Author Archive
Hello 2012
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve always liked the new year and all that it implies — a new beginning, a chance to improve upon the past. It may be that being a child of the 80s with video games teaching us that you just have to drop another quarter into the machine to wipe the slate clean just reinforces the idea that there are do overs. Regardless, I always feel energized when January rolls around. I make the usual promises to myself. To be more healthy, to eat less of this sort of thing (made by friend, Alexandra 
):
And more of this:
To do less of this:
And more of this:
I have a couple of big goals for 2012. One is to finish my novella (draft above) ASAP — I had hoped it would be done by the end of January but that seems unlikely. I do hope to have a solid draft by the end of January and will be happy if I can get that accomplished. I’m also brainstorming for a new book. This is an enjoyable stage of preparation for me but I haven’t had near enough time to read and that is an absolute necessity. I also plan to do something for this book that I’ve never done before which is to go out and find live sources. And since I’ve never done that I need to bone up on the protocol of approaching professionals who might be interested in helping out a fiction writer with their deep expertise.
I’m always on the lookout for tools that will help me in my writing. I was generously given an iPad about six months ago and it’s been interesting for me to discover ways I’m incorporating it into my writing life. I plan to write a blog post soon on this but in the meantime I’ll just offer a screenshot from the latest app I downloaded. It is a dictation app from the long time leader in that industry, Dragon. It is shocking how the technology has improved over the years. In about a minute I had downloaded it and had it up and running. This was the first thing that popped into my head when I was prompted to speak — let’s hope it is true:
I doubt I’ll make much use of this for actual writing. But it could prove to be very useful for transcribing since I still occasionally write longhand. I think it will also prove to be handy in composing emails.
Oh yeah. I have a new book out! Buy it. Read it. And let me know what you think about it. Reader’s thoughts ultimately count the most. Links are on the right hand side of the blog.
A Compendium of Photos I Should Have Posted a LONG Time Ago
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve never had a good system for managing my photographs. First it’s the matter of getting them off the camera and putting them somewhere. But since I’ve never had a good system there has always been a little nagging feeling that I’m going to lose track of all of them. So when I recently got a new laptop, I decided I needed to get my pictures organized. I decided to try Picasa since it’s a Google product and it meant one less password I need to remember. I was surprised how easy it was and even more surprised to find that within it are tools for easily sharing photos to my social networks. Here I’ve been a Luddite all along and didn’t know it. Anyway, the point of all of this is that I finally downloaded (uploaded? exported?) all my photos off my camera (1500!!) and can share some that I should shared eons ago.
I did the work on the final draft of Sleepwalk at a friends house. She set me up in style:
I don’t have many good photos from my reading at Busboys & Poets back in May (since my camera had gone AWOL) but here’s one with Fay Jacobs. We are listening to Lisa Gitlin read from her funny novel I Came Our for This?
And some random pictures that I find kinda cool:
These two guys remind me of a few characters in Scapegoat
The sky looking particularly dramatic as I headed out of DC one night
A tiny snake snug in the bark of a tree in my yard
A remembrance of the moment that I discovered a bottle of my favorite beer in the world priced for 1 dollar. I bought it.
George, one of the cutest dogs ever.
Scapegoat, long hand edits, looking atmospheric.
I like this shot because I think it’s a good representation of the way writers hope they will be visited by some kind of inspiration. A lot of people call it the Muse and though I don’t myself I can see why people do. Mainly because it is something that belies explanation. Sometimes it happens and the words come and sometimes they don’t. But it always feels really good when they do.
Scapegoat Sneak Peak
Posted by: | CommentsI should have had this up eons ago, but here’s an excerpt from Scapegoat, the second Rennie Vogel Intrigue. Hope you enjoy it!
Phew! The new book is officially finished!
Posted by: | CommentsOr mostly officially — just waiting on the final proof and Scapegoat, the Miles to Go sequel, is on track for its December 20 release. Here are some links if you’re interested in pre-ordering.
And yes! The (unplanned) blogging sabbatical is over! I have to admit I was tempted to back date this blog post but I figured that was cheating. So I am owning up to not blogging for many months. I loads of catching up to do. I have pictures from the Busboys & Poets reading in May. I have GCLS pictures from June. When I have a moment, I’ll be getting these up.
Thanks to all my friends on Facebook and elsewhere who have been so patient with me this past year while I’ve been working on this book. I have to admit, it’s been stressful. I had a lot on my plate generally and to add on top of everything else a deadline for my second novel was, well, challenging. But I’ve learned a lot and have a better sense of how I will approach things next time round.
Coming (very) soon — a Scapegoat sneak peak.
Reading in D.C. this Sunday at Busboys & Poets, 4pm
Posted by: | CommentsI’m so excited to be doing a reading close to home this weekend. Even better, a few of my friends are going to be able to come. I’ll be doing short readings from Miles To Go and from the sequel, Scapegoat, which is due out December 20, 2011. Lisa Gitlin, writer of the acclaimed I Came Out For This, and Fay Jacobs, who writes hilarious essays about her life in Rehoboth, will also be reading. I did a reading with Fay last year in Rehoboth and she is very funny — great New York accent too. It will be a fun afternoon, so come on by!
4pm
