From Hermit To Hero By Eric D. Goodman

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that being successful as a writer depends on who you know. But I will say that getting to know your writing community can do amazing things for your writing career.

This Week:

Haute Living Magazine / HauteLiving.com – UPDATES! Writer says publisher called him “Loser! Loser! Loser!” over the phone, there is a judgement in Florida court against Haute Living Inc, and two fake ads mysteriously appear online on Friday night listing both writers’ home phone numbers? You have to read this one to believe it!
April May Rollins / April Rollins / Ore Mountain Publishing House / oremountainpublishing.com – Publisher disappears; owes author money.
Pet Publishing / petpublishing.com – Fifth, sixth and seventh complaints about this deadbeat publisher!

Mason’s Mobility

Mason is keeping us all in shape these days! He went from spinning in circles on his belly last month to scooting, crawling, and pulling himself into a standing position by the sofa all in the past two weeks.

When Customers Write Bad Checks: My Successful Collection Technique by Angela Hoy

As promised, this week I’m sharing the steps I take when somebody sends me a bad check. Sure, I understand that bookkeeping mistakes happen, but by the time my bank has notified me of a bad check, the person whose check bounced has usually already been notified by their bank. If they haven’t contacted me immediately to right their wrong, I have to assume their actions were malicious.

Relatively Speaking, It’s Not You, It’s Me By Carol L. Skolnick

There is always the risk of offending people when you write about them. Frank McCourt has written openly about his daughter’s anger with him for writing about her; his response at that time was “too bad.” Not all of us are willing to lose our families for the sake of our art; so how do we get around including the people in our lives in the stories of our lives? Here are some ways I have handled it:

Building Up From Nothing By Sean McLachlan

Digging up dead bodies had lost its charm. I’d been an archaeologist for several years and, while the thrill of discovery remained, career advancement entailed an increasing amount of office work and earning a Ph.D., neither of which were very attractive to me.
I’d always liked writing and had contributed to many small press publications, and now realized I wanted to write books for a living.

Whispers And Warnings For January 17th

This Week:

Gingerbread Poop

I can’t believe I forgot to tell you about our Gingerbread Poop! While we were making anatomically correct gingerbread people just before Christmas, we made a piece of gingerbread poop.