Monthly Archives: September 2008

my latest publication: Interview with the band National Product

Posted on September 29, 2008 | Leave a comment

This was a phoner (that’s journalist jargon for “phone interview”) for the Web site VegasInsight. The lead singer was real nice.

Check out my article HERE

Check out the band’s MySpace HERE

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Posted in Movies, My Latest Publication

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blogosphere: Surviving the Net Crunch

Posted on September 27, 2008 | 7 Comments

Writers, do you ever feel like the Net is running you out of business? Don’t we all. All the reams of free information sure does seem to devalue the price of said information. Damn that law of supply and demand. Check out what PopMatters has to say about the problem as well as their advice on how to fix it.

Ten years ago this month, I started writing for print publications. While I’ve been very honored to be a part of the world of journalism, I’ve become dismayed and disgusted by what I’ve seen happen to it. I’m not necessarily disappointed about the overall quality of work, though I do see plenty of dreck. I’m angry when I see what’s happening to the industry as a whole. Not a day goes by that you don’t read a notice at a journalism hub like mediabistro.com that yet another newspaper or magazine is offering buyouts or eliminating jobs or slashing their budgets, sometimes even killing off entire sections. <<read more>>

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Posted in Blogosphere

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writing tips: For All You Researchers

Posted on September 26, 2008 | Leave a comment

If you’re the type of writer that uses facts of some sort, this website my be your new best friend. It’s called Zotero and it’s a free citation management program. Those who have forked out the cash for EndNote may appreciate this site. I haven’t tried it out yet, but the home page claims that it works as a Firefox extension. So you can save citations from the websites you’re searching in real time.

For those who missed the link: www.zotero.org

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in the news: Writer Dominick Dunne Sickened During OJ Trial

Posted on September 24, 2008 | Leave a comment

It’s not often that Viva Las Vegas plays backdrop to famous and noteworthy writers (excluding Hunter S. Thompson, everybody in the Las Vegas Writers Group and, of course, the future version of me). Yesterday was another exception. Turns out that 82-year-old writer Dominick Dunne was sent by Vanity Fair to report on the OJ Simpson trial here in Vegas. In the middle of the trial, his stomach started really really hurting, and he went to the hospital.

Get the local scoop on the full story HERE.

Send your virtual get-well-soon cards HERE.

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Posted in In the News

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this writer’s life: Eat My KiloBites, iPhone!

Posted on September 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

As you may have noticed, this is not a technology blog. The technology of writing, maybe. But technology in general, try lifehacker. Nonetheless, the event that I have long been waiting for has finally arrived (debuts oct 22)! Google’s own cellphone has been released. It’s awesome. Now I just have to wait one year for the kinks to be worked out by all the rich early adopters and two years to afford it on a writer’s salary.

Check it out here.

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Posted in This Writer's Life

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this writer’s life: The Las Vegas Writers Group

Posted on September 19, 2008 | 4 Comments

If you’re a writer and you live in Vegas, then you MUST join this group. I went to my first meeting last night and I won a free audio book! Check them out here.

Now, I normally don’t post photos of myself on this website. But look, I won a free audio book! I doesn’t take a lot to make an authoress happy.

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Posted in This Writer's Life

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books: The Wheel of Darkness

Posted on September 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

The Wheel of Darkness The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston


My review


rating: 3 of 5 stars
The perfect airplane time passer. It’s light reading with heavy suspense. Each chapter switches focus to keep you hooked. This book is plot-driven and not really concerned with realistic character development. The whole thing is much easier to get through if you check you disbelief at the door. Nonetheless, I couldn’t put it down, though I’m slightly embarrassed to say so.

View all my reviews.

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writing process: How Do You Get a Job as a Book Publisher?

Posted on September 17, 2008 | 4 Comments

I was trolling media bistro, looking for a little full-time income to supplement my freelancing, when I stumbled across this awesome job.

Associate Publisher for Cleis Press in San Francisco

(You may have to be a member of media bistro to view this, but it’s free and worth if you like that sort of thing.)

Really, this is my dream job. It looks so fun and creative and varied. It’s a job where my best skills would be utilized. Now, I don’t yet have enough trade publishing experience to be an ideal candidate, which leads me to wonder: How does one go about becoming the ideal candidate for this job? What is the yellow brick road to a career in independent book publishing? If you know, please share.

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Posted in Books, Writing Process

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writing tips: Paul Mandelbaum’s Super List of Short Story Markets

Posted on September 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

For all you writer’s out there seeking to be published in better-than-blog form, you will do well to study Paul Mandelbaum’s list of short story markets. Simply locate the downloadable word doc in the top right hand corner of the classes page of his eponymous website.

Using his list requires careful introspection. In which of his talent-tiers does your writing belong?

I. Too competitive for words

2. Ultra Competetive

3. Very, very competitive

4. Darn Competitive

5. Take up painting instead

OK, I made up the last one. But you get the idea. Each category (I didn’t list them all) comes with names and links to many publication outlets. But you gotta check it out on your own to get the goodies.

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writing tips: What I Learned at the UCLA Writers’ Fair

Posted on September 15, 2008 | 6 Comments

Last week-ish, I went to the UCLA extension Writers’ Fair. This was the university’s attempt to sell writing courses, but it was disguised as an “event” complete with booths and free mini-courses. Though the day-long sales pitch was advertised as FREE!, you still had to pay $9 in parking. That’s LA for you. Even the university acts like a blonde trying to cash in on a date with a rich, ugly fool.

While we writers may sometimes be foolish and/or attractively non-inclined. We are not rich.

Needless to say, I will not be signing up (unless somebody wants to sponsor me). And to save you, loyal reader, from the price of next year’s parking. I present unto you, right here, right now, for FREE! all that I have learned at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Fair 2008:

1. Glimmer Train is the literary journal that ALL the agents read. Write for it and your fortune is secured.

2. The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses offers a useful directory of publication alternatives if you aren’t lucky enough to climb aboard the Glimmer Train.

3. Author and UCLA extension teacher Paul Mandelbaum offers his own list of literary journals on his website. He claims the list is organized by status of journal and fame potential, but a cursory look at his website revealed no such directory. (But don’t take my word for it. Find it for yourself!)

4. One of the speakers was Kate Gale, founder of Red Hen Press. She is awesome. If ever I am in need of a super hero, I hope she is the one to save me.

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