An old enemy just came by with a third bride who was also smart and kind. He displayed her like an FFA ribbon-winner. He rubbed my head like a cultural bauble. When she showed an interest in writing, he asked how much guys like me were getting for things like BEAUTY these days. I told him the movie and the new two-book contract and the rest, a bit over two million. Sometimes you lie.
Aging female protagonist, capable and ambitious and hopeful of even physical love. Nobody wants her. An everlasting assumption of editorial acquisitions policy. Weldon in the Times advises aging women among her students, women who write protagonists like themselves – it … Continue reading
And what about women? Here’s one in her mid-fifties, not a beauty but she’s got skills and wants to use them. And although she’s learned how to be lonely, she wants love and the sex that comes with. If you’re … Continue reading
Word of mouth is the critical element. How to drive it has changed. The Times doesn’t. Standing bookstores haven’t for years. Readings, except for stars or locals, do not excite. It’s social media, online reviews, Skype to book clubs. BEAUTY … Continue reading
Fred Lonsdale asks if BEAUTY will have readings. Not many. One in Gloucester, the town by another name where BEAUTY happens. Another in Cambridge. Then with luck, local media will connect the book to the death of New England fisheries … Continue reading
Every writer has a few readers who give feedback on drafts. Over a decade, BEAUTY went through a lot of drafts and severely tested those readers, not to mention more editors than now survive in the industry. Eventually, thankfully, the … Continue reading
Less than two weeks until BEAUTY launches, and the world waits with baited breath. For sure the landlord does. He’s at the end of the driveway now, rifling the incoming mail for checks.
As a corporate “undertaker” for a mergers and acquisitions firm in New York, Carol MacLean travels from factory to factor, firing blue-collar workers who remind her of her father and the kids she grew up with. She hates her job. But Carol has been biding her time: her boss has promised that one day, after she has paid her dues, Carol will get to run a company instead of having to bury it. Continue reading