The Life and Times of a Navy Husband

The New York Times ten best list is out. I was incredulous when I saw Special Topics in Calamity Physics on the list.
You may recall my distaste.

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I have posted previously about the apparent absence of editors.
Mr. Purcell has noticed this, as well.

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I sent out a couple more e-queries last night. I did so while watching Triumph of the Will, which infer from that what you will.
(That film is one everyone should eventually see. Especially if you’re a Starwars buff — absolutely if, like me, Empire is your series favorite.)

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(Let’s pause to notice how strange it looks to end the above headline with a lower-case preposition.)
When I arrived in Newport this past July it was eight o’clock in the morning and still quiet. It was a weekday. The only people around were on their way to work, getting a cup of coffee, or out [...]

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David Louis Edelman blogs about his promotional efforts for his book Infoquake.
It’s an interesting look at how much of the publishing/marketing machine now depends on authors having a ‘do-it-yourself’ attitude. (Some agents suggest authors pay freelance editors prior to submission.)
(Via Galley Cat)

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GO BLUE!

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A couple weeks ago we saw a large dog run across the busy street off which I work, part husky, from the look of it (we thought it was a coyote at first, but that’s another story). It was dusk. The dog just trotted around the Applebee’s parking lot, then disappeared.
This morning, we saw the [...]

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Here’s a draft of a query to an agent who asks for a paragraph about the writer. The part I revamped is the second paragraph. What do you think? My old query letter can be found here.
Dear Mr. _____,
I am a twenty-eight-year-old University of Michigan graduate. I currently live in Rhode Island with my [...]

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I’ve been combing the submissions guidelines on several agents’ pages, and I have some questions.
1. Who’s to blame?
a. Agents who don’t really like writers?
b. Clueless writers?
c. The Man?
Perhaps I should explain. Many agents’ pages begin with a volley of statements designed to deflate authors’ expectations: “We receive a tremendous amount of queries”; “______ is an [...]

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I hate upgrading WordPress. Back up this, back up that. Download this, extract, upload, and cross your fingers.
And, behold, it worked! It’s like Magic.
Now we can get back to business as usual.

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