Anthony Dobranski Online

Category: craft

  • The Inner Loop reading series

    I had a great evening under twilit stars – and frequent, seemingly aimless helicopters –  with The Inner Loop, a monthly DC reading series for poetry, fiction and non-fiction writers, at Colony Club. The headliner was Jennifer Atkinson, a poet drawn to human disaster, with readings by Joel Goldberg, Matthew Moniz, Alyssa Oursler, Alex Aronovich,…

  • Sexual tension in fiction

    My guest post for the Fictorians, a site on writing fiction, discusses sexual tension and its different roles in different stories. It’s part of the Fictorians’ month-long Tension series. Read it at:  http://www.fictorians.com/2017/02/24/sexual-tension-in-fiction/

  • Sticking to my knitting (opinions)

    As Facebook gently reminded me — my professional media have been stale. It was less a writer’s block than a blind alley. Perhaps others will find my thinking instructive. Like everybody, I have opinions about the world, and in these contentious times, it’s very tempting to share them. Everyone else is, and I talk prettier than…

  • Love your pile of words (first drafts)

    I love my current first draft. This is a shocking and unfashionable thing to say. Everyone laments their first draft. It is the shoals of mediocrity on which our dreams founder, or at least so tells every clickbait online writing workshop. Complaining about the horror of that first draft is required. Even really successful and…

  • Dobranski Talks! (text, audio, video)

    Apologies to Greta Garbo… Happy New Year! Here’s some recent Tony-media for you to enjoy! Today my interview with author Raymond Bolton appears on his website. It’s certainly the most personal public conversation I’ve ever had, a story of insecurity, confusion and doubt, redeemed by the help of colleagues and the business model for Honest Tea.…

  • Regaining the writing habit (hours not words)

    I think it’s official now: I have fallen out of the habit of writing. I don’t mean to say “I’m not writing” or #amwriting – just that over the past year it’s been an ad-hoc effort, when the mood takes me. I’m not in a panic – I have a new project, and I am…

  • Demon release update – PhilCon and Writer’s Center

    Thanks One More Page Books for hosting my first reading for DEMON last Wednesday – and to the many people, friends and strangers, who came out! This weekend, Nov 18-20, I am paneling and signing at PhilCon! My next reading in the Washington DC area is Thursday December 1, 7pm, at the Writer’s Center in…

  • Hello CapClave – Trading cards now REAL!

    I’m paneling and reading starting today at CapClave in Rockville MD. It’s a very different kind of personal appearance than my work at convention booths, with panel discussions of literary topics, and a half-hour Saturday morning to read my work. In celebration, my social media promotion has slipped the surly bounds of cyberspace and achieved…

  • Thanks, Cincinnati! – my successful advance release

    My debut selling advance proof copies of The Demon in Business Class at the Cincinnati Comic Expo was a smashing success – I completely sold out! It was great to be part of the WordFire Press booth and have their amazing support. My posters and banner clearly caught people’s eyes. And of course, thanks to the…

  • Fun with marketing – book teaser trading cards

    The image-driven firehose that is social media challenges the modern writer. I see some managing to do clever things with it, releasing aphorisms and motivational notes, and others just stupefied. Count me more often among the latter. Not long ago, writer, blogger and ace self-marketer Shannon A Thompson  posted about her book teasers, single-image character…