cj Sez: I had been diligently gathering and organizing my
tax information to hand off to my CPA then . . .
I got an email that she wasn’t going
to do personal returns this year. Aaargh. Now to find a new tax preparer.
Speaking of taxes, as an author with several published pieces,
I’m thinking I need to establish a literary trust—probably should have acted on
that thought a long time ago. Those intellectual property rights will outlive
me, and I can’t expect my heirs to know how to handle them. Unfortunately
finding an attorney who understands that document is not a slam dunk. As a former civil court clerk, I thought, "If I can find an example, maybe I can do this myself."
A search on Amazon for author estate planning books turns up
only a couple specifically aimed at authors. Fortunately neither one is very
expensive. I may not be able to produce the legal document myself, but a book
is a start, and I'll have an idea of what to expect if I can find an attorney.
***
Registration for the 2019 Writers' Police Academy's
MurderCon opens Sunday, Feb. 24, at noon EST.
According to the sponsors, “The 2019 WPA is a special event, one unlike anything we’ve presented in the past.”
This one will be a four-day, hands-on exploration of forensic tools and
techniques used to solve crimes and is being held Aug. 1-4 in Raleigh, NC. This piece of crime detecting information from veteran police investigator and Writers’ Police Academy founder Lee Lofland: “Unless you’re writing historical fiction, the heroes of your stories cannot detect the odor of cordite upon entering the scene of a shooting. This is so because cordite manufacturing ceased at the end of WWII! It’s not used in modern ammunition.”
NYT best- selling author Heather Graham will be the final
judge for the WPA’s 2019 Golden Donut 200-hundred-word Short Story Contest.
If attending this conference piques your interest, you probably
shouldn’t procrastinate about registering on the 24 th because space/slots are limited. Read more
here: https://www.writerspoliceacademy.com/
***
CORRECTION
In my Feb 3 post, I made a pitiable error when announcing the
deadline for the Kerouac Project— it should have read ONLY ONE MORE MONTH. Here’s the correct information: Applications for the 2019-2020
writer-in-residence positions may be submitted from Tuesday, January 1,
2019, to Sunday, March 10, 2019. Results will be announced in
late May 2019. https://www.kerouacproject.org/
***
That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping
on, and I’ll try to do the same.
cj
5-Star Review: “From front to back this action-packed
mystery kept me guessing about what could possibly happen next to make
Mirabel's predicament any more complex. Her practical scientific mind stayed in
constant contradiction with her impractical attraction to her ex-husband which
added a genuine human aspect. CJ Petterson's broad knowledge of astronomy,
airplanes, law enforcement, espionage and peoples' psychological foibles brings
this book to life. I could see, smell, and almost touch each character as they
interacted with emotions ranging from greed to love. As one who is usually
successful in guessing the ending in mysteries, I failed with this one.”
Drop me a note to sign up for my quarterly newsletter: cjpetterson@gmail.com
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Your tax prep picture totally applies to me, too! But just wait until next year! I'll keep tuned to see if you learn anything about a literary executor. I need to think about that, too, I guess. We all do--all of us writers. I've been to WPA a few times and wish I could go every year!
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