Daniel Bautz

Month: April 2018

  • Unintended Side Effects of Reading 18th and 19th Century Literature

    Words come and go. Just like anything else in life, things pass out of favor and fade away. I read a lot of old works. I love the early colonial and American writings. I’m a fan of Edwardian and Victorian brits too. One issue is over the years I’ve soaked up a fair amount of…

  • Defining Evil For Characters

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I have a problem writing irredeemable characters. Cardboard cutouts that just need to be vanquished aren’t that exciting to me. If you look at the characters in history who hold the brand of evil and take a broader view of who they were, one thing is apparent. No…

  • I’m Underqualified

    I’m obstinant and persistent. I’m not an English major. I’m not holding an English degree. I’m a worker at a factory. I’m a failed artist, film-maker, radio personality, podcaster, vocalist, athlete. I’m a lot of things. I’m not an expert. I’m not even a good person. I’m underqualified to offer advice on most subjects. I’m obstinant and…

  • Power of Positive Rejection

    Rejection. There’s is seldom a time when a human savors a no to any request. Especially bitter when that negative response comes to an earnest and emotionally invested entreaty. Whether the spurning is an invitation to unrequited love, new job, or even more dire, a query to an agent. All my creative types will understand…

  • Be With Us

      The metal of his lunch box clanged, caved and rebounded as he bounced it off his knee in anxious waiting. His eyes looked for his feet, to see his new Roos. They hid beneath the stuffing in his shirt. Not seeing his feet made him kick at the gravel beneath them, just to make…

  • Deep In.

    The devil gets so deep in your mind, it’s hard to tell which thoughts are his and which your own. That’s the struggle we face. That’s the struggle I face. My hands are fire and my heart coal. It’s only when my hands do their work that my heart is aflame. They do their work…

  • It’s a weird thing.

    I’m a middle-aged man. I write books for the children I will never have. In a way, like owning a dog, I’m trying to connect with a true desire I will never hold. If I can help a child with my words and mean something to children I will never know, I, in some small…

  • I’m A Work In Progress with Works In Progress

    Multi-tasking. I don’t like it. I like work in progress over works in progress. But a creative person like myself can’t help it. I’m querying one manuscript while writing my next while working on a picture book while blogging while doing the tasks for day to day life. It can be maddening. I like to…

  • Reading List – Past Month

    Every writer needs to read. They should read, read, read. Then write, write, write. I read constantly, my nose is usually in several different books at once. I start a lot of books that I may never finish because at any given time I’m reading at least three books or more concurrently. Sometimes, it may…

  • Am I a hack? Why I write.

    Am I a hack? In honest deference, I’m not sure. When can I submit to the idea of being mediocre? Why do I continue to lend my voice to empty rooms? Is there purpose in a scream whose only response comes from its own echoes? Self-doubt slithers in the in-between times. Recrimination rules the quiet space.…

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