Originally published in the Journal Inquirer Monday, Aug. 18, 2014 By Kristen J. Tsetsi A New York Times obituary for former People magazine editor Patricia Ryan, who died late last year, sums up her education thus: “Ms. Ryan, whose only post-secondary education [prior to a job at Sports Illustrated] had been secretarial school, earned a … Read more
People who take home shelter dogs will often say, “I didn’t rescue my dog. My dog rescued me.” Since my recent escape to hotel mountain for a break from the ridiculous amount of stress caused entirely by our new rescue dog, Lenny, and not at all by my own anxieties or insecurities, I have fallen … Read more
As I write this, I’m holed up in a room on the second floor of a hotel ten miles from my house. It’s raining. Over the balcony’s wide railing I can see headlights about a quarter mile away sliding down the interstate’s long, curved hill, tractor trailers engulfing the cars behind them in glowing clouds … Read more
Over at JaneFriedman.com, author Philip Persinger answers ten questions for 5 On. “I don’t think there is a silver bullet for marketing. There’s just good old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness. If there were a magic formula, the guy who wrote it up would be rich. Oh wait! He did. He wrote How to Market Your Book. Unfortunately, he’s … Read more
This week’s 5 On interview is with author, musician, and Self-Publishing Review founder Henry Baum. Baum (@henrybaum) discusses self-publishing services, the value of a paid review, why he started his own self-publishing service (Kwill), and more. “Generally, it makes no sense to have success determined by how much money you’ve made, how many reviews you … Read more
Researching an interview subject will invariably take me to websites, articles, or reports I wasn’t previously aware of and am happy to discover. If I think they’re interesting, chances are someone else will, too, so I thought I’d start sharing some of what I come across as I dig around for questions to ask for … Read more
I ask because in the last two years I’ve encountered three writers at some stage of giving up: one who already had, one who was going to quit as soon as she finished the project she was working on, and another who seemed to have decided right then: done! Each of these writers, at the … Read more
__________________ * __________________ “No ideas?” “Oh,” he thumbed his mug handle, “I have ideas.” “Well, then. There you go. Write them.” “Can’t.” “Why not?” “Because. What’s the point?” “What do you mean?” “I mean,” he said, “what’s the point? I start writing a paragraph, or I imagine a scene, and I just stop. I think, … Read more
It’s not hard to imagine a young Dorothy Parker sitting at her Catholic school desk, an arm curled around her paper so the teacher and the girls sitting nearby can’t see what she’s writing (definitely not the assignment). Or Hunter S. Thompson at his school desk, but without an arm covering his work. Just writing … Read more
There’s a prisoner at San Quentin the staff call “the bird man.” That’s what the bird man, whose real name is Mike Miller, says they call him, anyway. Ever since he arrived at San Quentin, he says in an episode of MSNBC’s “Lockup,” he’s been a bird magnet. They perch on his shoulders, sit in … Read more
