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9 Lives: 9 of the Greatest Cats In Literature
June 26th, 2014
I am obsessed with cats. You are obsessed with cats. We are all obsessed with cats! Ever since the age of things going viral on the Internet, our collective feline obsession cannot be tamed. Cats are making classical paintings better, entertaining us by playing piano, and doling out words of kitty wisdom in commercials. Cats are making such a big impression on YouTube that it’s easy to forget that they’ve been bringing cattitude to literature for years.
Read Column →Writer Without Residence: Keeping it Lit on the Road
June 25th, 2014
In May, I packed up all my things and hopped in my MINI Cooper, bound for Life 2.0 in Los Angeles. The five-day, 2,000-mile solo trek from Minneapolis was an irresistible opportunity to shake up my admittedly stale writing habits. I mean, Kerouac did it, and he was high; I'd have a novel ready by the time I got to California.
Read Column →Bible Thumping: The Good Book For Writers
June 25th, 2014
As religion goes, I'm a nothing. By that I mean I don't practice or subscribe to anything. I guess that makes me an Atheist, but I shy away from that term because...well, it seems to indicate a position of sorts, a position I'm not prepared to argue. Allow me to share the whole of my religious education: 1. I read The Tao Te Ching once. I was 17 and understood almost nothing of what lived in the pages. 2. I read a good portion of, not The Qur'an, but a Q&A book ABOUT The Qur'an.
Read Column →Product Review: Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad Air
June 24th, 2014
all images and logos © Logitech.com I've established in both my product reviews and columns that I love writing on my iPad when I'm on-the-go, because it's smaller and lighter than most laptops, and it doubles both as an eReader and notebook for digitally stet-marking manuscripts—in other words, it's a Renaissance device.
Read Column →Does Size Matter? A Treatise on Big Books
June 24th, 2014
They say not to judge a book by its cover, but what about the thickness of its binding? Some writers agonize over meeting word count goals, while others breezily fill entire tomes without breaking a sweat. But what does page or word count mean for the all-important reader? In the long series of obstacles that stand between a consumer and the decision to purchase a book, how much of a factor is the physical size of a product?
Read Column →Human vs Technology: A Look at Digital-Era Dystopia
June 23rd, 2014
Right now, I'm sitting in a small cottage in the rural expanse north of Stockholm, Sweden, and I can't think of a better place to write about our massive cultural fear of technology.
Read Column →Good Sex, Great Prayers: A Journey in Publication (Part 7: Release Party, Reviews, and a Fond Farewell)
June 23rd, 2014
One time I asked Barnes & Noble if I could do a live reading at one of their locations. They told me no. They told me that they don’t host events for self-published authors and that I should try someplace else. This was back in 2009, before the J.A. Konraths and Amanda Hockings of the world proved that there was money to be made in self-publishing and shattered the stigma. It was before my first book got picked up by a “real” publisher and I was still figuring things out.
Read Column →Quick, Easy Ways to Promote Your Book in Your Underwear (And no, I’m not talking selfies) Part 1
June 20th, 2014
Could you imagine JD Salinger with a Facebook Page? Harper Lee tweeting like a mockingbird? And speaking of all things avian, how about Emily Dickinson hosting her own blog: ‘Hope is a thing with feathers.’ #quoteoftheday!!! PS, check out this great video of my cat on a skateboard! Your soul just threw up in its mouth a little, didn’t it?
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Path to Publication 2.4: Going From A Two Book Deal To A Zero Book Deal
June 20th, 2014
This is the last installment of Path to Publication. I just got the news that my publisher, Exhibit A Books, is shutting down. So my two book deal has just been downgraded to a zero book deal. Just like that. This was my debut novel, scheduled to be released a short six months from now. Collecting rejections is one thing—signing your contract and getting this close to the thing you've been working your entire life toward, only to get it snatched away from you, is quite another.
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