creative work – Mark Posey–Crime, Thrillers, Suspense

The Year of the Horse

Leave a Comment / Homebase, Reflections / May 18, 2026 / author life, backyard gardening, building a business, Canadian authors, compost, creative life, creative work, Edmonton authors, gardening, independent authors, indie publishing, life transitions, mark posey, personal essay, physical work, productivity, publishing future, raised garden beds, reflections on aging, resilience, Stories Rule Press, sustainable living, turning sixty, writing life

Some years are quieter than others. Some years are meant for rest.
And some years? Some years hand you a shovel, a wheelbarrow, and a horizon full of work worth doing.

In this reflective new post, Mark Posey writes about turning sixty, building twenty raised garden beds, rebuilding the future of Stories Rule Press, and why this season of life feels less about chasing and more about building — steadily, patiently, one load of compost at a time.

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Writing While the House Is On Fire

Leave a Comment / Writing life / February 2, 2026 / AmWriting, author mindset, creative work, full time writer, indie author, indie publishing, productivity for writers, protecting writing time, writers life, writing discipline, writing habits, writing life

Right now the to-do list is loud. Fulfill a 660%-funded Kickstarter. Edit other writers’ books. Run a publishing company. Market existing titles. Keep upcoming releases on track. And somewhere in there is a quiet little line that says: Write the next book.

That line is always the easiest to slide.

Because it doesn’t yell. It doesn’t send invoices. It doesn’t have shipping deadlines. It just waits — patiently — while everything else feels urgent.

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The Top Five Misconceptions About Authors

Leave a Comment / Writing life / January 26, 2026 / author humor, author misconceptions, author reality, book marketing, creative work, indie author, publishing life, writing discipline, writing life, writing process

People have a general sense of what authors do, but that sense is… impressionistic. Which leads to some wonderfully confident assumptions about money, inspiration, and what happens after a book is published. In the spirit of public service, here are five of the most persistent misconceptions about authors—and what the job actually looks like from the inside.

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