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Diary of a Mad EditorDiary of a Mad EditorThoughts on publishing and the writing life Articles
Gotta Be a Troglodyte If You Don?t Drive on the Electronic Superhighway
2008-06-06 16:34:00 I am equal parts amused/frustrated/angry when I run across a writer and/or editor who refuses to happily embrace the electronic media or does so reluctantly as if it were some kind of voodoo. Yesterday, I received my subscription copy of Free Lunch and was dismayed by Ron Offen’s editorial, “Poetry and the Web I”. ... More About: Rants , Electronic , Drive , Publishing , Gotta
I?m Just Another Clown At the Dog ?N? Pony Show
2008-05-31 17:04:00 I read an interesting essay last year written by poet, Todd Moore in Poesy magazine called, “The Outlaw Poet.” I found myself re-reading it the other day. In it, Moore defines the outlaw poet as one who “opposes the establishment and by standing up against all self-interests of institutions which support academic poetry, the outlaw ... More About: Show , Publishing , Pony , The Last Word , Revision
You Gotta Be Fuckin? Kiddin? Me, Pt. 2
2008-05-20 17:44:00 Yet another “celebrity” has scored a book deal. Myspace tramp, Tila Tequila has just scored a book deal. ????? I’m still trying to figure out what this chick is even famous for. I know she has about a billion friends on MySpace, and she evidently has her own reality show this ... More About: Rants , Books , Current Events , Publishing , Gotta
Poets are Full of Shit ? Especially When They Talk About Writing Poetry
2008-05-09 17:35:00 Here’s the late Charles Bukowski on the subject of poetry: This is some pretty funny shit when you really think about it. I don’t know whether I want to agree with him or denounce and reject him. More About: Poetry , Writing , Talk , Shit , Full
Vote Smart ? Let?s Not Get Bushwacked Again in 2008!
2008-05-06 17:10:00 Bush: Worst Ever, McCain: More War, Answer: OBAMA! As voters consider their choices for the democratic party nominee in North Carolina and Indiana, they might want to consider the past eight years under Bush and who is most likely to flip the script on the disasterous policies that have brought us to this point in history. More About: General , Current Events , Smart , Vote , Assholes
Somebody?s Gotta Do It
2008-04-29 17:43:00 Dear Mr. Erianne: I have recently become the poetry editor of a fledging literary publication and am having a hard time rejecting poets. My publisher has been on my case about it, as I’ve yet to respond to a single submission. The problem is that I don’t think any of the poems I’ve received ... More About: Publishing , Gotta
You Gotta Be Fuckin? Kiddin? Me!
2008-04-24 16:29:00 It seems that another celebrity has secured a six-figure book deal. That’s right — Hannah Montana star, Miley Cyrus, is going to write a book (well, I sincerely doubt she will actually write the book herself but for now we’ll give her the benefit of the doubt). According to Cyrus, she thinks it’s somehow important ... More About: Rants , Books , Current Events , Publishing , Gotta
Do Electronic Books Dream of Android Readers?
2008-04-23 16:30:00 Once upon a time, there was the book. That post-papyrus, bound technological wonder whose very existance is thanks largely to the genius of Guttenburg and made popular over the centuries by many famous and long-forgotten writers. Yes, books had their salad days. Then, thanks to the advent of the Digital Age and ... More About: Books , Electronic , Readers , Current Events , Publishing
Attack of the 800-Pound Amazon
2008-04-10 18:20:00 Got to hand it to Amazon .com — she’s a bitch on wheels! Writers of self-published books done print-on-demand have recently run afoul of Amazon’s new policy of only allowing on-demand books printed through their on-demand service to be sold on their e-tailer site. Phew! That’s a mouthful. Seriously, though — Amazon is ... More About: Books , Current Events , Publishing , Pound
How Can We Talk About Race If We Don?t Talk About Race?
2008-04-09 18:33:00 Just yesterday, I was reading an opinion piece by wellness coach and author, Lynn Capehart about racially neutral writing. In this piece, Capehart makes the point that writers should “support racial equality” by using racially neutral language. In other words, we should give equal weight to a character’s race by refraining from the ... More About: Rants , Current Events , Race , Talk
Oh Yeah? If You Don?t Like it, Sue Me!
2008-04-02 19:34:00 Okay, it’s not really newsworthy at this point, as I am sure many of you are already aware that David Kuzminski of Preditors & Editors fame is defending himself against not one, but two separate libel suits. The first lawsuit was filed on September 20, 2007 in a New Jersey District Court by literary ... More About: Current Events , Publishing , Assholes , The Last Word , Yeah
Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Renowned Science Fiction Author and Futurist, Dead at
2008-03-19 15:43:00 “Somewhere in me is a curiosity sensor. I want to know what’s over the next hill. You know, people can live longer without food than without information. Without information, you’d go crazy.” – Arthur C. Clarke I am saddened, as I’m sure many are, at the news Arthur C. Clarke is dead. Even though ... More About: Science , Books , Fiction , General , Current Events
Short Stories Live Forever ? It?s Only the Writers Who Die Slow, Agonizing
2008-03-13 16:59:00 A week ago, there was this brief posting about the validity of the short story on Mediabistro’s Galleycat which I found rather disturbing. I’m not really sure what I found more disturbing: the assertation from the complainers that the short story is dead because it’s no longer commercially viable or Ron Hogan’s surly ... More About: Stories , Publishing , Short Stories , Live , Writers
I?m John Erianne, Who the Hell Are You? or, Shits ?N? Giggles on Amazon.com
2008-03-10 15:59:00 The other day I solved a mystery of sorts. You may recall an incident I wrote about last year in which some anonymous turd trashed me on Amazon .com. Although, to be honest, I was much more bemused by the incident than angry, I have wondered about the indentity of Maxites D. ever ... More About: Rants , Books , Publishing , John
I Refuse to Accept Your Denunciation of my Rejection of Your Denunciation
2008-02-28 16:57:00 Anyone happen to catch the most recent debate between Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton? Well, if not you didn’t miss much. However, there was one moment in the debate that had me rolling my eyes. Obama was asked to respond to Louis Farrakan’s unsolicited endorsement of his candidacy with respect to how it impacted Obama’s ... More About: General , Current Events , Rejection , Accept
Is it Just Me?
2008-02-20 15:17:00 Is it just me, or is YouTube further evidence that the Apocolypse is upon us? More About: General , Current Events
OO OO Mary Sue, Whatever Are We Going to Do With You?
2008-02-17 15:41:00 For awhile now, Marije, a fan of this blog, has been prodding me to skewer certain writers of fan fiction. I’ve resisted the call to do so — not because I have any respect at all for writers of “fanfic” but because it’s just too easy to poke fun of these pathetic losers. ... More About: Books , Current Events , Publishing , Mary
Oh, Hell No!
2008-02-11 16:28:00 “The primitive white strunk is an abomination . . . “– Mihkel Covey Ah yes, the above quote is from a op-ed piece recently posted on The Outsider Writers website — a piece in which the writer disses with extreme contempt, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style. A writer who dismisses Shrunk and White is akin ... More About: Rants , Assholes , Hell , The Last Word , Revision
Only the Names Change ? the Game Remains the Same
2008-01-30 18:01:00 Recently, there was an interesting albeit fruitless discussion on the Outsider Writers website. The gist of the discussion was what we, as small press people, can do to distinguish ourselves from the Big media conglomerates which dominate the publishing industry. There were a variety of opinions offered — some of which I agree with ... More About: Change , Publishing , Game , The Game , Names
Writing is a Game of Inches Played on a 8 1/2 X 11? Piece of Paper
2008-01-13 16:33:00 Yesterday, while watching the NFL Playoffs and seeing Brett Farve and Tom Brady handily win their respective games, I was reminded of that very cool Owen Wilson catchphrase from that otherwise lame movie You Me & Dupree. You know the one: “Throwing seven different kinds of smoke.” Brett Farve and Tom Brady were ... More About: Writing , Current Events , Game , Paper , Piece
You Can’t Get Up A Hill By Running in Place
2008-01-07 18:30:00 I have this friend. He’s a good friend and a good guy. An Iraqi war veteran and one of the few postal workers I’ve met who actually seems to enjoy his job. Tony likes to read books about writing and talk about writing. Tony is not a writer. He says he ... More About: Running , Place , Hill
Preditors & Editors
2008-01-06 17:04:00 Any of you guys heard of an outfit called Preditors & Editors ? Apparently, it’s some sort of review site. Cindy Rosmus emailed me yesterday about some poll they are running — some kind of popularity contest. Anyway, she tells me I’ve been nominated for best poem for a poem that ran in ...
Personality #9 Went on Holiday and #10 Is On Strike
2008-01-04 18:07:00 “It is almost like you aren?t even the same person. Maybe you?re not. Maybe personality #9 or 10 was at the helm.” — Sydney Elle Testa You know what? Being a small press publisher is a lot like having a split personality disorder. Some writers I deal with imagine I have a staff of magic ... More About: Holiday , Publishing , Strike , Personality
My Mama Don?t Dance and My Daddy Don?t Rock ?n? Roll
2008-01-03 11:05:00 I was raised by a temperamental, thoughtless, trifling man-child of a father and a complaining, overly critical control-freak of a mother. I say this, not to be insulting to my parents because I do actually love them, but simply to acknowledge their influence on me as a human being — and, more to the ... More About: Dance , Rock , Daddy , Publishing , Rock N Roll
Wrapping Up 2007: The 10 Best ?Mad Editor? Blogs of the Year
2007-12-29 22:48:00 Hey there, kiddies! You might’ve noticed the blog has acquired a new look. Well, that’s because it’s been a year of ups and downs — mostly downs and I’m looking forward to a fresh start in 2008. What better way to begin than to say, “Adios, old theme; howdy, new theme.” Hope ... More About: Rants , Blogs , Assholes , Editor , Year
Jesse James Never Did This
2007-12-28 17:40:00 The reading isn’t anything too special. And yet, it’s something of a milestone for a guy who couldn’t even speak clearly just six months ago. My first attempt at a public reading since finishing treatments for oral cancer. It isn’t a feature spot — I just read 4 poems at an open ... More About: Jesse James , Assholes , Jesse , Wannabes , James
We All Know What Happened to Marilyn Chambers Behind the Green Door
2007-12-26 22:18:00 I’m sitting here in the Cumberland County Library writing these words on the brand spanking new Dell Inspiron notebook PC I received from Santa this Christmas. They have a nice, speedy free wireless network at the library and it’s so toasty warm sitting here that I thought, what a great place to write about ... More About: Green , Publishing , Marilyn , Door , Chambers
I Could Write a Country & Western Song Called, ?Blank Stares ?N? Blank Page
2007-12-22 15:10:00 Yesterday, while warming-up before doing my exercises, I was watching a little bit of that game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? What the hell, I thought. I don’t much care for game shows, but I like trivia. I’ll play along for awhile. Well, this guy went out on what ... More About: Books , Country , Song , Current Events , Write
Thinking About Redecorating that Old Writing Space?
2007-12-21 16:41:00 A while back, before I got sick and went broke, I was thinking about fixing up my writing space: buying a new desk, moving things around, etc. Mostly I was thinking about replacing the ratty, old baby puke-green carpet that rests just under my sock feet. This hideous rug came with the space and is ... More About: Space , Writing , General , Thinking
To Split Infinitives is to Infinitely Split My Skull Open
More articles from this author:2007-12-17 15:21:00 Dear Mad Editor, I don’t want to sound stupid (And I’m an English teacher, yet!), but what’s a “split infinitive”? I’m not that good with identifying parts of speech. signed, Newbie English Teacher Dear Newbie, I wish I could tell you I’m shocked, but just listen to any teenager speak and you just know that part of the problem is ... More About: Open , Skull , The Last Word , Split 1, 2, 3 |
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