I’m Glad Mommy Never Did This
Monday, October 13th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »I just came across this clip from "The Martha Stewart Show" and I'm frightened. It's a nine-minute clip (the longest I could watch, after a couple of attempts, was 1:09; I think you get the idea pretty quick -- and ...
Elmore Leonard’s Rules for Writing
Monday, October 13th, 2008 Posted in Greatest Hits, Readings, the writing process | No Comments »As part of a series called "Writers on Writing," published in The New York Times, Elmore Leonard penned a thought-provoking article that first saw print on July 16, 2001. Every once in a while I remember that it exists and ...
Happy Birthday, John Lennon
Thursday, October 9th, 2008 Posted in Music | 1 Comment »Happy birthday, John Lennon. He'd be 68 today, October 9, if only . . . . The way an older generation remembers the exact circumstances when they first learned of John F. Kennedy's death, I remember the time and place when I ...
The Writing Process: Theft (and Tom Chiarella)!
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 Posted in Fun Clips, the writing process | No Comments »I was reading an article in Esquire this morning, "How to Be a Sweet-Talker" by Tom Chiarella. He's a fine writer and I've read his work for several years. I came across this sentence: I spent the great flood lying in ...
Fan Mail Wednesday: #15
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 Posted in Along Came Spider, Fan Mail, the writing process | 3 Comments »Okay, imagine that I'm holding a large cardboard box filled with thousands of paper scraps. I roll up my sleeve, reach in my hand, stir things up a bit, and pull out a note. Wow -- what are the odds? ...
Greg Ruth Strikes Again . . . and Again . . . and Again!
Monday, October 6th, 2008 Posted in A Pirates Guide to First Grade, Happenings | 1 Comment »Greg Ruth is a remarkable illustrator and, from what I can gather, an all-around good guy. He's currently finishing up the illustrations for our upcoming book, scheduled for sometime in 2010, A Pirate's Guide to First Grade (Feiwel & Friends). ...
Deleted Scenes: Six Innings
Friday, October 3rd, 2008 Posted in Six Innings, the writing process | No Comments »During the revision process for Six Innings, I cut more than 10,000 words. It was a very difficult time for me, filled with doubt and uncertainty. But I trusted my wise & experienced editors, Liz Szabla and Jean Feiwel, and ...
Garfield Minus Garfield: Greatest Thing Ever
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 Posted in Readings | 1 Comment »This is genius. Maybe you've already seen it, because as usual I'm a little late to the party, but to me here's this week's "Greatest Thing Ever!" As the website, created by Dan Walsh, explains: "Garfield Minus Garfield is a site ...
Solomon Burke Brings It Home
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 Posted in Music | No Comments »A few friendly readers commented that they enjoyed discovering Mary Gauthier through this blog. So I thought I'd send some love to Solomon Burke, one of our neglected national treasures, an amazing soul singer from the 60's whose career never ...
Fan Mail Wednesday: #14
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 Posted in Fan Mail, Jigsaw Jones | 2 Comments »Holy cow, here's one from Texas: Dear Mr. Preller, We discovered your Jigsaw Jones series at the beginning of summer as part of a Scholastic mystery books collection. At first we were reading 2-3 chapters a day, but it didn't take ...