I’ve always been fascinated by those personal experience pieces in which folks report that their lives have been rejuvenated by the simple act of unplugging their mobile phones. The idea of replacing endless texts, emails, and Facebook messages with face-to-face interactions, not to mention eliminating interruptions while writing, is so appealing to me. The problem…
Read MoreBeing older than dirt, I actually remember enterprising door-to-door salesmen pushing vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias. They were invariably cheerful and perseverant folks who brushed off the inevitable “no thanks” they got along the way to making a sale. All I can say is I would have made a terrible salesperson. Take the other day, for…
Read MoreA college professor I had years ago pointed out that there was no such thing as pure altruism or purely altruistic folks. “What about Mother Theresa?” I asked. “She enjoyed the appreciation and adulation of millions for her sacrificial behavior, not to mention the comfort of feeling she was doing God’s work,” he replied. I’m…
Read MoreAs any writer who traditionally publishes can tell you, the hardest thing to do is to wait… and wait… and wait some more for news about whether any of the publishers or agents you’ve queried accepts your submission. Recently I had a particularly frustrating experience with the founder and chief acquisition editor of a small…
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