I thought it was a hangover, but now I’m not so sure. Not likely that a mere two glasses of wine would remove the top of my skull and invite abuse from a line of Celtic dancers. I’m starting to suspect that I’m in the grip of some kind of allergy headache.  Not responding to […]

The sweet spot in a writer’s life: The time between the first queries going out and the first rejection winging back. File this where you will: As I was typing the previous sentence, a rejection popped into my mailbox. There ya go. First dent in the door of the new car. Should be an insane […]

After my bitchfest in yesterday’s post, I dusted off my eight-year-old source file for The Critique Group Manifesto. My goal was to review what I had written, cut a lot of the blabber fat, and add a new chapter about dealing with a new generation of common crit group issues and problem people. (Which is […]

I’m in a quandary. My Critique Group skews a bit older. Five tough birds and me. If you crack open Powell’s Catalog of Ornithology, you’ll find my picture next to the description of the Great Midwestern Snark. I’m not an easy critter either. The unwritten rule of a manuscript critique is that you begin and […]

Glorious weekend at Chez Scotsman. Weatherwise. The World’s Greatest Mother-in-Law doesn’t think much of it. Her homebuyer backed out of their contract. Which leads me to ask (repeatedly), “You can do that?” Apparently. Our day trip to hang with the father of My Beautiful Wife at his house-under-construction went well enough. He lives in a […]