How a Book Is Born, Part 12
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
In Monday’s post, I talked about some of my mid-career exploration, and how finding out that the grass only looks greener is a valuable exercise. What if I had found that the grass was greener? Then that would have been fabulous, too, right? So there was no way to lose. I expect that there are…
When I first began training in the martial arts, I trained for lots of reasons. Because I wanted to lose weight and get into shape. Because I wanted to be able to fend off a mugger on the college campus where I was a graduate student. Because I wanted to earn my yellow belt and…
Last week I talked about taking risks, about how sometimes you just need to get your work out there. This week I am going to talk about how sometimes you don’t. In my many years as a book author and freelancer, I have met hundreds of writers, professionals and wannabes, and it has struck me…
The other day I was at a restaurant trying to get a margarita. The waiter pointed to the menu and suggested some god-awful abomination that included pineapple and herbs. Before he could spout all of the ingredients in this hideous affront to civilized drinking, I put my hand on his arm and said, “No. Margarita….
This is a pocket watch. Not just any pocket watch, but my pocket watch. I’ve carried a pocket watch for years because I destroy wristwatches within twenty-four hours of acquiring them, but a good pocket watch can last a long time. This one I got in Paris last year because I forgot my then-pocket…
I know a lot of writers and visit a lot of online writing communities, and lately I’ve seen an uptick in the number of people complaining about taking on work that has proven to be a huge pain in the ass (PITA). Partly this is because of the economy – publishers are taking longer…