Author: Gordon Long

Gordon A. Long is a writer, editor, publisher, playwright, director and teacher. 
Learn more about Gordon and his writing from his blog and his Author Central page.

Block Those Comment Spammers

Guest post
by Gordon Long

For those of you who run blogs (and don’t we all?) and are getting a lot of spam emails and attempts to put up garbage in your comments section, I’ve been doing some work on it. Last month I got trouble from my website host for too much database use. In trying to figure out why, I discovered that I had over 10,000 spam emails in my mailbox! In one month. Sort of fills up the disc space.

So what can you do about it? Most of us think, “That’s too complicated,” but I found out I could at least get started. It’s a learning process we all should take a stab at.

Continue reading “Block Those Comment Spammers”

Starting from Scratch

Guest post
by Gordon Long

When I build special effects machines for movies, I usually start with an experimental model, often full size. Because I’m making something completely original, it’s a rather creative, make-it-up-as-you-go process, as opposed to the design-on-paper-then-build pattern that normal construction follows.

However, there comes a time in the process when the mockup is finished to a point, and I have worked out most of the mechanical bugs. Now I have to make the decision; do I keep on working with model, or do I start over from scratch? An impulse says, “I’ve already put a lot of hours into this one, it’s functioning well. Why not just keep going? Why go back to square one?”

Never Listen to That Little Voice. Continue reading “Starting from Scratch”

Creating Names for Fantasy

Guest post

by Gordon Long

Okay, in real life I’m terrible with names. I get introduced to someone, and the last thing I remember is his or her name. I like to think it’s not laziness. I know that a person’s name bears no relationship to what that person is really like. It was chosen for them before they were born, and has had a minor influence on the shaping of their personality. “A Boy Named Sue” excepted. All those prejudices that people have about people’s names are just that: prejudices. So when I first meet someone, I am looking to other clues as to his or her personality.

However, when creating names for a story, the situation is completely reversed. If I’m creating a character to meet my readers, suddenly all those prejudices become really important. I want a name that clicks immediately. If I want a he-man character, I want a name that says so. An evocative name is worth more than a thousand words of description. Continue reading “Creating Names for Fantasy”

Let’s go to the Hop (Blog Hop, that is)

Guest post
by Gordon Long

Writers never have any friends; it’s a disadvantage of the art. People who sit in garrets for 14 hours a day scratching away on their keyboards don’t have time to develop the social niceties. However, when it comes time to sell your books, it’s nice to have friends. Or pretend you do, anyway.

Enter the blog hop. Continue reading “Let’s go to the Hop (Blog Hop, that is)”