Bad Beats

Fri, Dec 4 2009 05:06 PM | Craft of Writing | Permalink

A few nights ago I attended an author reading at Full Circle Books, the venerable and excellent indie bookstore here in Oklahoma City. The author was Hank Stuever, a Pulitzer-nominated journalist from the Washington Post whose new non-fiction book, TINSEL – about Christmas in the heart of 21st-century America (Frisco, Texas!) – is getting great reviews and making year-end best-of lists.

Adequate Sex

Tue, Oct 20 2009 06:05 PM | Craft of Writing | Permalink

My copy editor for GUTSHOT STRAIGHT is a woman named Maureen Sugden, who is smart, hilarious, and ruthless. Every single thing I deserved to be busted on, she busted me on. And she did this busting in such an artful, good-cop/bad-cop way that while I felt ashamed of my mistakes, I also felt immense relief that Maureen had protected me from them, and from myself.

Little Did He Know...

Mon, Sep 21 2009 03:17 PM | Craft of Writing | Permalink

As a fiction writer/screenwriter, I spend much of my day making stuff up (my wife uses a less polite, more colorful metaphor for this activity).