Websites are now as important for establishing identity as a birth certificate or a driver's license. Yet, I've noticed that once an author puts one up, the site is often forgotten and neglected.

I research authors when they send me query letters in my capacity as acquisitions editor for Oak Tree Press. I like to know who I'm dealing with and, short of doing a background check, websites are all I have to give me an inkling of their accomplishments up to this stage in their…

What happens when something you love becomes WORK?

Yes, that's my current dilemma. I love to read (who doesn't?) and mystery has been my favorite genre until I became acquisitions editor for Oak Tree Press. The manuscripts came fast and furious, box loads via snail mail, cyber submissions filled my e-mail. All of a sudden I was forced to speed read the first 30 pages, make decisions like a Roman…

You've worked hard on your query. You followed all the “rules” you read in writing magazines. You've sweated blood to create a great opening, to get the synopsis down to a page. I'm the acquisitions editor who received this carefully constructed letter.

To be honest, before I read your synopsis, I googled your…

If you love to read, then the job of acquisitions editor for a small press is a dream come true. If you hate to dash dreams, are easily swayed or thin-skinned, find another occupation.

I am the gatekeeper who stands between you and the publisher. The publisher concentrates on production and relies on me to take queries and make decisions based on the needs of the publishing house. We share a vision and it's my job is to find manuscripts for that vision.

So, read the guidelines…

So, I got these two kittens a few months back. Ragamuffin is a torty; Rusty is orange and fluffy. They were rescued from a stray cat's litter.

I'm trying hard not to be an over-protective mother. When Rusty, the clueless male, climbed up to the top of the tree, I had the crazy idea to send his much more sensible sister to fetch him down. She obeyed and went to the rescue like a St. Bernard.

Which left me to wonder: when did I…