Tag: St. Martin’s Press

2016 hobbles in. Or, more accurately, I hobble in to 2016. Late last night, walking the dog after midnight, I started scrolling on my phone in the dark to see how people were celebrating the new year on Facebook, and twisted my ankle on a rut in the road. It was an apt admonishment to begin the year: be mindful. Be aware. Or you might make a misstep.

Less than a week to go before the book hits the shelves, and I’m up at 5:20, ruminating… …Last night the heavy shelves above our desk in the study collapsed, bringing down with it all manner of folders, notebooks and small work-related tchotchkes. The iMac hurtled to the ground, knocked down by the lamp above. […]

I get to bring both my superpowers together next month, when I head into the booth and record the audio version of Still Life Las Vegas! Woo hoo! Summer’s just started, and many things are a’brewin’…

Forget about Jurassic Park and Star Wars and Transformers 28: When Toasters Revolt; the trailer of the summer is here: Mine! Yes, the trailer for Still Life Las Vegas, the one I worked on with Peter Hastings, where acclaimed Accordion Diva Gee Rabe dressed up and played for sweet music for us, has been officially introduced via St. […]

On a previous adventure in publishing, I wrote about the cover designer  Young Lin from St. Martin’s Press, who created a cover I would want my book to be judged by.  But what about inside the book? Who’s responsible for what that looks like? A month ago, I would have guessed— well, I wouldn’t have […]

A few weeks ago, I received a rather large packet in the mail: My manuscript! But covered in strange markings, done in mauve pencil. This, my friends, was the copy edited copy of Still Life Las Vegas, ready for perusal. A bit daunting at first glance, this document was nonetheless exhilarating to look at. After […]

IT’S HERE. When I first opened the email attachment that had the possible cover of “Still Life Las Vegas” in it, I gasped and slammed my computer shut. It was nothing that I expected: there was so many images, so much color, and it was oddly… Perfect.  I’ve never met Young Lim, the designer at […]

“It always starts with a blue Volvo, driving away.”  —Still Life Las Vegas In some ways, my book must be a big pain in the ass for my publishers. I mean, they bought a novel, but it’s not just a straight up novel. There’s narrative art in it as well (the twenty-buck term for cartoons). […]

A week on the East Coast. One last hurrah before the blessed regularity of school kicks in. Four moves in six days. Beds of varying comfort. Uniformly good showers (except the one at that hotel where the water was perpetually tepid). These are the ways older folks measure their vacations. First stop: Rhinecliff, in upstate […]