Now comes the wait...

Novella is finished--now for the hard part. Waiting for the yay or nay from my editor. A lesson to you aspiring writers out there--no matter how many books you have published, you can still be turned down for a project. I did get an advance look at the cover. From a member of the class I'm teaching at Writers on Line. Not from the publisher. Go figure. Here it is.


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One of my favorite TV writers, Stephen Cannell passed away this week. His early series Silk Stalkings and Renegade were among my favorite guilty pleasures way back when. Then Wiseguy with Ken Wahl came along, breaking broke down the violence barrier long before it became routine. He did an interview a couple of years ago talking about about his book, At First Sight. It's got a nice intro, a compilation of his shows.






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I thought this rather amusing. From the New York Post :



Give her a hand -- please!

Kimbra Hickey wants some recognition for her pinky-size role in the "Twilight" phenomenon.

Hers are the slender, ghostly hands cupping a red apple on the now-famous cover of the first hit book by Stephenie Meyer.

But Hickey's lack of fame has her cracking her knuckles in frustration.

"It was major exposure for my hands," said the petite, 40-year-old model. "But nobody knew who I was."

The 2004 photo shoot for the "Twilight" book cover paid $300 -- the industry standard for two hours of work. Hickey had to file her nails extra short so her tiny hands didn't look like an adult's.

Lately, she's been going to "Twilight" fan conventions -- she's at one this weekend in Portland, Ore. -- where she sells apple-scented hand lotion.

$300.00???? That's it???? And not even a credit? I'd be frustrated, too.

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This weekend I'm off to Fairplay for a writers retreat. Boy, do I need this. To get us in the mood, Vicki Law, the organizer of these retreats, sent us this video she came across about scary happenings in the Hand Hotel. Only trouble is, it's not a very scary video. And as far as I know, Grandma Hand hasn't even stopped by to say hello while we were in residence.




There is also a link to an article about the Hand. It's worth checking out for the organ music alone.

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At the last ComicCon there was talk about the convention moving to (gasp) LA. According to these sources though:

Comic-Con International, which had considered proposals to move to Los Angeles or Anaheim from its longtime home in San Diego, Calif., after its contract with the convention center expires in 2012, has decided to stay in San Diego at least through 2015, the Wrap reported.

The grandfather of all comics shows, which began in 1970, capped its attendance at 125,000 three years ago. The next Comic-Con show will be held July 21-24.

Yay, San Diego!!

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Mario talked about banned books week. Guess who is #5 on the list of books most often requested to be banned from libraries? Stephanie Meyer. Here are the top ten
most challenged titles in 2009 according to the Guardian :

1. TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series) by Lauren Myracle

Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs

2. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

Reasons: Homosexuality

3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Reasons: Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Anti-Family, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Reasons: Racism, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group

6. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

7. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Reasons: Sexism, Homosexuality, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Religious Viewpoint, Unsuited to Age Group, Drugs, Suicide, Violence

8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

9. The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Reasons: Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

10. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

Reasons: Nudity, Sexually Explicit, Offensive Language, Unsuited to Age Group

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And last but not least, Barnes &Noble launched it's own self-publishing digital platform PubIt! (the exclamation point is theirs, not mine). One of its selling points is that PubIt! will convert Microsoft Word, text, or HTML files to ePub format at no cost.

For more go here

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I guess that's it for this installment. How goes it for you? I'm wondering if we'll get snow in Fairplay this weekend. It's been getting cold enough at night. I'll bet the ski buffs are chomping at the bit!