– There’s a mockingbird in my neighborhood. I never understood what a mockingbird was until I heard this guy. He sits in the tree outside my house and mimics the cries of the other birds relentlessly. Yesterday, I woke to … Continue reading →
Back in 1999, I read an interview with Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems where he was quoted as saying, “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.” The flap over iPhones and Androids tracking your movements only shows how far … Continue reading →
My friend Steve from Chicago sent me this link to a story about a romance publisher going all ebook and Print on Demand with their upcoming releases. I’m not sure I’m convinced this company isn’t just using the low-cost of … Continue reading →
A friend of mine opened a can of worms the other day by bringing up an old argument. ‘Hendrix wasn’t really much of a musician.’ Now, I’m letting him off the hook a bit right away—he didn’t say that himself. … Continue reading →
Karen’s latest Karen Dionne is an interesting writer and a good soul. She’s written a thoughtful piece on Huffington Post today about how 99 e-books are bad for writers. Thoughtful, sensible—but (in my opinion) wrong. First, you have to understand … Continue reading →
Creative work is its own reward. One of the major differences between creative work and ‘work’ is that, over time, you come to expect a satisfaction not just from the finished product, but from the process of creation itself. My … Continue reading →
Let’s talk some more about publishing yourself, what is thought of primarily as the e-book revolution (it turns out, with print-on-demand, that it’s not just ebooks but that’s a discussion for another day). I’m gaining a new understanding as the … Continue reading →
Ruth Jordan of Crimespree Magazine did an interview on Joe Konrath’s blog last week that’s worth passing on (I’m excerpting here but I think I’ve got the point): ‘Do you remember the rush when you stumbled across that perfect book? … Continue reading →
I’m the kind of writer—and reader—who’s always favored character over story. If your character is interesting enough—and real enough—to me, I’ll follow him or her anywhere. Stories that lead with story over character have always seemed a bit thin, insubstantial—even … Continue reading →
I just found out about this: Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, a film by Lilly Rivlin. Grace was not one of my teachers at Sarah Lawrence. But you could be Grace’s student without ever being in one of her classes. If you … Continue reading →
