Costume Party

You know what’s annoying? When you come back from a trip or an event or other occasion in which you take pictures and discover that the pictures that you took are not as good as you thought they were and that you should have taken more/better ones just to be sure.
So tonight I was at [...]

Some Hypotheticals

Harriet Hellbent is an unpublished writer. She has written her first novel and, having completed it, is trying to figure out how to market it. She has joined all the loops, read all the books, visited all the blogs, paid her dues in all the professional writers’ organizations. She has edited this book to within [...]

Blog Salad

I start today with a question:
Why in the world do so many models in bridal magazines have what appears to be severe scoliosis? A typical example, at right. This is an extremely common pose in these magazines. Is it meant to show the back of the dress off? To simulate the bad posture of [...]

Dear RITA Entrant

(Because it sucks that we can’t make comments.)
Dear RITA Entrant,I had heard so much about your book before I got it in my RITA package. Not all of it was good. (Those bloggers can be so harsh.) I actually really enjoyed the book. Your writing is fresh, your premise most imaginative and intriguing, though the [...]

Perseverance

Over on the Bookends blog, Jessica Faust is discussing the topic of Resubmissions. This is not revising and resubmitting the same work, but being rejected by an agent or editor, writing a new book, and trying again with that same agent or editor. Jessica says:
a number of my clients were previously rejected, and because of [...]

Being a Complete Account of the Amazing Adventures of Diana at the New York Public Library and Beyond

8:00 AM: I (groggy) am dropped off by Sailor Boy (only vaguely less groggy, and thereby qualified to operate a motor vehicle) at the bus station. Pick up my tickets at the Will Call machine.
8:28 AM: Bus arrives. I get in line to board. Smarmy guy behind me points at my ticket and says, “I [...]

Another Whirwind Trip to NYC

And I do mean whirlwind. Up, NYPL, maybe dinner with some peeps, and then back to D.C. tonight. Because that’s just how I roll.
And of course, just my luck, today is the one day of the week with no 8 a.m. bus to Manhattan, and crappy weather. Woo hoo! This is going to rock.
Actually, I’m [...]

Editing/Publicity Pshaw! Let’s Talk Crime Wave!

Justine, never one to shy away from the Big Questions in Life, asks:
If you could only choose one which would you choose: the publishing house with a wonderful editor who brings out the best in you, or the house with fabulous publicity, marketing and sales departments?
And then the opinions pour in. From editors, some of [...]

The Unthinkable

I heard something really disturbing yesterday. They want to cancel Veronica Mars. Either that, or fast forward it to four years in the future to when Veronica is at FBI school, with none of the cast members except for Veronica. Or maybe that last bit is just about the trailer.
Actually, maybe it isn’t so disturbing. [...]

More thinking

Okay, I’ve been thinking a lot about the fashion discussion sparked in the last post, and I just wanted to clarify a few points.
True: If I find I tend to like a certain designer, I will seek out his/her clothes, and be happy/excited when a shop employee brings them to me. (Example: I recently bought [...]