Welcome, Sara! I’m so excited to have you here—not least because I’ve been looking forward to your book for months, and I’m delighted for your sake that it’s finally here. Q: If I’m this excited, how must you be feeling about your first book being published? Are you going to…
Conversation with My Computer
(Scene opens to show Deb curled up in a red chair, eyes on the book in her lap.) COMPUTER: Psst. Deb! Over here! DEB: What? I’m reading. COMPUTER: But you haven’t written anything in days. DEB: Sure I have. Don’t you remember that email? And I wrote a couple posts…
Coming Soon–A Chance to Win!
Here’s a special opportunity for you! I’ve got an ARC (that’s Advanced Reader’s Copy) of Sara J. Henry’s new book, Learning to Swim and YOU COULD WIN IT! Not only that, Sara is going to be coming here for an interview on her blog tour. I read her blog all…
Writer’s Break
Well, I sat down at my keyboard today and blew the virtual dust off of my current manuscript. The time-stamp on the document is 10/22/2010 12:24 PM, which means it’s been seven weeks since I opened it. Seven weeks. I’m stunned, too. Every year I flirt with the idea of…
SitStay
Okay, here’s a wonderful example of great marketing. This box from SitStay.com arrived at our house today. They have the BEST shipping material. Really. Check out what it says on the top: “WARNING: For your own sake, please do not stand between this box and your dog. Dogs have been…
Writing is like a Romance
It’s not writer’s block. I’m not not-writing because I don’t know where the story needs to go, or because I’ve lost interest. It’s not because I’ve grown to hate my chair or my keyboard, or that I needed a change of scenery. The symptoms aren’t really in line with writer’s…
MM: Comma Here, I Want to Talk to You
Just one more reminder why punctuation is important. Saturday, when we were slowly, painfully inching our way out of the crowded parking area at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck … even two hours before the fair closed, it took us half an hour to get out of…
I YA, Do You?
I just read this quote on an Amazon book review: “Although the point of view shifts between many characters (with even the Coleman’s maid and cook getting their say, sometimes unnecessarily), Falling Angels is essentially the children’s story, since it is their lives that are most open to change. ”…
That’s Why It’s Called an Anachronism
You know, it just goes to show that you really can’t separate your own life, your own time, your own thought-processes from your historical research. I was reading a book about the first two decades of the twentieth century (Pivotal Decades by John Milton Cooper), and came across this photo…
Truly Obnoxious Spam
Spammers, this is NOT the way to win my attention. I think we can all agree that spammers are, well, annoying–like telemarketers used to be. They clutter up your comments and email with links for products and sites that usually have nothing to do with what you’re blogging about. To…