Hispanic Hero?

Something that has been coming up recently is how much some people enjoy the activism in STANDING STILL -- shining the spotlight on the problems of illegal immigrants and the workers in Mexican slums. Some Hispanic readers view the kidnapper as I do -- as a rebel hero. Unfortunately, I don't think the book is available in Spanish!

I'm in the curriculum!

Friday night I visited Rosemont College, where STANDING STILL is part of the syllabus for a class on Crime Fiction. Very cool to be taught with the likes of Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez! A very interesting class, taught by a great prof, Bob Finnegan, with lots of bright kids in it. They spoke so eloquently about the characters' motivations and struggles, and understood the book on every level. It was really a joy to have such a deep discussion. The book is also being taught by Gregory Frost at Swarthmore College -- in a fiction class about writing a strong first chapter. Very cool!

Contest Winners

I sponsored an essay contest this Spring, and just finished judging the entries. Since the topic was women overcoming abuse or mental illness, the stories were sometimes heart-wrenching. Still, it feels really good to be helping other writers -- writing out the award checks made me so happy. Feels much better than paying utilities, lemme tell ya! Check out the winners at philadelphiastories.org

New Book Finally Handed To Agent!

Oh boy, that was hard. Now that I have been through the S&M practice known as "editing" I had to look pretty hard at The Next Book manuscript because I don't want to go thru that hell again. I workshopped the first 40 pages last year, and this year I spent a lot of time forcing myself to mull, reflect, re-read and then re-write several times, adding more plot, etc. I have two other new manuscripts in first draft-ville . . . I have to get back on those pretty soon but for now it feels good to have committed to, and polished, one.

Thousands of Editors

I am not the only one who has suffered through multiple editors. A quick survey of other authors in The Liars Club after a reading at Barnes & Noble revealed that the malaise is widespread. Lots of turnover, people job-hopping as the only way to get salary increases. One of the writers, Jon McGoran, whose pen name is D.H. Dublin, had the whole audience laughing with his witty reading from his new crime novel, Freezer Burn. Guess his work didn't suffer much after all those editors futzed with it!

Another Editor Gone!

Okay, this one really takes the cake. Beloved, non-dominatrix UK editor is also departing.
What is it with all this job-hopping?
Either editors are the most ambitious people who breathe air, or publishers are not paying these people properly!!

New Editor Seems Smart -- But Is She Secretly Evil?

I spoke to my third editor today and she seems very smart and savvy and helpful. Of course we all know she could have a split personality that only comes out when she reads with a red pen in her hand. She too could don the black leather boots and rawhide whip and lash me repeatedly . . .

anyway the paperback is coming out in February on the anniversary date of the hardcover, and she says everybody is excited about it and that they are definitely changing the cover.

Why do they do this? I mean, as soon as Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman make the movie, they are just going to have to change it again, the sillies!!