A writer on my social media page announced he’d published his first book, recently.  Overjoyed, he included a favorable comment from a well-known book review company.   “I’m a genius,” he concluded tongue in cheek.  Like a first kiss, his elation was understandable.  Who

“I still don’t have what I want,” says Rita Moreno, star of stage, screen, and television and also a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, an Oscar, and a Kennedy Center Honor recipient. (“The Queen,” by Erik Maza, Town&Country, March 2022, pg. 84.) I understood w

“Video and audio are the hottest media,” writes Clive Thompson, a reporter for the tech magazine Wired. ( “Every Word You Say,” by Clive Thompson, Wired, May 2021, pg.15,)  I have to agree.  My Write Away blog is approaching its 11th anniversary and enjoys a respectable numb

For a year, I’ve searched for an agent to represent for my memoir, Getting Lost to Find Home. For the past two months, the manuscript has been under review with a London office.  A few days ago,  I emailed the agent to ask if the submission was still under review. As yet, I’ve r

Sorry, I have no positive news about my search for an agent.  I share this paucity of information to alert my fellow writers that getting New York’s attention isn’t a cakewalk.  It’s harder than writing a book. Much harder. And there’s competition. Yes, J. K. Rowling won the

The edits on my memoir have returned, so for the next several weeks, I’ll be focusing on rewrites.  I’ve been working on this book for the past two years and, at the current rate, I fear it may take me longer to draft my recollections of past events than to have lived them.  If

“You made it so easy.”  The woman on the other end of the phone laughed.  She was referring to an email I’d sent to friends about Barnes And Noble’s holiday 20% discount  on my books. I sent the message more for vanity than for sales.   I was tickled to see my novel, Hear

Several months ago, I broke with the last of my 4 publishers.  I’ve had 4 because the first  became ill and closed the business.  Another bought a company that held my contract and  turned out to be a crook.  Law enforcement eventually shut him down.  A third tried to change t

Since my brief hiatus in July, when I entertained a former student from South Africa, the last few weeks have been busy.  I taped 4 new episodes of Just Read It. (Click) That’s the ten minute book review program I co-host with Susan Stoner, author of the Sage Adair mystery series.

In the writers’ pecking order, the author with a publisher stands taller than the one who is self-published.  Having a publisher implies someone other than the writer believes in the work enough to commit hard cash to producing it. Nonetheless, after working with 4 publishers, I’