Santa Claus Is Coming To Town ...

Merry Christmas to all! Hope your holidays are great. Best wishes for a wonderful new year!

Who's Naughty and Nice ...

David S. Brody is the author of a thriller series set around Boston. His latest book, The Wrong Abraham has a fast, interesting start (all I've read so far.)

So, who is this guy? He happened to be signing his new book at the Borders where I meet with my writing group. I also happened to see in a press blurb about the signing that he lives in the same town as I do. I decided to stick around after the writing group and just say hello and pick up his book.

I had no expectations. The store was pretty busy and he was stationed near the door. And I was a little nervous. Really no reason for it; wasn't like I was going to ask him for a job or anything. I walked up, stuck out my hand, introduced myself ... and said I was a writer as well who lived in his town.

Part of me is still a little shocked. I told the truth, but it was very strange. It was the first time I had introduced myself as a writer. Not "I'm a stay-at-home dad AND a writer", nor "I work nights AND I'm a writer." Nope. Straight up, this is my job. It doesn't pay well, but...

The conversation was brief. A few people who knew him came up behind me after a minute so I said nice to meet you, gotta go, etc. I did ask one writerly question, which was how many books he had written before his first was published (he's got three in print now.) His answer was this: the first book he wrote was the first to be published, and he acknowledged he was very, very lucky. After reading the beginning of "The Wrong Abraham", I have a feeling he also followed the first step of many successful writers:

Write a damn good book.

He's Going To Find Out ...

The focus of this blog is writing and publishing, with the occasional detour into time management. Today I must digress and reveal a malady that I've been afflicted with since I was young. This particular form of mild insanity goes by the name of The Boston Red Sox.

There was hope for a cure back in 2004, but it was only in remission, and the fever keeps coming back. So, please bear with me here. If you would like to join in for today's hurrah, the correct pronunciation is: DICE-Kay Mat-su-ZAK-a.

Daisuke Matsuzaka!

Daisuke Matsuzaka!

Daisuke Matsuzaka!

Thanks. We now return to our regularly scheduled program.

He's Checking It Twice ...

More links just because ...

1. There is a new contest on my web site.

B. Came across this interesting online task timer. Might be interesting for timed bursts of writing. Macromedia Flash Player required.

III. Just because...