Here’s a weird thing about businesses: When a business is rolling in cash, the people who run it loosen their grip on the details. Instead of solving a problem, they throw money at it. Often they don’t recognize the problem for the danger that it might be, until it comes back to bite them, years […]
Continue ReadingI really enjoyed the holiday season this year, but I didn’t read a lot of Christmas or holiday stories. That’s unusual for me. I’ve been on a mystery and crime fiction binge for months now, and that continued. I did try to transition to some holiday stories, but they were too sweet for me. And […]
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I am putting the year in review posts on pause for the sake of this single post. It simply wouldn’t fit if it showed up somewhere around February 1. I realized this month that I have a weird form of pandemic PTSD. As those of you who regularly follow this weekly blog know, I order […]
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2021 marks the year that most of us who jumped into what I’ve been calling the New World of Publishing have been at this for at least ten years. A few of us, very few really, have been doing it longer. But in 2011, the numbers for indie (self) publishers became real. New venues, like […]
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One of my favorite poems is “Dreams” by Langston Hughes. I received it in a collection of poetry given to me when I was thirteen. I reread the poem so many times that I can recite the first stanza…with one error. He writes about what life becomes “if” dreams die and somewhere this past year, […]
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Thanks to all of you, both on my website and on my Patreon page, I have a number of things to cover in the year in review. Thank you all for stepping up. A lot of what I saw I was familiar with, which relieved me. I wasn’t as out of touch as I thought […]
Continue ReadingWell, I learned something about myself this month. I am not ready to face 2020 in any realistic way. I picked up, as I always do, The Best American Essays, and dove in. This year’s came from 2020, even though the volume is marked 2021. (That’s standard.) And…I just…couldn’t. I had to put the book […]
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You read the parenthetical phrase right. Process and plea for assistance. Here’s why: This is the very first blog post of December, and usually right about now, I start the year in review. I have a list of topics I want to cover, and some of them I want to luxuriate in, spend a lot […]
Continue ReadingI started the Holiday Recommended Reading List when I realized that I point out all the great holiday stories in January, after the season has passed. I am always a month behind in reporting what I read. So I wanted you to find the great stories that I’ve enjoyed over the years. I love holiday […]
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I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but for me, 2021 was not the year I had hoped for as the calendar turned. Because I’m an eternal optimist who can also be a raging pessimist, the way I got through 2020 was to think 2021 would be better. Lots better. As in wonderful, […]
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