tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-102823512024-03-19T03:17:58.629-07:00by Richard R BeckerWords. Concepts. Strategies. Since 1991.Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comBlogger1747125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-73489866795707425142024-02-08T11:49:00.000-08:002024-02-08T11:53:06.903-08:00Writing Romance: What’s Love Got To Do With It?I met my first girlfriend in the third grade. She thought I was a rebel of sorts — a transfer from the public school system, repeating third grade. I wasn’t a rebel. I still couldn’t read.We were “boyfriend and girlfriend” for three short months. I moved away after the school year ended. We might have been “together” longer, but she didn’t know I liked her. I always liked her. I finallyRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-44646922597627208592024-01-04T06:00:00.000-08:002024-01-04T06:00:00.197-08:00Making Connections: Authors And BookstoresIt isn’t easy, but there is something magical about it when it happens. An author’s connection with an independent bookstore can be something special. Since I’m tied to my daughter’s softball schedule, I can’t set up book tours like some authors do. Instead, I try to time my introductions with her tournament schedules, emailing or calling a few weeks in advance to set up a book signing or Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comDallas, TX, USA32.7766642 -96.796987899999991-0.055547268857381482 -131.95323789999998 65.60887566885738 -61.640737899999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-8137264485751101592023-09-18T15:58:00.003-07:002023-09-18T15:58:44.458-07:00Promoting Literacy: An Accidental AuthorLast April, I was a guest speaker at the Kiwanis Club of Las Vegas as an accidental author. Why accidental? I didn't know what else to call becoming an author. I wasn't one of those book dreamers. I couldn't even read.I grew up in what was then one street over from the wrong side of the tracks in Milwaukee, where my grandparents lived. They raised me. We were poor, and I had a handicap to Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-64089897800171944242023-08-05T14:13:00.002-07:002023-08-06T16:01:40.260-07:00Reading Early Reviews: Third Wheel I was having lunch on Balboa Beach when I received the review notification for my debut novel, Third Wheel, from Kirkus Reviews. A mist was over the water, and a dead seagull washed up in the surf. It didn't seem like the best of omens.My daughter encouraged me to load the review anyway, a daunting task with only one service bar on my phone. She was amused to see me a little nervous and reassuredRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-72238126609555283352023-07-14T11:14:00.002-07:002023-07-14T11:28:51.212-07:00Comparing Customer Service: A Tale of Two ExperiencesAbout four months ago, we bought a Whirlpool range from RC Willey. After a few weeks of use, the oven's computer board inexplicably rendered the oven inoperable. No big deal. These things happen, and it's under warranty.Except, Whirlpool currently has a parts issue. The technicians could not get the needed parts, and Whirlpool was unable to provide an estimate of when these parts would be Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-10302105364611439082023-05-11T08:00:00.013-07:002023-05-12T11:32:32.916-07:00Writing Books: Third Wheel As A Debut NovelGreat news! I've set August 21, 2023, as the release date for my debut novel, Third Wheel. It's a coming-of-age story about a boy trying to find his identity by taking chances on random and fragile relationships forged in the early boomtown years of Las Vegas, 1982.The teenage protagonist Brady Wilks is an outcast as a Midwest transplant, who forges a brotherly bond with an older teenage neighborRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-28724059022504069572023-04-06T12:57:00.001-07:002023-04-06T12:58:22.126-07:00Winning Awards: 50 States Earns Its Fourth Honor A few weeks ago, 50 States was honored with a 2023 Book Excellence Award. Out of thousands of books entered in this competition, 50 States was selected for its high-quality writing, design, and overall market appeal in the category of short stories. You can find its listing here.
This isn't the first award 50 States has earned. It won first place for short stories in the Spring 2022 Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-55286852462630468162023-01-31T09:46:00.018-08:002023-05-12T11:32:59.545-07:00Writing Stories: Stranger Than Fiction There is a childhood punishment that the protagonist of my debut novel describes in my forthcoming debut novel. One of the beta readers didn’t like it. She called it silly, disbelieving it would ever happen.
The irony is that I borrowed it from real life. No, the novel isn’t real life. It’s a work of fiction. But as most writers will tell you, we all draw on real people or events, especially Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-51134112189084310572022-07-29T12:56:00.002-07:002022-07-29T12:56:17.817-07:00Breaking 1,000: 50 States, One Year LaterWhen 50 States was published last year, I didn't have the highest expectations. It's not that I didn't believe in the work. I did and do. But I'm also a realist who read some articles: self-published authors likely sell around 250 books or less; short story collections by small publishers sell between 300 and 2,000, about 1,000 for short story collections; and Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-79847900018582337882022-07-12T06:00:00.005-07:002022-07-12T06:00:00.235-07:00Exploring Imagination: The Creativity EquationThis one study continues to surface in articles, and it always stops me in my tracks. It claims a creativity crisis in America, largely attributed to the pursuit of winning formulas over future breakthroughs.The crisis began, they say, as American education put creative thinking on the back burner in favor of measurable rote memorization in the 1990s. Americans wanted to test better than Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-49372312726699022942022-05-21T10:21:00.001-07:002022-05-21T10:21:37.149-07:00Dropping Stories: Ten Threads As A Kindle ExclusiveThe last two years have been among the hardest — a series of unrelated wretched events with the dark cloud of the pandemic looming in the background. You know the cloud. We all do. It blotted out the sun. The start of all our trouble didn't begin with it. It started with our home being invaded and cars stolen. Mine, a 20-year-old Infiniti G20, was nearly totaled. Who am I kidding? I Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-8315754572698310942022-04-11T16:33:00.002-07:002022-04-11T16:40:47.076-07:00Writing Analysis: Who Do You Write Like? Last December, I was invited to submit my collection of short stories to ScoreIt!, an algorithm that compares stylistic distinctions to a library of books by other authors. The purpose of doing so might not be what you think. I wasn't interested in the analysis simply as a means of comparison because reviewers had already compared 50 States to various authors. Two of my favorites were Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-5861804442211386592022-02-11T06:00:00.011-08:002022-02-11T06:00:00.283-08:00Telling Stories: Voice Actor Brian Callanan There’s a June event in West Seattle where hundreds of kids and parents turn out to run a 5k race and obstacle course — climbing over walls and crawling through mud. Think of it as a community-minded version of Tough Mudder or the Spartan Race that doubles as a fundraiser for Our Lady of Guadalupe. The event is called Loop the ‘Lupe because participants run a 1k course with seven obstacles —Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comLas Vegas35.9172011 -114.83780438.6578632047550066 -149.99405430000002 63.176538995245 -79.6815543tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-15523922882384980062022-01-22T15:51:00.002-08:002022-01-22T15:51:35.298-08:00Breaking 100: 50 States As A BestsellerWhen I set my book sale schedule weeks ago, I knew mid-January 2022 would be special for 50 States. What I didn't realize was that the Kindle edition was going break the Top 100 Literary Short Stories! A few days after just bouncing around below the watermark — #189, #105, #168, #406 — 50 States suddenly came in a few places behind Stephen King, right next to Thomas Wolf and Ray Bradbury, Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-57432393126469743552022-01-06T06:00:00.004-08:002022-01-07T11:59:35.425-08:00Publishing Books: How To Learn The Hard WayWhen I was a teenager, I used to head out to Red Rock Canyon alone or with friends or with family and hike, climb, or explore this seemingly infinite slice of desert wilderness that frames a 13-mile scenic drive. (I still do.) But what used to make those early journeys so memorable is I always had a knack for choosing the most difficult routes to whatever destination we had in mind.One time, my Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-82074647472738945782021-12-13T11:22:00.003-08:002021-12-13T12:01:08.057-08:00Signing Books: Five Places I Visited For 50 StatesBook signings are finally coming back in fashion, but still not everywhere. Some bookstores are holding out for one thing or another. My own book, 50 States, missed out on meet-and-greets last June. Nobody would host book signings back then, so I eventually settled into dropping signed books off at select locations — usually coinciding with my daughter's travel softball schedule.I didn't mind. I Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-39979585190957625442021-11-16T11:19:00.002-08:002021-11-16T11:19:55.264-08:00Being Native: Native American Heritage MonthWhen I was younger, I didn't know but always knew I was part Native American. Despite what others told me, I could see it in the photos of my late father. I could see it on my skin in the summer, a tan five shades darker than other boys. I could feel in my heart, preferring to play the role of Geronimo or Lone Wolf during any game of "Cowboys and Indians." There were other Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-53444215768728704692021-10-07T14:14:00.003-07:002022-10-13T09:39:05.098-07:00Opening October: The Spookier Side Of 50 StatesSome people think the thrillers inside 50 States are scarier than any brush-ups with the supernatural. Still, some speculative tales do work overtime in creating the right atmosphere for Halloween. Kirkus Reviews called a few out, knowing that their review was coming conspicuously close to October.So what should you look for inside 50 States? While plenty of stories could qualify on a longer listRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-44720223581581502422021-09-22T13:30:00.000-07:002021-09-22T13:30:04.372-07:00Burning Things: Inside A Story Form 50 StatesEvery time I read an article about wildfires sweeping the western United States, it's always accompanied by an acute sense of loss. I feel for every family forced to evacuate, never knowing what they might come home to or if there will even be a home to go back to when they can return.Last year, more than 17,000 structures were burned or damaged, many of them houses. More than 550 homes were lostRichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-91564035141838830582021-09-13T13:02:00.001-07:002021-09-13T13:02:08.067-07:00Writing: Why Fiction And Why Bother?When I told one of my clients that I would eventually retire into writing fiction, she blinked in disbelief. "Do you really want to do that?""Yes," I said. As an executive, it didn't make any sense to her whatsoever. Why would a guy with mile deep resume as a strategic communication consultant and A-list marketing and advertising copywriter start over as a fiction writer? It might be Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-38870548679450740742021-08-27T09:00:00.007-07:002021-12-09T11:24:56.524-08:00Flipping Pages: 50 States And 50 StoriesWhat's your book about? It's the most commonly asked question and an easy one to answer for most authors. For me, it's a bit trickier to answer because I don't have one answer. I have 51 of them. The first answer, which should be my 51st answer, is that 50 States is a debut collection of experimental, psychological, and speculative short-short stories. Each story takes place in a different Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-40477472211048418142021-07-20T14:41:00.001-07:002021-07-20T14:51:57.072-07:00Visiting Bookstores: BookMonster In Santa MonicaBookMonster in Santa Monica has earned my long-term gratitude. They became the first brick-and-mortar bookstore to place signed copies of 50 States: A collection of short short stories on their shelves. They were one of four independent bookstores I reached out to around UCLA, where my daughter was attending a weekend softball camp, and we immediately struck up a dialogue. After some Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-24229595995513166732021-07-08T12:30:00.004-07:002021-07-08T12:30:44.642-07:00Telling Stories: The Fiction - Nonfiction DichotomyHis question almost stumped me. While taping my appearance on Ira's Everything Bagel, award-winning broadcaster Ira David Sternberg asked me to talk about the dichotomy of fiction writers/readers and nonfiction writers/readers.Is there a difference? I don't really think so.Sure, some people think so. Many people feel like Beasts of No Nation author Uzodinma Iweala as captured by Miwa Messer's Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-15613165977146963022021-06-22T14:48:00.006-07:002021-07-10T16:37:40.760-07:00Writing A Book: 50 States by Richard R. Becker Two years ago, I started writing short short stories — so short that I sometimes called them scraps. And since I didn’t belong to any writer groups, I started sharing them on my Facebook author page. It wasn’t the first time short fiction appeared there (or longer stories on this blog, for that matter), but two things changed. It was the first time in my life I started treating my short Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10282351.post-90077094796682385662021-06-07T14:51:00.007-07:002021-07-10T16:38:37.269-07:00Erasing Content: The Future Of The Internet Is 404It goes by many monikers: HTTP 404, 404 not found, 404 error, page not found, file not found. All of it refers to content that has been erased, moved, renamed, or otherwise missing from where it used to be.
Some people consider fixing this issue among their staple services — they troll the web looking for broken links that lead nowhere. Then they contact the site owner and ask them to Richhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11249654290264168416noreply@blogger.com