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Diary of a Mad Editor
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A small press publishers thoughts and rants on publishing and the writing life
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NanoWriMo, Fame and Dan Brown
A few days ago, I was chatting with someone about my NanoWriMo novel and somewhere along the way, the conversation turned towards Dan Brown and what a awful writer I think he is. "Your just jealous," this person said. "Jealous? Why would ...
Take That, Chris Baty
So the reason I haven’t posted in a while is this damned NanoWriMo business I’ve involved myself with. As of 3 a.m. this morning, I finally broke the 30000 word barrier. As you can see from this widget I am, as of this writing, slightly a...
Fake Mystery Writer Used to Promote Show About a Fake Mystery Writer
Have you ever watched that show, Castle, about the mystery writer who helps the police solve crimes (Yeah, there’s an original concept)? Well, the other day, my mother, who watches the show, informs be that the show is "based on a real pers...
Are You Tempted?
An interesting item popped into my email earlier — sort of a press release about the forthcoming release of a new book in the House of Night Series, the latest in the teen vampire novel trend. The authors of the series, a mother-daughter writing du...
Damning With Faint Praise
Editing a literary magazine is not always very much fun. What fun there is usually comes with that all-too-brief warm fuzzy feeling of satisfaction and pride the moment an issue is published. The rest of the time you are reading submissions from all ...
. . . And While I’m on the Subject
of weight loss and weight loss products, one of those individuals who commented on my weight recommended this book, The Writing Diet, by writing guru/creativity coach, Julia Cameron (better known as Martin Scorcese’s ex — and, gee, having...
Denise Gess
I’m sitting at my usual table in my favorite coffee house — my fingers resting comfortably on my laptop. Outside, the sun is fiery bright and the air humid and smelling faintly of garbage. Cars pass by at a leisurely pace. Denizens of my...
. . . And the Plot Thickens
Yesterday, when I reported on the plagiarism accusations against Twilight author, Stephanie Meyer, I was unaware that she’d actually written an unpublished sequel to Twilight prior to the second book in the series and that Breaking Dawn apparen...
Everybody Loves a Catfight
Well . . . maybe not everybody, but if you’ve been following the news in recent days, you are, perhaps, aware that a legal catfight of sorts is brewing between Twilight series creator Stephanie Meyer and an unknown writer named Jordan Scott. Ap...
Lit Fun #2: Fetch Me My Death Shroud
cam.bric \?k?m-brik\ noun. 1 : a fine thin white linen fabric 2 : a cotton fabric that resembles cambric — Merriam-Webster Most people do not use this word today (or, at least, it’s fallen from the common vocabulary), however, if you̵...
Who’s Afraid of Dan Brown?
A not so interesting interesting story this morning in The Guardian’s Book section about how publishers are reshuffling their publishing schedules to avoid having their top titles going head-to-head with Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code sequel. ...
A Cosmic Clown Toe-to-Toe with the Demiurge
Although poet Robert O’Neal’s modesty was so offended by my glowing review of one of his chapbooks a couple of years ago that he requested that I not review his future writings, I nonetheless can’t help but mention his latest effort...
This Corpse is Starting to Stink Pt. 2
“So, Mad Editor, what is the solution?” — Patricia With regards to the future of publishing, Patricia’s question is the one on everyone’s mind. Everyone from the NY literary agent to the pimply-faced kid grinding out tha...
Beat the Reaper
I don’t normally do book reviews or recommend books on this blog, but if you are a fan of crime fiction, you can do worse than Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell. As first novels go, this one is a winner. A first-person narration about a Mafia hi...
What is Poetry Good For?
Recently, Wendy Cope, a well-known British poet who was once considered to be one of the front-runners to be the next Poet Laureate in the U.K., came out against the Poet Laureate position. One of the reasons she gave for the criticism is that the ...
Choosing a Freelance Editor
Remember those bygone days when you’d pull into a gas station and there’d be cars up on car lifts in the garage bay and a bunch of mechanic busy working and about five guys would descend on you to fill your tank, check your oil and wash ...
John Updike, Dead at 76
“The great thing about the dead, they make space.” from Rabbit is Rich Pulitizer Prize-winning, American Author, John Updike died of lung cancer today at his home in Beverly Farms, Massechusetts at the age of 76 according to a statement r...
Apparently Any Retard Can Be Accredited By the Better Business Bureau
It’s time for another scam alert. If you are a regular follower of the Writer Beware blog you’re probably already familiar with this one, but if not here’s the scoop: It seems that, like that great and terrible mythical monster the ...
Harold Pinter Dies at 78
“Good writing excites me, and makes life worth living.” — Harold Pinter Before I get to today’s business, I’d like to bid a fond farewell to renowned British playwright, Harold Pinter, who died the other day after a long fight ...
Sometimes Online Fiction is the Pits
I recently received review requests from a couple fiction sites — one is a blog (well . . . 3 blogs, actually, but we’ll get to that in a bit), and the other is a new writing community site. The idea of using hypertext as a tool for story...
Bullets, Honey, Flies and Horseshit
So, I’m sitting here drinking a bottle of acai berry juice and I’m reflecting on a poetry reading I attended last night. Perhaps because I wasn’t in the best of moods yesterday, it’s possible that I was predisposed to having...
Merry Fucking Christmas to You Too!
I must admit, I was in a pretty decent mood yesterday. Thursday morning, at a routine doctor’s appointment, I was given another good report and I got some quality work done on my laptop at the county library. Later, I caught-up with a couple o...
