The other day I was being interviewed by a reporter at the local paper for a weekly column called A Day in the Life of … These columns feature local, everyday people, from business owners to artists to worker bees to civil servants and volunteers. My particular column was to be A Day in the Life of a Writer. The reporter and I know each other, so the mood was casual, more a friendly chat than a grilling. He asked many of the questions I’ve fielded before: what genre(s) do I write, how did I get started, etc. Pretty much your basic interview. Suddenly, though, he asked me a question that poleaxed me. I sat there, mouth agape, brain churning, trying to figure out the answer to something I’d never thought about before. Continue reading “Where Are YOU in Your Own Story Arc?”
Tag: writing career
Getting Started in this Business
This past Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of attending a book signing by one of my favorite authors, Randy Wayne White. Known for his “Doc Ford” novels (over twenty and counting), he has been writing for over thirty years.
What made this event possible is an Independent bookstore, Books and Books, just two or so blocks from a Barnes and Noble. Randy started his talk by remembering the beginning of his career. He had just published his first novel and the publisher had set up a book signing at a bookstore in Ft. Myers, FL. The bookstore had stocked SIX books for the signing. Continue reading “Getting Started in this Business”
Eye Health for Writers
Although I was put on indefinite administrative leave for berating people into changing their ways opted for early retirement from the Wellness Police, I still like to craft the occasional post on health tips to help prolong your writing careers. I do it because you guys are important to me. Sure, it’ll help me knock down my community service hours, but that’s just a bonus.
Anyway, let’s talk about your eyes. Yes. They’re gorgeous, dahh-ling. And as long as they point straight ahead and you can find your way to the coffee pot in the morning, you probably don’t think too much about them. But eye health is vital to your writing career, for reading, writing, revising, proofreading, proofreading again, and finding your way back to the coffee pot after the first four or five cups have lost their magic. Here are a few ways to protect your precious eyeballs from the ravages of computer use and keep them looking pretty in your author photos for years to come. Even without Photoshop. Continue reading “Eye Health for Writers”