had to try for it, especially since I've committed to writing enough books in the next two years that I'll be right around a million words for those years as well. So why break the streak now?

In the end it was pretty close, but earlier today I hit the million word mark for the year. That's 11 consecutive years, something I never would have thought I was capable of. If I actually do achieve that goal the next two years, that'll be 13 straight, and I'm much too superstititous to leave it at that, so I'll have to try for 14 straight, and if you're going to do that, hell, you might as well go for 15.

Clearly, it's a sickness. But not necessarily a bad one to have . . .

(I realize this post sounds like I'm bragging. Honestly, I'm not. I'm not foolish enough to think that a million words is an insignificant achievement even once, let alone 11 years in a row. I'm certainly proud of it. But this is just what I do, a niche that I've carved out for myself. As Walker Martin commented on a post a few days ago, I'm a pulp writer even though there aren't any real pulps anymore. If that's the way I'm remembered, I'm fine with that.)

40 Years

40 years ago tonight, Livia and I went out on our first date. We saw the movie FREEBIE AND THE BEAN, which I've already written about here. Despite some circumstances that were less than perfect, she must have seen something worthwhile in me. Or maybe she's still hoping to find it if she's stubborn enough. The photo above is her senior class picture which was taken a few months earlier.

Needless to say, the decision to ask her out was the smartest move I ever made.

Writing Anniversary

Regular readers of this blog know that today marks the anniversary of my first sale as a professional writer. For those of you who haven't seen these posts in previous years, on December 27, 1976, I got a check in the mail from Ideal Publishing in New York, in the amount of $167.50, for all rights to a story I'd written for a confession magazine they published called INTIMATE STORY. More details and assorted nostalgic reminiscing about the early days of my career can be found in my December 27^th posts for the past ten years.

So, 38 years in this business and I'm still having fun and learning new things and feeling that old familiar thrill whenever I go into a store and see a book I've written on the shelves, whether my name is on it or not. I'll admit, though, it's starting to catch up to me a little. To paraphrase Chris LeDoux, it ain't the years, son, it's the millions of words. I don't plan to ever retire as long as I'm able to write, but I can see a time when I'll write less, anyway.

Until then, I have pages to do.

For now, a quick thanks to Livia—the one person most responsible for anything good I've ever done—and to all the editors and other authors who have helped make it possible for me to keep spinning yarns all these years.

A Million Words and Counting: 10th Anniversary Edition

Today I reached the million word mark for the year, the tenth year in a row I've written that many words. Since I recently calculated the total wordage for my career as approximately 21.5 million, that means I've done almost as much in the past ten years as I wrote in the 28 years before that. But I've had some excellent opportunities and wanted to make the most of them. The first time I reached the million word level, I thought I'd probably never do that much again, but to my surprise the totals kept rising for a few years before beginning to taper off. But an insistent little voice in the back of my head had already started whispering, "A million words a year for ten years in a row." I liked the sound of that and decided I might as well try for it.

Earlier this year, especially after Livia broke her arm, I thought the string was going to come to an end at nine years, but then I had a productive summer and thought I'd just keep at it and see how things wound up. One thing's for sure, I couldn't have done it without all the things she does to help. There's never been a better co-plotter, editor, and uncredited collaborator than her.

As for what the future holds, I've learned not to even try to predict that. My plan was to slow down a little in 2015 and maybe write three-quarters of a million words, then gradually cut back to half a million a year. But that's not going to happen, at least next year. I already have a considerable amount of work lined up, plus I'd like to write some of my own stuff, so I'm going to be right around a million words again. I've already had some discussions about 2016 and '17, as well, and if everything continues as it is, it looks like those will be busy years, too.

But if I fall a little short of a million words any of those years, that's okay. I had the ten-year run I was shooting for. And if the string continues, that's fine, too. I'm just extremely thankful I get to tell stories for a living, and I'm going to continue trying to do the best I can at it, no matter how many words that turns out to be.