Articles from January 2005

No, Really, Your Mother Does It

January 31st, 2005 · 3 Comments

What with one thing and the other, we ended up in a situation where we were joking about the mother’s (non-existent) blog with a nurse. What was supposed to be facetious became uncomfortable when the nurse asked how often the mother updated her blog. See, it wasn’t that the ICU nurse was curious about the […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Career Opportunities

January 31st, 2005 · Comments Off on Career Opportunities

We’ve probably mentioned (once or twice) that we’re not much for the non-fiction side of writing. Our first reaction when faced with a crisis of facts is “make it up.” Who’s to say for sure that humans can’t adapt to temperatures on Saturn? It’s not like we’ve tried, and until we have proof of failure, […]

File Under: Agents

The Essence of Character

January 31st, 2005 · 7 Comments

It is rare that we look to Roger Ebert for insight on character development, but perhaps that is just our shortsightedness at work. After all, he did write one of the husband’s favorite movies of all time. Characters (as we all know) march to their own little drummers. How often do we find something happening […]

File Under: Tools and Craft

Uh, What Decade Is This?

January 28th, 2005 · 3 Comments

Far be it for us to question the press, but have to wonder when the author of the article linked below last looked over the range of Harlequin titles. Because we’re fairly they stopped “tastefully” implying sex and started getting pretty detailed about the act a long time ago. Now if the scale was sliding […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

Again, Not Feeling The Love

January 28th, 2005 · Comments Off on Again, Not Feeling The Love

Is it us, or do a lot of this week’s new ideas seem off? Normally, we can get excited about something over the course of seven days. Nothing’s grabbing us. See, we like the idea of making book awards more of an event, more prominent, more…well, popular, but somehow using the People’s Choice Awards as […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Ari Fleischer Is No Longer Our Hero

January 27th, 2005 · Comments Off on Ari Fleischer Is No Longer Our Hero

Let us just say that we have made not answering direct questions an art. We can, without breaking a sweat, dissemble until everyone present has forgotten the topic. Mostly this happens because we, uh, weren’t paying attention to the question, and find ourselves scrambling to make up stuff until a real answer comes to mind. […]

File Under: Publishers and Editors

Because Recreating the Spark Always Works So Well

January 27th, 2005 · 2 Comments

We know that the publishing industry moves slowly. While we’ve never actually seen molasses moving uphill in a snowstorm, we understand the book world resembles the process. So it is always surprising to us when houses leap on an almost-brand-new idea. Almost, because they’re leaping onto something that worked because it was so different, so […]

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs

So Far Off Topic, We’re (Almost) Embarrassed

January 27th, 2005 · Comments Off on So Far Off Topic, We’re (Almost) Embarrassed

We love science — especially when it tries to explain art. And only a man would come up with a cockamamie (ha!) reason for why a statue seems to be less-than-endowed. Yeah, he was scared. Sure. And the moon is made of blue cheese. Anyone ever heard of anatomically correct? Was David scared stiff of […]

File Under: Square Pegs

Ode to A (Old) Library

January 26th, 2005 · Comments Off on Ode to A (Old) Library

Okay, so we don’t have a poetic mind. Sue us. We know we can’t do this article on the London Library justice, and we’re not going to try. You can read it for yourself. It will do your heart some good. Literary culture as we have known it and understood it since scribes were writing […]

File Under: Square Pegs

But We Were Born To Be Coddled

January 26th, 2005 · 3 Comments

Though it will not come as a surprise to anyone here, it seems that living with a writer is not easy. Honestly, sometimes the husband wants to talk when it’s quite clear we’re thinking. Oh sure, it looks like napping, but as long as one brain cell is pulsing, we will deny the charge. We […]

File Under: Square Pegs