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As a long-time romance novel reader — yes, Mom, I know, but I never warmed to the serial killers — I know that many of the books will never qualify as “great”. Still, there are a lot of talented writers telling incredible stories with amazing voice and creativity in the genre. This is so for […]

What do you fear more: obscurity or piracy? Seems to me most people fear the latter because we’re told that piracy is bad and must be stopped. 400,000 books were published/distributed in the United States in 2007, according to Rachel Donadio’s recent New York Times article (“You’re an Author? Me Too!”). If you’re trying to […]

Last week’s JK Rowling/Warner Brothers versus RDR Books trial made me very uncomfortable. On one hand, I completely support an author’s right to protect copyright. It’s time this nation (world, really) learned serious lessons about copyright — what it is, how it’s applied, fair use (yes, kids, fair use is part of copyright). But there’s […]

Philip Parker has won today’s “Worst Person in Publishing” award. I wanted to give him the “Worst Person in the World” title, but, well, I’m fairly certain that’s been copyrighted. Hmm, maybe the ”’New York Times”’ will share the honors, if only due to its continued lack of critical thinking when it comes to covering […]

The BS family is very excited to have debut author TJ Bennett with us today. I’ve known her for years and am thrilled that someone recognized her talent and published her novel. I asked TJ to talk about some of the challenges and benefits that come from writing for a small press. At the end […]

A week or so ago (time flies when you’re in Austin and then down with the modern cold), I did a radio interview with Susan Benjamin for her show Greater Voices. We talked about a few favorite books, and since the show is airing — access through this link — I thought I’d offer a […]

Though it goes against my very nature, I have resisted commenting on the recently reached DGA/AMPTP accord — the settlement of contractual issues between the Director’s Guild of America and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers — to let the deal points sink in. Not surprisingly, this period of reflection hasn’t changed my […]

So naturally, I am reading all the news about this entity and that entity cutting deals with the WGA directly. I am also imagining all the major producers gnashing their teeth in frustration. Oh, man, this has got to rankle. And not necessarily for the reason you think. Residuals — the basis for this two-month […]

Normally, I do only one “Most Wonderful Post of the Year”, because, well, if there are two, which post is truly the most wonderful? But since it’s the giving season — and I do love giving — I’ve decided to break precedent (because you’ve got to live every day to the fullest) and offer up […]

Though I have been assured that I was born talking (first words, if legend holds true, were “I’m off to buy new shoes”), I believe my next major action was reading. I cannot recall a time when I was not surrounded by printed words. Most of my siblings survived childhood due to the fact that […]