Self-publish or Perish?
So many authors dream the dream: Write a book, get picked up by a major publisher, pocket a hefty advance, watch readers snatch your book off bookstore shelves and wait for hours just to get your autograph, meet Oprah, meet the screenwriter who will help you turn your book into a major motion picture, accept [...]
Percy Jackson & the Olympians
When I was quite a few years younger, I read only “serious,” “grown-up” books. Now I’m old enough (barely old enough, mind you) to admit that was a stupid, boring way to approach my reading life. These days I have a rule: For every grown-up book I read, I have to read at least one [...]
The Ordinary Origins of “Ornery”
Words are funny things. We like to think we’ve got them all figured out, that our dictionaries somehow cement a word and its meaning into one unchangeable thing. But words are smarter than that. A word’s life is lived on the pens of poets and the tongues of common speakers, and no dictionary (or editor’s [...]
The Editor vs. Blueberry Pancakes
I have learned an important lesson this morning: Blueberry pancakes are not brain food. They smell heavenly and taste delicious, but once they’re in your stomach they sit there like a lump, releasing a steady dose of pancake molecules whose sole mission is to put brain cells (and editors) to sleep. Coffee will not save [...]
Thanks, Roget
Thesaurus lovers rejoice! On this day in 1779, one Peter Mark Roget was born in London. Roget was a doctor, he invented a new and improved slide rule, and he studied optics. I knew none of that before I read today Writer’s Almanac. Until this morning, I knew just one thing about Roget: He was [...]
Queen Paisley Meets the World
Many of you know that I have been working on a little book for a couple of years now. Well, I have finally finished it, more or less, and I recently published it with Lulu.com (which I can now officially recommend to those of you who are thinking of self-publishing). I ordered one copy for [...]
The Newtonian Theory of Editorial Inactivity
Today is Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday. He was born in England in 1643 (that’s according to the Gregorian calendar—it’s December 25, 1642, for those of you still on the Julian system) and grew up to be a genius in physics and mathematics. Newton provided explanations for many physical phenomena, including light, motion, and why I [...]
Lost in Fantasyland
This is for all you fiction writers. More specifically, this is for all you fiction writers who have talking animals in your stories (I know I’m not the only one). Thanks to a recent lull in the editing action, I’ve had time to work on my own book. (I swear I’m going to finish it [...]
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