Archive for December 2009
Perfection
Last week, we experienced our first significant snow of the year, covering the ground in about four inches of the white stuff. After spending the entire fall season ignoring the plentitude of leaves on the lawn and a garden in dire need of attention, the snow was a welcomed sight and reminded me of one…
Read MoreLeadership begins with the Lord. And castration.
Article 6, section 8 of the North Carolina state constitution states: “The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.” This law, deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, might still prevent Cecil Bothwell from being seated as a City Council member in Ashville, North Carolina.…
Read MoreThe kindness of strangers
It’s always nice to discover someone saying something nice about your book, especially when it’s a bookseller. From Shannon McKenna Schmidt on Shelf Awareness: “At Saturday’s event, Joe Drabyak will be recommending books from various publishers and titles from Random House imprints both on the Grid O’ Gifts–John Grisham’s Ford County: Stories–and off, like Something…
Read MorePen names
Nathan Bransford recently posted about pen names, recommending that unless the reasons are compelling, there is no reason to use a pseudonym. While I tend to agree, I can’t help but think that Mark Twain is so much better than Samuel Clemens. And so apropos. And Lemony Snicket is much more fun than Daniel Handler.…
Read MorePeople-pleasers
As I was getting dressed this morning, I turned on the television. The channel was tuned to HBO, airing a movie I later identified as Bride Wars. Based on the scene I watched, I will not be watching this film anytime soon. But I did catch a piece of dialogue, a phrase really, that I…
Read MoreLike one great big pinball machine
I liked this advice a lot (via Jason Kottke): Career advice from Charlie Hoehn: “Therein lies the best career advice I could possibly dispense: Just DO things. Chase after the things that interest you and make you happy. Stop acting like you have a set path, because you don’t. No one does. You shouldn’t be…
Read MoreSaving the best
My wife and I own a TiVo. There are two television shows that we do not delete in the event that we want to watch them again and again (which we have been known to do): Once More with Feeling is the musical episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Niagara, the episode from the television series…
Read MoreHow Many of Me?
HowManyOfMe.com will tell you how many people in the United States share your name. It will also tell you the name of the most famous person with your last name. In my case, there are 17 other people in the country who share my name, and the most famous person with my last name is…
Read MoreMilo in Germany
In keeping with the tradition of selling foreign rights only to former enemies of the United States, the first foreign rights for Unexpectedly, Milo sold last week to German publisher Blanvalet. This is the same publisher that bought the rights to Something Missing, which is apparently doing quite well in Germany. I’ve been told that…
Read MoreWhite, fluffy drama
From The Weather Channel: “Vicious winter storm blasts the Midwest. Parts of the Midwest are being ravaged by a December blizzard while the Northeast looks at a wintry mess.” Vicious? Blasts? Ravaged? I know it’s The Weather Channel, so they can get quite excited over a snowstorm of almost any size, but does this headline…
Read More