Why an Editor?

You a writer?

You need an editor.

Oh, you're going it alone, you say? Because that's what the indie and self-pub revolution is all about? And, besides, you've read all the how-to books. Don Maas and Stephen King and Anne Lamott; Stein On Writing, and Self-Editing For Fiction Writers. You keep your copy of The First Five Pages and Strunk & White's bible open on your desktop for easy reference. You don't need an editor, right?

Uh, wrong. Unless you want to end up like certain authors embarrassing themselves in public (anyone remember Jaqueline Howett's meltdown from last year?), you need an editor.

Jeannette de Beauvoir, a colleague and friend from the Internet Writing Workshop, is hosting me on her blog today to discuss this issue. Take a stroll over and join the conversation! And don't miss the Write It Sideways post from yesterday on the topic--excellent points there, too.

Hope is Rekindled

I have hope. An article in the LA Times, by John M. Ackerman, bashes Peña Nieto hard. Maybe--just maybe--there's hope for Mexico after all.

Faithless: Short Story Published Today!

Yay! Fiction365 published another story of mine, Faithless. It's their feature today, Monday 21. If you have a moment to take a stroll over and read it--it's short, something like 500 words--I'd be super curious to hear your thoughts.

Perspective on Mexico, Drugs, & Violence

Excellent article on CNN by Ruben Navarrete takes a big-picture look at the drug-related violence in Mexico and who's at fault.

Bill Weldy and the Journey to Publication

For readers not yet in the know, Bill's first book, OUTLAWS, was published yesterday, May 18th. Congratulations, Bill! His journey to publication, spanning over half a century, is an inspiration, and proof that the unexpected does happen.


Welcome, Bill! It's an honor to host you, and to be a part of your critique group in IWW. Thank you for making the time to share your experience with everyone in the Quiet Laughter community. 

The Mexican Tragedy (A Rant)

My poor, poor country. So far from God, so close to... ignorance.

The original saying, voiced by our last (official) dictator Porfirio Díaz somewhere at the turn of the last century, was "so far from God, so close to the United States". Mexico's story has been shaped by the gravitational pull of the US in everything from idiosyncrasies to economics and the unappeasable American hunger for oil.

An award, an award--for ME!

Yes, people--two awesome blogger friends have passed on the Kreativ Blogger award to me, and I'm deeply honored. Touched. Moved beyond tears. Thank you, J.W. Alden and Vero Sicoe, for thinking of Quiet Laughter.

And, by the way, both these bloggers are awesome, so if you're not following them, you're totally missing out.

Indie vs. Traditional Publishing Bullies & Anne R. Allen

Anne R. Allen has a MAGNIFICENT post up on her blog: Indie or Traditional Publishing? Don't Take Sides: Take Your Time. It is a MUST read for writers everywhere--she puts all the squealing and jabbing and screaming into clear perspective. Please. Go read it now.

The Calm After The Storm

Took me two weeks of blogging vacation after the A-Z Challenge, and I feel like I'm on withdrawal. What a ride April was! And, as hard as keeping up was--the daily posts, returning visits & comments, visiting new blogs--I wish it wasn't over.

This was my first A-Z, and I'll definitely do it again, every year. I'm challenge-driven; I masochistically enjoy setting impossible goals for myself. I honestly expected the A-Z to be harder, to have more trouble keeping up, to find myself slacking mid-month. What I did not expect was the warm welcome of a community, the hundreds of people that stopped by and, either publicly or privately, shared their own thoughts and experiences with me. I did not expect the interaction to feel so real, in spite of physical distance, of only cyber-contact.