writing

  • Books,  indie pub,  NaNoWriMo,  novel,  work,  writing

    NaNoWriMo in just three days

    Dude. Where did October go? I was sitting over there filing my nails and making glib promises to write a novel in 30 days, and suddenly Halloween is here and I have to get started writing. Like, soon. I have a title. It’s called “That Thing I’m  Gonna Start Writing.” I have no outline. I figured it would come to me in a dream. I have nothing simmering in my head, waiting to burst out onto the page. The last few times I NaNo’d, I knew exactly what I was going to do, and I was revved up and ready to go. This year I am mid-book-tour, with a reading, an…

  • authors,  book biz,  Books,  indie pub,  My World and Welcome to It,  Portland,  The Doris Diaries,  Travel,  work,  writing

    Big plans, big big plans

    Busy days. (Note to self: why is “busy” spelled this way but sounds like “bizzy”?) I know, I’m addicted to busy, but life is full and there’s always a lot to do. Indulge me, will you? April and May were full of Tongues of Angels adventures, because Indie-Visible released the novel as a 10-year anniversary edition, and I was all over the place online, in several blog-carnations. It was good. It was busy, but it was good. That firmly under way, I turned to finishing off the second of the volumes of collected diaries, and all the proofing, indexing and final approvals needed. All to good ends, friends, because the…

  • photos,  Portland,  quotables,  The Doris Diaries,  work,  writing

    Doris and the Doctor

    There’s a lot going on with the doctor in the Doris Diaries. If you’ve been following along in 1929 while Doris is still in high school, but is already 19 (she missed a lot of school because of her illnesses), she has an ongoing flirtation with the intern who she met when she was in the hospital. She goes to visit him in his office, and they flirt some more. It’s ongoing, and harmless. Or is it? (Remember, this is a true story, from Doris’s perspective. No way to prove or disprove what happened here. It’s what the diary says.) Please post to Facebook or Twitter what you think so…

  • authors,  book biz,  Books,  Catching Up,  writing

    Oodles of goodness

    Catching up here at blog-central with some announcements and news and previews and hints at future nonsense… 1) The Doris Diaries is doing beautifully. So beautifully that we won two awards in the past week. In the past day, actually. Yesterday, Monday, May 6, I got news from two separate book contests that I’ve Got Some Lovin’ to Do did very well. Not quite the winner, but close. Which is better than the proverbial poke in the eye, no? The San Francisco Book Festival gave IGSLTD an honorable mention in Biography! And I also received this email: “Your book has been named a Finalist in the Memoir category of the 2013 Next…

  • book biz,  Books,  My World and Welcome to It,  photos,  Portland,  The Doris Diaries,  Travel,  writing

    Portland pioneer

    I had a very successful adventure in Portland, OR, the last week of March. I went with the sort of nebulous idea of “research,” thinking I’d spend a lot of time in the Multnomah County Library, and I did, and I learned a lot of great information. But that’s not all. Here are some of the exciting things that took place last week: 1. I went to Reed College, which is Doris’s alma mater, and gave a lengthy and detailed presentation to the Foster-Scholtz Club (an alumni group) about Doris’s four years there. It was a terrific group of people who were so interested that honestly, you could have heard…