Gettin’ Up A Petition

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We cannot imagine a scenario where law enforcement would express interest in our book purchases (we can’t even get the husband to look up when we bring home a particularly fetching novel). Then again, in the name of reearch (some would also call it good old fashioned curiosity) we’ve been known to pick up soem pretty strange things. We’ve also visited a lot of very bizarre websites (the husband suggested, perhaps, we might want to cover our tracks a bit more after we spent an afternoon learning how to blow up cars; he’ll probably suggest we explain this foray into […]

Square Pegs

Definition of Terms, Please

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As it turns out, it’s not too early to get political. Must be the extra-strong coffee we made. We start with the eternal question: what is pornography? Take a moment, fix an image in your mind. Okay, now that we all have the same image, the same idea, let’s move to filter it. What? You think the statue of David is pornographic? Are you nuts? That’s art. Sure, he’s nekkid, but, dammit, he’s artistic. And you over there, what are you thinking? Those Bettie Page shots (we really are in a Jazz Butcher mood) are not classics. Bondage is not

Square Pegs

Publishers as Charity

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In our previous career, we often pointed out to motion picture auditors that studios weren’t charities — they were, hard as it was to believe, for-profit ventures (yes, sometimes it’s hard to keep the face straight when you’re possibly saying the words Pauly Shore in the same sentence). The auditors, of course, were trying to squeeze additional extremely large pennies out of the studio. We understood. In the publishing world, it’s the big retailers, the Amazons, the WalMarts, the Tescos (we just love that word; it always reminds us of a Jazz Butcher song), who are squeezing the publishers —

Publishers and Editors

A Confession

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If you stick around long enough, we’ll lay out all our sins. We certainly have enough server space. Today, we recount the great homophone and homonym incident (there is a difference, and we violated both in an ugly manner). A year or so back, we began mixing up our words (in writing — we can’t speak worth a damn). Witch. Which. It’s. Its. Even, we are shamed to say, stationery and stationary. It got to the point where our husband (who sees good spelling as a nuisance — that’s what we’re paid for) was catching our errors. Well-meaning but clueless

Tools and Craft

Blogger Rehab

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It is our belief that blogging hasn’t come close to reaching critical mass. At this year’s South by Southwest Interactive, it was on everyone’s lips, sure, but, let’s face it: what else would a crowd of geeks discuss (yes, we know, there was plenty of that going on as well)? So before the majority of the world discovers the magic ‘sphere, an entire generation of bloggers will be burnt out and weaning themselves from their addiction. They will be the web’s Velvet Underground. Why is this happening? It turns out that some blogs are the victims of their own success:

Books/Mags/Blogs

Free’s Just Another Word for…Something Cool to Do

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There’s a reason we don’t write songs. Or poetry. Each summer, Vroman’s, our local bookstore, holds a series of Writer’s Workshops on Saturday mornings. The sessions generally run about an hour, are free, and open to the public (which is our way of saying arrive early for a good spot — seating is limited). Speakers include Betsy Amster on query letters, Penelope Green on voice, and others. The sessions begin July 10 and conclude on August 21. Did we mention free? Yeah, we know, but it’s so rare that we can prove to the husband that we do to know

Square Pegs

It’s Practically Risk Free!

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Naturally, we are suspicious of a contest that doesn’t want money from us. Yet, we’ve heard nothing but good things about the Brava Novella Contest. Author Lori Foster sponsor the contest (though she’s getting a little help from her friends this year) and sends finalists to Kensington editor Kate Duffy. Previous finalist have been offered contracts. Not bad for three pages work. Yeah, you have to think sexy — but you can do that, right? Deadline for entry is August 15, 2004. See the website for rules and other information. Brava Novella Contest

Square Pegs

Get The Help You Need

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There’s no shame in admitting you need help. We all do, at some point or other. Often, the hardest part is taking the first step. Maybe you don’t want to go public; maybe you don’t want to confess to your critique group; maybe you think you can beat this thing on your own. We understand. That’s why we offer this discreet tip to help you in your hour of need: a daily writing prompt. Oh, we know, you need to focus on your novel. No distractions (sure, that’s why you’re the world chamption at Tetris). Think of spending ten minutes

Tools and Craft

Sound Business Practices

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We recently told the story of our mother “discarding” a book scribbled in by that scamp Ray Bradbury (yes, we probably do mention it a lot; if she chooses to go the headstone route upon her demise, her loving children will likely have a summary of the sad episode engraved upon it). In a way, Penguin is doing much the same thing. Except of course, they are not immediately realizing their error and snatching the book back for safekeeping (because a Bradbury autograph obscured by the word “discard”…well, you get our point). In these cash-strapped times, we would expect the

Publishers and Editors

Advice and Salt Grains

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Here is the wonderful thing about writing: there are no rules. For every person who tells you that you must only use one point of view per scene, there are zillions of examples otherwise (not that we’d commit such heresy, but it’s not because we’re the teacher’s pet kind; we simply like on point of view). It is with this caveat that we recommend this article on contacting an agent. Based on our careful, caffeine-free reading, it appears geared more toward the non-fiction author. Though it’s not our area of expertise (we’re so much more comfortable with lying), we would

Agents, Tools and Craft
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