BACK IN THE RING
More boxing and writing analogies The first time I punched someone in the face I stopped and said I was sorry. “Don’t apologize!”my trainer, Eric, screamed from the corner, “Hit him again.” He had to toughen me up. The weird […]
RIGHT HOOKS, WRITE BOOKS
RIGHT HOOKS, WRITE BOOKS I used to box back in Oakland, California. I started as a way to control the stress I was feeling after my best friend died. I figured hitting things was one way to deal with the […]
CHASING THE MIST
This morning when the Lucy factor (see previous blogs) and I went out for our daily hike, there was a low mist on the ground and the mountains up above us were wreathed in fog. Familiar landmarks and trees took […]
CONTROVERSY!NOT JUST A COOL SONG BY PRINCE
Ok, I was going to include something in the title there about Britney Spears or her little sister (not so little anymore, I guess) but I feel mean taking pot shots at that infinitely sad family so I stuck with […]
SELF-PROMOTION-SHREWD BUSINESS MOVE OR SHAMELESS BLOWING OF ONE’S OWN HORN?
Let me preface this by saying that I come from a marketing and promotion background. When I owned my little independent record label we were driven by direct promotions whether to the independent retailer or directly to the fans. We […]
DETAIL, DETAIL AND MORE DETAIL
Its all in the details. This, by the way, is something that J.K.Rowling does extremely well. Her characters, her settings live and breathe (if a setting can be said to breathe) because of all the glorious detail she puts in. […]
END OF THE YEAR
Its almost the end of the year and Im thinking of course- being an introspective, self-absorbed kind of person- of everything that happened to ME this year. The NY Book Expo; appearing at a big Borders store in front of […]
GOLDFISH IN A BOWL
You know that myth about goldfish? That they can live quite happily for years in a small bowl with perhaps a wisp of artificial seaweed, some colored rocks, or a plastic deep sea diver? Supposedly its because their memories and […]
RIPPING OFF J.K. ROWLING…
…OR IS IT BAD THING TO BE DERIVATIVE? Let me say immediately that I am not saying that there are authors out there who plagiarize knowingly, but there have been accusations Im sure. This usually happens whenever a writer rockets […]
IMPROV…NOT JUST FOR THEATER GEEKS ANYMORE!
I led my fourth workshop at the local public library last week. Its an on-going mini-writing workshop for 9-12 year olds and I tend to get the same mix of ten or fourteen kids, mostly girls strangely, every time. I […]