Brian's Blog - Brian Rouff

Over the course of my writing career, I’ve conducted dozens, if not hundreds, of author presentations, workshops, seminars, Q & A’s, panel discussions and many more public appearances. Selling books is largely a grass roots business and they certainly don’t sell themselves. Plus, I flat out enjoy talking about writing. Invariably, when it comes time…

Your Hometown Writing Toolkit

February 3, 2019

Here’s a reprint of a blog I wrote for the excellent author resource site Hometown Reads, in which I discuss using your hometown to its best advantage: In my previous blog post, I spoke about the importance of embracing your hometown from a marketing perspective, how it can help you create a distinctive brand and…

A Tribute to Lucky

December 28, 2018

Writing can be healing. Here’s a little tribute I wrote for our beloved cat, Lucky, who crossed the bridge yesterday: Every cat has a story. Seventeen years ago, in the middle of a typical Vegas summer, my wife Tamera-Tammy Seeker Rouff stopped at a red light at Maryland and Flamingo when she noticed a woman…

John Perry Barlow’s 25 Principles of Adult Behavior

December 1, 2018

I’d never heard of John Perry Barlow until recently, when a friend forwarded me these 25 Principles of Adult Behavior. Unfortunately, Barlow, a Silicon Valley visionary and erstwhile Grateful Dead lyricist (chew on that for a second), had already died earlier this year, so we won’t be having any spirited conversations over a beer or…

The Old Man and a Smile

November 11, 2018

My wife and I had a fun time yesterday watching “The Old Man and a Gun,” Robert Redford’s latest, and possibly last, film. It’s a congenial, leisurely stroll through a mostly true story about a gentleman bank robber who truly loves his work. Redford and co-star Sissy Spacek warm the screen, as does an eclectic…

Guest Post from Teri Love

October 9, 2018

My friend Teri Love just posted a funny and relatable excerpt of the inner turmoil she experiences while trying to write. I re-post it here with her permission. (I wonder which sport she’ll choose): Things I think during the writing of my research paper: This makes NO SENSE. I’m an incoherent fool! This is good…

“Just Add Words”

July 22, 2018

One of my favorite taglines ever is for the screenwriting software Final Draft: “Just add words. ” It’s that easy. And that difficult. Of course, you need to know which order to put them in. But that’s what rewriting is for.

Don’t Save Your Best Stuff for Later

June 28, 2018

Use it now. There may not be a later. And if there is a later, you’ll think of more best stuff.

Do you wanna know a secret?

May 28, 2018