I have to start this post by saying I am NOT COMPLAINING. I am NOT WHINING. I am NOT BEGGING FOR INFORMATION. Well, maybe that last one isn't entirely accurate. But I know there is quite possibly nothing to know, and so... Publishing is full of long waits. To explain how this affects the writer, I need to use a navy analogy. "Dead Reckoning" is where you determine your position on a chart (map) based on your course and speed, such as, "I was here, I'm heading east at 10 nauti

The other day I spent a few hours clearing out my brain with one of my favorite books of all time, Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. I'm not saying this to show you I'm cultured because I love a book by someone like Steinbeck because, frankly, who actually likes Steinbeck? He's depressing as hell. Cannery Row is different in that it's depressing but also hilarious. As Valentine Michael Smith said, we laugh because it hurts not to. The book has no real plot (though I suppose the

News of the week is that I will be teaching classes at The Muse this fall, which means my classes this summer couldn't have gone too badly, right? When and what are still TBD. In publishing progress, I've been asked to write letters to a few authors requesting blurbs for the cover of my book. A few weeks ago I provided a list of "dream authors" to give the editors a starting point for determining whom to approach. Well, they've made their decisions, and I'm left writing lette