Author and Book Lover
Having been neck-deep in all the historical research and hundreds of old black-and-white photographs I needed to write my book over the past eight months, my love of history has been refreshed. I’m now constantly craving good old TCM films; episode marathons of Downton Abbey, Vegas, and American Pickers; and as much historical fiction asContinue reading “Please Sir, Can I Have Some MORE Historical Fiction?”
The reworked query* for Rooted in the Sky is currently sitting in the inboxes of three more lovely small publishers: Red Hen Press, Dzanc Books, and Atticus Books. All three promise to reply within six months. so.much.waiting. In all likelihood, Claire and I won’t know what these publishers think about her book until New Years’!Continue reading “3 Awesome Indie Publishers”
The moment you find out, you get this warm, fuzzy, ridiculously happy feeling. And then you look at previous editions of the anthology on Amazon to see their popularity/sales ranking. Then you look at those same past editions on Goodreads to see how many people actually read them and liked them. And then you goContinue reading “On Getting Your Writing Anthologized”
Since I graduated from college a year ago, I haven’t really been able to settle into a routine. Too many things are always up in the air, half-baked plans for new adventures sprout mid-afternoon, spoiling my plans for a writing night in, and for awhile I was commuting three hours a day which consumed anyContinue reading “Making a Writing Schedule”
The last time I mentioned Rooted in the Sky and my efforts to get it independently published,* I had submitted it to Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Ashland Creek Press. We’re still waiting to hear back from Ashland, but Claire recently opened her mailbox to find a form rejection letter from Algonquin. I’m notContinue reading “The Indie Path to Publishing”
It’s a bit of an unusual premise: create something prompted by one of many strange objects and phenomenon submerged in NYC’s various bodies of water. The list of objects includes things like a shinbone in the New York Harbor, a dead giraffe in the Lower New York Bay, a bag full of lottery tickets inContinue reading “Story Published in Underwater New York”
There is a certain mid-level publication* which, I have decided, will remain nameless, who sent me a rejection letter recently. A perfectly polite form rejection letter. I agreed with them. Since I submitted the story to them, I’ve reread the story–been thoroughly horrified by how silly a writer I was back then–and rewritten the storyContinue reading “Dear Literary Journals, Remember the Golden Rule?”
It’s not my book, exactly. This gripping exploration of the brutally violent Mexican criminal organization, Los Zetas, was written by George W. Grayson and Samuel Logan. But it is my book in that it’s the first book I shepherded all the way through the editorial process from beginning to end. I was assigned this manuscriptContinue reading “My Book’s All Grown Up!”
Who, you may be asking, is Claire Lawrence? For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting her or taking one of her (spoiler alert!) fabulously inspiring creative writing classes, Claire Lawrence is a Creative Writing professor at my alma mater, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (and, I should mention, one of my favoriteContinue reading “Dear Indie Presses: Claire Lawrence’s Book Will Knock Your Socks Off!”
A free copy of The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen, all the way from Florida! Lauren is a book-loving librarian (goodness forbid there’s any other kind!) who has started an awesome book-giveaway contest on her blog. She aspires to give used books a good home! Like most libraries, we have a mini store thatContinue reading “I Didn’t Win the Megamillion, But I Did Win . . .”
Hannah Karena Jones