Category: from the publisher
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Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
I don’t “doom scroll.” I got my first iPhone in 2009 to settle my anxiety. Everything I could need was in my pocket, accessible by a tiny computer known as the iPhone 3GS. I start my mornings and end my evenings by checking my email, studying dog training videos (as…
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Reflections on My Left Foot
I ended up reading Christy Brown’s My Left Foot this weekend. (The movie stars Daniel Day Lewis. I watched that also.) Christy, born in 1932 as a middle child in an Irish Catholic family of 22 children, had cerebral palsy. The only limb he could control was his left foot— and he even learned to…
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5-star reads from 2025
Let’s take a look at what I read in 2025. According to Goodreads, I read more than 15,500 pages in published books. I say published books because I also read unsolicited submissions for Parisian Phoenix and piles of pages for editing and critique. The shortest book I read was Exactly how I Promote and Sell…
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Welcome, Historical Society
Finally, I want to welcome the Greenwich Historical Society to the Parisian Phoenix fold, as they contacted me about publishing their hometown heroes banner project in a commemorative book. Gayle and I met with the society last night at the Greenwich Township Municipal Building in Stewartsville, N.J., which— full circle— was one of the…
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Our start to 2026
A few weeks ago (or maybe a month or two), I talked about cleaning my desk. Since then, I’ve emptied a bookshelf, reorganized and purged business supplies and developed a system for tracking and storing inventory. Because, guys, I’ve reached the point where I need a system for tracking, storing,…
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Life as a working writer
I dedicated myself to my publishing business more seriously when I was laid off in September 2023. I have not worked a full-time job since. In true working writer fashion, I accept freelance writing and editing and journalism assignments, teach college courses when they are available and even serve as…
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A Business of Writing curriculum?
The other day— it was Gayle’s birthday and a big one at that— I met Parisian Phoenix Art Director Gayle Hendricks for breakfast, primarily so we could walk through my syllabus for PUBL102 at Northampton Community College this winter. (You can still register!) PUBL102 is their self-publishing course, the second half of their former…
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The evolution of Parisian Phoenix
In my travels recently, I’ve heard a lot of things that make my heart happy. Even though words are clearly my passion, my business at Parisian Phoenix Publishing focuses on people— and my staff, authors and the artists who all contribute support one another and share a sense of community.…
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Review of Collingswood Book Festival
Geraldine Donaher and I attended the Collingswood Book Festival last weekend with Pennwriters Area 6. It was my first time at the festival and I had a fantastic time. I would whole-heartedly promote this event as a vendor or a spectator. It was organized, well-run and even the neighboring businesses were friendly. It’s always…
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