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Resolution update: August 2009

I established a list of twelve New Year’s resolutions in January of this year. At the end of each month, I report on my progress as a means of holding myself accountable. Being the end of August, I thought I’d post my progress here as well. 1. Finish my second novel before my birthday in…

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More attention for “Something Missing”

Newsday is picking up the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s highly favorable review of Something Missing to run on Sunday, September 6! My father-in-law informs me that Newsday has the seventeenth largest circulation in the country. Not only is the review favorable, but it’s my favorite review thus far. The writer seems to understand the book like…

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Unfortunate mistaken identity

I’m standing in line at D’Angelo’s, waiting to place my order. A husband and wife who look remarkably alike are directly in front of me. Both are about five feet tall, shaped like eggplants, and wearing brown and olive green. But most surprising is their eyeglasses, distinctive in that they match their wardrobe and seem…

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Does the multiple-author format make more sense?

Last night’s appearance at the Wilton Library was delightful, and many thanks to the staff at the library for putting this event together. I sat on a panel of first-time authors, and we spent the evening talking about our books, the process by which each of us was published, and answering lots of interesting and…

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Appearing at the Wilton Library

Tomorrow night, I will sit on a panel of new authors at the Wilton Library in Wilton, CT. If you’d like to attend, you can find details here. Though we will be discussing our books, the night’s focus will be on our journey to publication.  There will be writers in the audience in need of…

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My bee sting

Since some of you have asked, yes, it’s true. I was stung by a bee on Friday. This tends to be a bigger deal for me than most people since I have required CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on more than one occasion as a result of a bee sting. I am highly allergic to bees…

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Is there value in publishing a first draft?

Print Magazine has a terrific look at the cover art on a handful of books, along with some explanation from the designers. It’s a fascinating look into the world of cover design. Along a related line of thinking, I’ve often wondered about the value of an author’s first draft. For example, I have about a…

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Twitter friends

I recently told someone that over the past several months, I have made several friends through Twitter, even though many of us have never met in person. “Friends through 140 characters?” this person asked dubiously.  “Can you really call them friends?” Well, let’s see… I speak to my Twitter friends several times a day.  We…

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A change in style

I contacted my editor last week, inquiring about the current view in the publishing world on the number of spaces after a mark of punctuation.  Like The Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, and the Modern Language Association, she informed me that the industry is moving to one space instead of two and, in…

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Five year plan?

I played golf last week with a guy who works in the corporate world. He’s got a degree in math and an MBA, but he also has a newborn son at home and wants to find a way to spend more time with his family. He’s fed up with the corporate culture and has done…

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