QUOTABLE NOTABLES by John M. Floyd One of my many faults (along with video late charges and homemade cinnamon rolls and naps during sermons) is that I buy too many books about writing. How-to books, I guess you’d call them. I have more than hundred, last time I counted, in my home library. Why do […]

FINDING NEVERLAND by John M. Floyd Have you ever been reading a book or story and completely lost track of the time? I’m sure you have — it happens to me almost every day. I’ll be reading along and suddenly realize an hour’s gone by, or maybe more. Awhile back Deborah mentioned, in her comment […]

TEAMWORK by John M. Floyd Much has been said in these columns about having friends who are also writers and readers, folks who share a common interest. I suspect that they’re often some of our closest friends, because they are among the few who understand how we, as writers and readers, think the way we […]

MAP QUEST by John M. Floyd One of the questions I’m often asked at book signings (it ranks just below “Where do you get your ideas?” and “Can you point me to the section on nonfiction?”) is: “Do you outline your stories before you start writing?” It’s an easy question to answer, but I always […]

GROUP THERAPY by John M. Floyd One of the things I remember from “Jurassic Park” was Sam Neill watching the dinosaurs from a distance and saying, “They do move in herds.” Well, so do we. Not many of us humans enjoy being alone too often — it’s more fun to band together. Especially with others […]

SUCCESS STORY by John M. Floyd What is success, anyway? Wealth? Fame? Happiness? Security? More to the point, for our discussion, what is writing success? Is it measured in terms of readership, or sales, or critical acclaim? How about all of the above? I think it’s none of the above. In my opinion, a writer […]

STORYBOOKS by John M. Floyd As a rabid reader of both novels and short stories, I’m always excited when I hear that a favorite novelist has come out with a book of short fiction. Not just an entry in an anthology, mind you, but a collection of his or her own short stories. Both kinds […]