Throwing Out the Garbage
Dave Smeds
February 16, 2025
It was in January, 1971, when I was not quite sixteen years old, that I decided I wanted to take a shot at getting a
Author : Dave Smeds
You can find a new blog entry by Dave Smeds about every other week at bookviewcafe.com and davesmeds.com. His favorite subjects are the writing life, karate, genealogy, and designing book covers.
The Silenced Voice
Dave Smeds
December 22, 2024
A prime focus of mine, at least as far as this blog series is concerned, is the author-legacy thing. My own, for one. I’ve done
The Eighth of December
Dave Smeds
December 8, 2024
In the fall of 1974, about a week after I had moved into on-campus housing at Sonoma State University, I walked from my apartment to
The Stray Bits
Dave Smeds
November 10, 2024
I had in mind a substantial blog entry to make up for the brevity of the one I uploaded a couple of weeks ago. Best
World Fantasy Convention 2024
Dave Smeds
October 27, 2024
A TRIP REPORT “Let’s meet at the bar” is the standard refrain at World Fantasy Conventions. You say it when you bump into a colleague
Empowered Female Characters
Dave Smeds
October 13, 2024
Long ago, during my mid-twenties, I worked for a furniture manufacturer. I was their graphic artist and the guy responsible for generating their marketing materials,
Stories Leading to Stories
Dave Smeds
September 29, 2024
Two weeks ago, in the previous installment of this blog series, I shared the inspiration for “The Wind’s Kiss,” the opening piece in my new
A Story’s Genesis: The Wind’s Kiss
Dave Smeds
September 15, 2024
The headstone — as you can see in the photograph I’ve included here — stood alone, at least thirty paces from any other marker in
Fruit as It Should Be
Dave Smeds
September 1, 2024
I am the son of a fruit farmer. As such, I know what it’s like to enjoy fresh, completely ripe fruit right off the vine
The Way Things Work Out
Dave Smeds
August 18, 2024
In the summer of 1973, about six weeks after I had graduated from high school, one of my friends from elementary school, Danny Lopez, was
A Beloved Writing Workshop
Dave Smeds
August 4, 2024
Ted Sturgeon used to refer to something he called the spaces between the lines. A reader may see only a blank after the period of
Building a Book Cover: Clockwork Souls
Dave Smeds
July 21, 2024
Book View Café has issued quite a number of anthologies and multi-author collections over the years. It’s only natural that a group made up of
Why Do Genealogy?
Dave Smeds
July 7, 2024
The reason I got involved in family history research was the standard reason. I wanted to know more about not just the forebears I personally