Category: reflection
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Writing Advice of the Week
And for all the writers out there wondering how to develop a writing “habit” or how to establish discipline and/or a consistent writing practice, you might want to read the essay E.H. Jacob wrote for Hippocampus Magazine. Read the essay on Hippocampus here. He’ll give you his strategies of how he writes even when…
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Hour by hour storytelling?
I recently watched the 15 episodes of Season One of The Pitt available on streaming service HBO Max. It’s a medical drama with an opening reminiscent of the famous medical series ER that launched the career of George Clooney. It begins with a time on screen: 7 a.m. I have watched 15 episodes and…
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When the books “kick back”
Our art director talks about her experiences with some titles that just refuse to go to press. Is it Ingram? Is it us? I think it’s a combination.
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Inspiration and contemplation
As a traditional publisher, writer myself, freelance editor and journalist, I don’t escape words often. They provide my livelihood, and more than that, I genuinely revel in them. I typically have a window open on my browser where I draft and build my newsletters— like this one— but this edition…
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I went to a writing conference and came home with the keynote’s haircut
I have a “Networking for Writers” talk which I presented at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group a few weeks ago to help prepare members for the conference that happened March 13-15. (You can see the slides as a paid subscriber to my Substack.) In that talk, I assume that everyone listening…
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It’s the Universe that matters
If I learned one lesson recently while reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, those books have reminded me that the absolute most important aspect of writing (and reading) is the universe. Readers deserve a universe that is rich, complicated and full of the right details, complex characters and a setting that comes alive. And sure—…
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What our bookstores say about us
I don’t know how I discovered Possible Futures, a bookstore and “community bookspace,” but visiting there was an experience, a special treat for the side of my publisher and academic self interested in critical theory and marginalized voices. I am linking to the about page on their website here, because…
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Reflections on Dr Seuss
For most of my life, Green Eggs and Ham was my favorite book. I brought it home from the school library so many times that my mother would groan, “Oh, no. Not Green Eggs and Ham again.” And when I grew up, I bought myself a copy in French— and as a university student…
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Thoughts on Characters (and The Gilmore Girls)
I recently gave a free workshop on Building Memorable Characters at Easton Area Public Library. We have two more workshops scheduled at the library: Thursday, March 13: Publishing Basics Thursday, April 10: Poetry in Everyday Life with McKenna Graf, Darrell Parry & Nancy Scott At our workshop last night, we talked about types of characters and how…
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On preparing your book for publication
As a publisher, I often interact with people that have self-published a book or sometimes I also sometimes hear from authors that they have already published their book while I had it on my “to be read” pile. As president of the writers group, I interact with people that made…
Parisian Phoenix Publishing 