1.) Lindsay Lohan as Marilyn Monroe in “The Last Sitting” - Actually I liked this, and the article was interesting. Obviously NOT work safe!
2.) Gethuman.com - instructions for getting through the automated phone maze to a real person for a large number of big companies.
3.) 20 Ideas for a Great Podcast - Particularity of interest [...] Read more »

While I don’t plan on doing a lot of memes on this site, this meme has intrigued me for a while, and as it is all about books and reading, well hey, so is this site. So let’s see what the question is this week.

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, [...] Read more »

As I wrote the post yesterday about giving away content online, I started thinking about my beloved Duotrope. (Yes, there really is a love affair going on, or maybe more of an infatuation, as is more one-sided. Anyway.) Duotrope is free, they give away their content, and they work amazingly hard at it. Instead of [...] Read more »

(and, I am anal ;)), I got an email saying the myspace blog of the Terrible Beauty, Frightful Symmetry anthology had updated.
“Sincerest apologies for the delays…I returned on February 3rd and came down with a truly nasty case of bronchitis the next day and have been hors de combat ever since. This past Sunday (the [...] Read more »

So I took a peek at their site just to see if anything new had been posted as last I read, they were going to respond the week after the 4th of Feb, and found this.
“Because of the DELUGE
of stories we recieved (approx. 480 for the 2 anthos.) some of you may not be [...] Read more »

There has been a lot of discussion both in the blogsphere and here about giving away book content in pursuit of a book contract and/or publicity. There are a couple successful examples of books published first online, with John Scalzi being one of the most well-known. He posted his first two novels Old Man’s War [...] Read more »

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Zooty & Flapper, a “pre-publishing site” that several sites, including Storycrafters and Writers Beware, warned authors off of as it took away a writer’s first publishing rights for very little payoff. The proprietor of said Z&F site, Mr. Pappalardo, who apparently is tracking down and commenting on [...] Read more »

Ok, so not really. But this rejection I got, while short and to the point, was a big help.
Dear Val:Thank you for submitting your story. We regret that we are unable to use “Your Story.”This isn’t quite ready for The Kenyon Review. Watch out for overuse of the introductory participle. Sorry to [...] Read more »

Via the Marketing Whore, I discovered the Church of the Customer Blog. Run by two marketing “writers, speakers and consultants,” Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba blog about different marketing tactics, companies that have used both good and bad PR, and the way blogs fit into the public and marketing consciousness. I checked it out, [...] Read more »

Holy cow what a week. Now we work on getting back on track!

1.) Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - what began as a response to the Kansas school board’s plan to consider teaching the alternative theory of Intelligent Design along with creationism has taken on a life of its own.
2.) Heartless Machine - Artist [...] Read more »

While packing laptop and books to read while on trip to daughter’s weekend swim meet was a good idea, in practice you got a lot less done than you thought you would.
Particularity since it took a day longer than planned when your clutch blew out 60+ miles from home.
Self to me: Shut. Up. Read more »

One of the stories I submitted last year went to an online magazine, and let me tell you that was an up and down ride.
The first email I got was this:
We’re delighted to let you know that your story, “Short Story,” has just been accepted for its second step in our selection process. Each of [...] Read more »

1.) Smokey Mountain Breakdown - she’s posting flash fiction works throughout the month of February, and I have to say, what she manages to do in under 1000 words is freaking amazing. (Also, her Grandpa Alfie’s recipe for Wiener Schnitzel looks amazing too - I am so trying it.)
2.) The Infomercantile - Couple of [...] Read more »

Generally I don’t do a lot of research before I write a story or novel. I prefer to write with the flow and see how things go, and then research and clarify as needed. If there is something I question, or need to know to make the story work, of course I’ll look it up [...] Read more »

Yesterday I wrote about several well-known writing magazines: Writer’s Digest, Writers’ Journal, Poets & Writers and The Writer. Like I stated, I generally don’t purchase writing books or magazines unless there is something specific I am looking for or am interested in, but there is a big business in marketing to authors. All four of [...] Read more »