Author Trish Jensen has been a friend of ours for many years — somehow (and we can’t say why) she gets our sense of humor. She has been unfailingly generous with her time and wisdom. She is also a victim of a circumstance facing many authors, musicians, painters, humans: no health insurance. When Trish was rushed to the hospital last week, nobody worried too much about the eventual cost; now that she’s recovering, it is inevitable that the hospital’s finance department becomes involved. Click on more to learn about a group of authors banding together to help Trish pay her

We admit we’re easily amused. We count ourself lucky to be part of a species that takes itself so seriously — yet is so ridiculous. It is as if there was some sort of plan to keep us laughing. Like when noted author Anne Rice chooses to take on her fans in a tirade. You know the type — you, you…readers…you don’t get it. You don’t understand. This is art. I am going to take my toys and go home. Okay, fine, we’re paraphrasing. If we give Rice the benefit of the doubt, she didn’t do herself any favors (unless

Author Alexander McCall Smith writes about his journey toward becoming a writer. In this three-part series, he notes: I suspect that one of the best starts for an author is an unhappy one. It is by no means an original observation, but it is clear that writing is often a response to pain and loss. He explores how life’s experiences inform your writing, even when they don’t seem to. He also looks at how writing slips into your life, sometimes unexpectedly or belatedly. I started to write, as so many writers do, before I could write. This may seem a

Why do people pay for what’s free? Convenience. If we learn anything from the 9/11 Commission Report (setting aside the subject matter, those lessons are a given), it is that people want to access information in their preferred manner. This is why MP3s continue to dominate the music download business despite record labels’ insistence on forcing proprietary formats down the consumer throat. This is why, to a large extent, that bound and printed remains the favored format for books. The book model is a comfortable fit for most of us; so many people spend entire days in front of a

If you are looking for a stable, practical career, do not choose writing. There are much better jobs to be had. There are jobs that don’t make you cry. Jobs that come with regular paychecks. Jobs that don’t invite perplexedd stares and rude questions. There are jobs that don’t require getting up in the middle of the night to capture a sentence slipping away because you’ve knocked your notebook under a piece of furniture you would have sworn had only a hair’s width of space. Being a writer isn’t a choice. Well, perhaps for some, but nobody we’ve ever met.

Since the growing market for Christian romance isn’t news (just as street lit isn’t news and so on), we are going to, once again, note that the so-called “paper of record” clearly has no respect for its female readers. Not only does it persist in perpetuating an image that, frankly, hasn’t existed since we were allowed to read novels, but uses the cliche to insult the reading choices of every person who buys romance novels. Since that group is almost (but not entirely) wholly female, the insult could not be more clear. Why do romance authors and readers object to