I start work early, being an early riser. By 7:00 am I'm at the computer, planning a full day's writing. Here's how it goes.

7:00am Check email, write blogs and post

8:00 am Still trying to think of what to write on the dumb blog.

8:15 am Got it! Now to answer the email.

9:00 am Sent email to publisher and several businesses. Also replied to friend in Chicago, sister, daughter, daughter's friend, people at church, and one fan.

10:00 am Down to work. Read…

I admit it: I was worried. What if I didn’t like my book cover? I was afraid of oversized nipples on pecs the size of watermelons and bulging prison-gym muscles. So when the cover came in, I was nervous. To appreciate my nervousness you need to know that authors don’t have a lot of say where their covers are concerned; that’s not in our realm of responsibility and thus we’re at the mercy of our publishers and cover…

I just finished The Blight Way by Patrick McManus. I've always enjoyed McManus' humor essays. The are funny all the way down to your toes. His humor isn't as thickly spread in his mystery novel, but it has the same assured voice and a pretty good plot. Mosly I liked the characters -- I think it's what McManus does best. Still expected Rancid Crabtree to show up somewhere along the way.

Cliff

So I was delighted to get the cover art for In the Wind, and…

posted by Jeanne Munn Bracken

Sandy was never a satisfactory dog. No dog is perfect, of course, as we well knew from earlier canines we'd taken in.

Our first, Sheba, was hit by a car, and Whiskers, who we loved dearly despite her chewing everything, we had for 15 years.

I thought I wanted a dog, and the kids were sure they had to have one. Ray didn't want one at all. Several years passed before some people showed him the picture of a dog they had to give…

Yesterday I wrote on perspective and how my own writing career has changed how I judge a book. One reader of my blog commented that we must keep reading, both to learn and to refuel. I certainly agree. Reading is key to writing. Extending that thought, both reading and writing are key to thinking, and we as a nation lose ground with each non-reader who graduates high school. By non-readers I don't mean people who can't read; I mean people who consistenly choose to do something…

The Agent Question – Will They Respect Me in the Morning?

By Jordan Dane

As a debut author, your first relationship with an agent can be like a courtship. The first blush of an offer to represent is followed by the unforgettable satiation of that first deal. You light up a cigarette and revel that nothing will ever be the same again, but in…

• Sexy, sizzling—and sweet! NL Gassert manages to combine the tenderness of first love with thrilling action in The Protector. The tropical setting on Guam is fresh and beautifully evoked, and the engaging characters of Mason and Soren will keep readers turning the pages, rooting for these lovers against tropical storms and terrorist agents. —Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu and Mahu Surfer…

posted by Doranna Durgin

It's taken a long time for this one to sink in, but I'm finally getting there.

When I was younger, I often took people by surprise. I was assertive; by unconscious default I approached situations as though expecting not to be heard, and so I made myself crystal clear from the outset. But others were often taken aback; they felt I was in fact adversarial.

So I worked on that. Over time, I softened my approach. Oh, not…

I used to be a generic reader, one of those people who read cereal boxes and pamphlets in the doctor's office about male urinary tract infections. I'm still voracious, but I find that the more I write for myself, the more critical I am of what I read. I can no longer finish a book if the author doesn't create characters I respect, and by that I mean characters who ring true to me. Even with some authors I admire greatly, I find myself asking, "Oh, come now, would a straight-laced, uptight…

Finished late last night Al Guthrie's Hard Man. Man oh man. Pretty rough stuff. Recommended if you can take it. I can see why some people have been so critical about this (and how it's all connected to the neo-noir discussion), though. Is there some sociological truth hidden in there? Or even questions?

My reading's been pretty vicious as of late. First Marquis de Sade, then Al Guthrie. I've also been reading collections of readers' letters from old porn magazines. They can be…

In novels, characters are often defined by their physical appearance. The man who frowns all the time is negative and irritable; the woman whose conscience is clear shows it in her relaxed demeanor. It's a useful tool, and it may often be true that our natures are betrayed in physical manifestation. But I don't think that's always the case.

I direct a choir of some fifty people, and if their expressions while singing were used as a judgment of their mental state, one would conclude…

Posted by Lorraine (L.L.) Bartlett

I wasn't expecting to get the majority of the turkey from last week's Thanksgiving feast. Hoping, but not expecting.

Friday we had a guest and decided not to subject her to leftovers, so out came Leann's marvelously easy top round Swiss steak in the Crockpot recipe. (And it smells sooooo good cooking,…