Robert L. Slater's Blog

This last weekend, after reading the news, I acted on an idea I’d had earlier and wrote a poem homaging [Is that really a word, Rob? It is now.) So here it is, version 3.20.

The post First They Came. Again first appeared on Deserted Lands Apocalyptic Books.

I found this diary entry on 1/11/21, a year after I’d written it, right in the middle of the pandemic, 2626 days (7 years 70 days) after I started writing ALL IS SILENCE on 11/1/12 [Wow, I like number patterns and these are kind patterny numbers].

I had come up with the basic concept and written a scene about Lizzie and Lima Beans on 8/12/11. So in my head I placed my pandemic start date as August 12th 2019. [Actually the first draft had it set in 2018, but I changed that date by the time I publ...

I just finished entering edits based on my beta readers’ feedback for NO MAN’S LAND – Deserted Lands Book III, the end of Lizzie’s trilogy.

What duz ‘finished entering edits based on my beta readers feedback’ mean? Haven’t you finished this book three times already?

Uh, yeah. Good. Glad you asked. You’re right. I did. But it wasn’t ready. My sincerest apologies to the three folks who trusted me enough to buy it when it wasn’t ready. Jazzlynn, Jamie, and Mark, I sincerely hope this has been worth ...

As I work to cut NO MAN’S LAND from 115,599 words down to below 99,999 words, I’m finding scenes that don’t move the plot forward. Or at least not much.

After I released ALL IS SILENCE in 2014, I posted some cut scenes. Available here: 1st Beginning and the 1st and 2nd endings. All these will be released as an ebooks Boxed Set of all short fiction written pre-2022 (at least 1 unpublished that’s only been read by about 11 people), as well as a non-canon story where I meet Lizzie, plus some...

Why not‽

“But, Rob, I’ve been waiting 5 years on a cliffhanger for book III, and I want it now, now, now!”

What I mean is don’t buy my books YET.

Don’t despair, I have several solutions I’ll mention at the bottom of this post. You can jump there right away, but I’d really like you to understand why, and how you can help me best, if you so desire.

In order to become a successful as an author, I need to grow my audience. Obviously, if you’re reading this you’re a part of that audience...

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS for 2022?

Not resolutions, not dreams! But Goals.

I went to a Writer’s Conference called 20 Books to 50K several weeks ago. Unlike many writer’s conferences, the primary focus is on helping authors with the business side of writing. There are presentations on the craft of writing, but primarily it’s about marketing, networking, and business planning. Yes, treat your writing career as if it were a business, even if it’s only part time.

In my career as a high school teac...

11,111 new words in the last 11 days

On

NO MAN’S LAND

and

THE VOYAGE OF THE DECAMERON

This one goes to 11.

This is an update of my 11/12/21 post titled “This Left Turn Feels Write. 21 months ago, on 2/11/20, (1 month B.C. {Before Covid}), I started writing a project I’d been thinking about writing for nearly 4 years. By 4/4/20, I had written 22 section (approximately 2,222 words each), finishing 1 nearly every 2 days. After that I only finished 2 more parts out of the eleventy-leven tota...

11,111 new words in the last 11 days

On

NO MAN’S LAND

and

THE VOYAGE OF THE DECAMERON

This one goes to 11.

This is an update of my 11/12/21 post titled “This Left Turn Feels Write. 21 months ago, on 2/11/20, (1 month B.C. {Before Covid}), I started writing a project I’d been thinking about writing for nearly 4 years. By 4/4/20, I had written 22 section (approximately 2,222 words each), finishing 1 nearly every 2 days. After that I only finished 2 more parts out of th...

For her birthday I got my partner, Elena, and I cheap red and blue shirts and added the emblems.

I posted this to Facebook on Sunday. Hilariously enough, I had a lose your skates [socks and shoes] dream last night.
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Gord Downie on one of my favorite Tragically Hip songs, “It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken, sings about a “forget-yer-skates dream.”
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I often dream of getting to school in only my sock feet.
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I’m gonna call this one “The Red Shirts Bad Dream.”
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The post Lose your Boot...

Ray began. Okay. This ones a story my father told me that my grandfather told him about his father and family. Right after World War II, they literally lived out in the woods in what would become the Olympic National Rainforest. Which stole their home Well, bought it for pennies on the dollar

Ray grimaced. This story isnt about that. That was hard. His face lit up with an unusually pleasant smirk....