authors – Page 84 – beckycochrane.com

Greg Herren!!!

Greg Herren, did you ever know that you’re my hero???

Once again, Tim and I have been remiss about going to check the authorial post office box, so tonight on a run to Kroger’s to buy a big fat hen (me) and dog food (Tim), we stopped and…..

YES! Philanthropist Greg Herren answered the call of Sally Struthers on our behalf and shipped us Bar-B-Q Fritos™. If I had a digital camera, I’d take a photo of Tim and me, big smiles, each with our own bag.

Thank you, Greg! Jewels in your crown, karma points–and may all your books be bestsellers. =)

Bart Yates

I just finished reading Bart Yates’s THE BROTHERS BISHOP. Sad, haunting, very well-written, disturbing, and good.

Ethan Mordden

Did somebody ask about Ethan Mordden? St. Martin’s is releasing HOW’S YOUR ROMANCE (Concluding the “Buddies” Cycle) in September 2005.

I really need to get to work

Things that intrigued me before noon today:

My LJ Friends’ entries. (And waiting for an update on R&L’s house closing.)

Meandering through comments on ‘Nathan’s Live Journal and giggling over a discussion of a live web cam that had a Book Crossing book on it.

Meandering through comments on Greg Herren’s Live Journal and finding a sort-of meme from Poppy Z. Brite, who got it from someone else, asking, “What would your Self of 11 years ago think of the Self you are today?”

Any takers on that one?

E-mail from FARB. Rob always makes me laugh. Yesterday I was talking to author Dean James, and we agreed that writers need to share more of their experiences with one another. Definitely over the past few months, other authors have helped me keep some perspective on this profession that is best suited for masochists.

A new book

Thanks to Lisa in Iowa, I just became aware that Bart Yates has a new book coming out. I loved his first book, LEAVE MYSELF BEHIND, so I checked out his site for information on the new novel.

His cover is so close to what Tim had envisioned Alyson doing for us on THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE. When Tim described his vision to me, I said, “Yeah, and they should make it look a little dreamy, with that kind of colorization that was used on Ethan Mordden’s first couple of Buddies books.”

Kensington has done that for Bart Yates on THE BROTHERS BISHOP. When I wrote our editor there and praised the cover, telling him it brought tears (of envy) to my eyes, he said the novel itself brought tears to his eyes because it’s so good.

Congratulations, Bart Yates. I’m not only looking forward to reading your novel, but I love your cover.

Rupert Everett, Eye Feast

One of Tim’s birthday DVDs, recommended to me by Dean James, was a movie called Unconditional Love. It’s a big old sprawling movie that’s silly, funny, sad, and has the daughter-in-law from hell–or is she? Kathy Bates, Dan Akroyd, Jonathan Pryce, a few cameos, and the delicious and talented Rupert Everett (pre-plastic surgery). Anyone else seen this movie?

Admiration and sadness, too

It occurred to me that my last entry makes me sound like Martha Stewart, only without the nifty ankle jewelry. I wasn’t entirely domestic last night. I also read most of and finished Alan Hollinghurst’s novel THE LINE OF BEAUTY.

The book deserves every award and accolade it’s gotten. And it made me deeply sad.

A year, already??

So, The Deal is one year old this month.

I can’t believe twelve months have passed since its release. And then I remember writing two books since then and it seems like a decade.

And even though it’s a year old, it still gives us a little surprise now and then. Mail from a new reader. Possible future plans for it.

Thank you, Timothy J. Lambert, for being such a great writing partner.

And now, looking forward to September.

How To Start A Novel (Not)

1. Write a short story. Three months later, if the characters are still with you, decide to write a novel proposal for your editor.

2. Spend all your time on a different novel proposal for a different editor to give No. 1 more time to germinate.

3. Submit what you’ve done in No. 2 so you can have a higher level of anxiety as you get back to No. 1.

4. Now that you’ve worked yourself into a state of finger-freezing fear, come up with an excellent first sentence for Novel No. 1 in your head.

5. Get a migraine headache for three days that requires large doses of painkillers. You can be sure that you will dream whole passages of Novel No. 1 in between clutching your head, cursing your hormones, and having strange dreams about Rio sending the wrong e-mail to the wrong people.

6. Wake up without a migraine on Day 4. Water the flowers and plants in the front yard. Cook breakfast. Pay bills. Wander aimlessly through the house. Write comments in Famous Author Rob Byrnes’s blog. Update your Live Journal. Do anything but work on No. 1.

Hey, Rhonda!

Get yourself a belated birthday present on June 1, when you can buy the U.S. release of “And Tango Makes Three,” the story of two gay male penguins at Manhattan’s Central Park Zoo who get some help with their desire to have a family. (Authors: Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson)

Penguin love! =)