The Writing Life Too

NEWS FLASH: I was just out walking a bit. It's almost twilight here with a bank of low-hanging clouds pulling into town overtaking the sky, everything sort of hazy with deep greens bleeding into each other and roses blooming everywhere. Things sort of still and mysterious, yet people still gardening, kids skateboarding, birds twittering. The ballgame at the middle school was ending and a coach took the time to walk a kid to his mom's car and tell her what a great game he played. Went into detail about his moves in the outfield, his times at bat. It was one of the sweetest conversations I've eavesdropped on lately.(I was forced to slow down a smidge.) You hear so much about kids' sports being ruined by adults...this guy was stellar.

But anyway, with one thing or other, I forgot to pick up my mail today and when I returned home found a letter from Zachary Petit the managing editor of Writer's Digest magazine and a copy of the July/August issue. They're running an excerpt from Between the Lines in it about pacing (page 73). Earlier today I was at the Willamette Writers office to have lunch with Bill Johnson, writer and office manager. They're getting ready for their annual conference and the place was humming with the business of helping writers. The conference is from August 7-9 and I'll be teaching 2 workshops there. As I was waiting for Bill to get off the phone I was thumbing through the previous issue of WD, noticing how they've revamped the format and that it is again filled with meaty and helpful articles for writers. So thanks and kudos to Writer's Digest magazine. Besides my article, I'd suggest you check out Your Publishing Survival Guide by Patricia Holt and Hindsight's 20/20 where published authors talk about what they wish they'd known about the publishing process.