Derek Jeter and Writing

Last Friday night, Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig's record for most hits by a Yankee--a record that had been unbroken for more than seventy years.

Jeter is the classiest guy to play for the Yankees--or any other team--in my lifetime. He's not a braggart or a trash-talker. He works hard, keeps his mouth shut, and focuses on his job.

And, yes, he's talented. But that's not what makes him successful. What makes him successful is his uncompromising commitment to the game; more specifically, his ability to play the game. He doesn't practice only when he's in the mood. He doesn't wait for "inspiration" before stepping into the batter's box. He doesn't take a day off during the season because, well, he's been playing a lot of ball and has "earned" a day off.

When it's time to practice, he practices. When it's time to play, he plays. He does not allow himself to get distracted from that valuable, irrecoverable time by... er.... blogging.

Book Readings, Signings, and Courage

I admit it: I love getting authors to sign their books for me. (I once breached the curtain between the coach and first class sections of an airplane to get Tom Wolfe's autograph.) I also attend readings when I can. I find these events motivating.

Last Wednesday was one of the more inspirational I've attended in a while. Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor, were reading from their just-released book, "Traveling with Pomegranates." During the reading, mother and daughter talked about the courage it takes to write. I've heard that many times, but somehow I always felt that writing--fiction, anyway--was more about narcissism than courage. But listening to Sue talk about the leap she made from nonfiction to fiction and Ann discuss her very understandable fear of trying to become a writer in the wake of her mother's huge success... well, some writers definitely are courageous. These two most definitely are.

And, yes, I got BOTH of their autographs.

Just Buy It

My friend Kevin Pilkington has just had another collection of his poetry published.

Buy it.

Click here.

Good Thing She Didn't Hate It

I've just completed revising the manuscript for my novel, Bill Warrington's Last Chance, based on line-by-line edits suggested by my peerless editor, Liz Van Hoose of Viking/Penguin.

During the process, Liz kept telling me how much she "loved" the work I'd done.

Really?

See all the pretty green on the page to the left? That's an actual page from the manuscript, with Liz's line edits. My manuscript is 300 pages. This is one of the reasons I haven't posted for two weeks.

Fortunately, not every page was this, um, busy. But every page was proof that every writer needs an editor. I lucked out with mine.

Here's Why

A lot of people ask me why there's a year's gap between acceptance of a book and the actual release of said book. My strategy is to mumble something about marketing and strategy, and hope to hell there are no follow-up questions. But thanks to this, all is revealed.