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Hey everyone! Congratulate me today for being a winner in The Author Show contest, "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading." The prize for winning is this cool red medallion graphic that you see here. Before you start fawning over me, clamoring for my autograph,...

I read the NY Times runaway bestseller Gone Girl last month. There were plenty of other things I could have read. It's not like I've read everything of note, every Murakami book that has been recommended, every Franzen, Eugenides, Eggers, Gaiman, Chabon. I'd like to...

There is a running joke among authors. "Lookout, or I'll write you into one of my stories! Ha ha!" I said it's a joke. But for many authors it's no joke. On October 19, 1998, The Author's Guild held a panel discussion titled "Whose life is it anyway?" There were four...

An excerpt from The Former Hero. With a clamor she burst onto the bright doorstep, one hand across her brow. She strode out to the street and looked one way and then the other. Up and down the sidewalk she saw a long mural of pastel chalk drawings: a winged horse and...

If you are like me and do not have your analytical faculties constantly running full bore, you may have looked at the movie trailer for Lucy and thought to yourself, "Hm. Looks cool. And maybe for once Scarlett Johanssen will have a role where she can show a little...

The young girl sat in the bathroom stall. It was the same stall, the only stall she had ever used since she arrived seven months ago. Even if it was occupied she would wait by the sink and nip nervously at hangnails until the occupant left. Nobody could say they knew...

Our family had the epic vacation last summer. Some people were so impressed they asked for the itinerary. Here it is. We rented a nice, clean minivan. Made a huge difference to have a nice car, and it wasn't wildly expensive. Under $300 I think. Day 1 - Drive from...