My friend and co-worker, Robert Lee Brewer is in a tight race for Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere and he needs your vote. There are just a few hours left to vote for him- so please Vote for Robert!
And easy to enter. Jim McCarthy, one of the good folks over at Dystel and Goderich Literary Management is running a contest right now for the best first line. You can find more details here. The winner gets their full manuscript considered by Jim. Not a bad deal!
-I spoke to a woman who thought we were messing with her account. Apparently, she forgot she actually had to login. Did I mention she was about 2 1/2 sheets to the wind? Seriously, it was 1:00 in the afternoon.
-I also spoke to not one but two different people who were hired by writers to help them find an agent. Hiring an agent to find an agent. Is this a new trend? If it is, it's a bad one. It makes me wonder if these people are lazy or clueless.
To celebrate the one month anniversary of her blog, writer-editor Deborah Halverson is giving away a free edit of a MG or YA manuscript on her blog. You can find details here. Hurry though, the deadline is April 14th. Even if you don't enter her blog is worth checking out!
Cats and writers. The two go together like margaritas and tortilla chips on a Friday night. While you certainly don’t need to have a cat to be a writer, it does make the journey less boring. Lots of famous writers obviously agreed because many of them kept cats as companions.
Raymond Chandler referred to his black Persian cat, Taki, as his secretary and even read his work aloud to her. I wonder how she critiqued his work.
While in Key West, Ernest Hemingway apparently made the acquaintance of a ship captain who had a six-toed cat. It’s said that Hemingway became so enamored of the cat that when the captain was to go back out to sea, he gave Hemingway the cat. The result, a generation of 6-toed cats inhabits the grounds of the Hemingway House in Key West, Florida.
Charles Dicken’s cat sat in his study as he wrote and when she wanted his attention, she would snuff out the candle he used to write by.
When Author/Artist Edward Lear moved to Italy, he constructed an identical house to the one he resided in so that he would not traumatize his beloved cat, Foss.
As for me, I can't imagine writing without my feline friends by my side, or by my computer.
Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons. ~ Robertson Davies
"A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It's a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys.” author Barbara Holland
There's another contest that was announced this week. Editor and rock star Chuck Sambuchino announced a contest on the Guide to Literary Agents blog yesterday. You can get there from here. Good Luck!
Please note that the opinions, musings and any otherwise pithy responses expressed on this blog are my own and do not reflect the thoughts or opinions of either of my employers.
