Dog essays + martinis + you = fabulous

In case you missed it, that book Plus One and I are in came out at the beginning of this month, and with the help of a certain AbFABB, we’re planning a reading. Yes, in public, even! If you’re in town, join us at Van Goghz Martini Bar & Bistro at 7 p.m. on Thursday, [...]

Quotable

“We live at the corner of Crack and Ho.”
–said by the Plus One (for whom I’m most thankful) while enjoying an after-dinner beverage and awesome desserts chez AbFABB on Thanksgiving

Targeted marketing gone a little off target

This has nothing to do with anything, except that I used to work in marketing, and so I was kind of amused when this:

arrived addressed to me:

This just proves that any marketing effort is only as good as your mailing list. This also shows why so many direct mail campaigns only have a response rate [...]

Friday/Saturday word count

NOVEL WORD COUNT: 25,826
Last week: 24,286
Written this week: 1,540
Not as much as I would like, but it gets me closer to—well, something.

Geraldine Brooks on writing, George Clinton on funk

“I can always write. Sometimes, to be sure, what I write is crap, but it’s words on the page and therefore it is something to work with.”
Or, as I say, let it suck.
NPR is sharing writers’ thoughts on how they approach creating a novel in honor of National Novel Writing Month. I stumbled across the [...]

Friday word count

NOVEL WORD COUNT: 24,286
Last week: 22,325
Written this week: 1,961
For some reason, I’ve been writing lately in the little 3-by-5 notebook I use to keep track of my workouts. I think I like the part where I get to flip pages very quickly. “Look, I’ve written five whole pages in just ten minutes!”

Unsightly flab

For once, I’m not referring to my stubborn love handles or the monkey mug of our commander-in-(mis)chief. I’m referring to the book (the one that Bob keeps pestering me about my word count—this is a reminder I appreciate, but to turn around and say he’s aiming for 2,000 a day just smacks of rubbing it [...]

Still not ready to make nice

This week the St. Louis International Film Festival is continuing, and there are so many good options, it’s hard to pick what I want to go to. We saw “Shut Up and Sing” on Saturday, and when it opens where you live, believe me that it’s worth the price of admission just to see Natalie [...]

Friday word count, or why I really don’t suck

NOVEL WORD COUNT: 22,325
Last week: 22,018
Written this week: Please don’t make me do the math
Of course, I have an explanation.
I’ve been working on revising a story for the St. Louis Writers Guild’s James Nash fiction contest. The postmark deadline, as it happens, was today, so all week I’ve been revising the story I wanted to [...]

Bail bond haiku

There’s a story behind this.
When the Plus One and I were visiting my friend Holly a couple months ago, she gave me a key lanyard embroidered with the company name “Big Boys Bail Bonds.” Sadly, I can’t hang it from my rearview mirror, because it would bang against my viewscreen. (Have I mentioned that I [...]