The more authority a person has, the greater the impact of his or her passing by. Young singers tossed into huge fame take a while to realize the consequences of their every act; Bill Gates took a long time before he woke up to his money and began to commit some of it to good…

The following is an excerpt from Harold Pinter’e2’80’99s acceptance speech at the Nobel Prizes, as an illustration of how one can make use of fame: I was present at a meeting at the US embassy in London in the late 1980s. The United States Congress was about to decide whether to give more money to…

There is an interesting discussion about fame in the writing world going on over at the new blog site, Contemporary Nomad (and thanks to the ever-excellent Sarah Weinman at Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind for bringing the site to my attention.) I’e2’80’99m comfortable with my own mild level of fame. I get recognized at conventions,…

Okay, so I’e2’80’99m 53 years old and just the other day realized why garbanzo beans are also known as ‘e2’80’9cchickpeas.’e2’80’9d I was picking over some French lentils and found this larger pale object nestled among the dark green dots, and suddenly noticed that it is precisely the shape of a neatly tucked-together chicken ready for…

Thank you Chris, and Mr or Ms Bookworm, for remindimg me that I’d asked for feedback concerning the comment. I thought Chris’s remarks referred to my post, not my comment on the comment on the post, which now has a post of its own to comment on…. I really shouldn’t do this before I have…

I’e2’80’99ve only been doing this blogging thing since February, and without a doubt there are niceties of behavior of which I am not aware. However, can I ask for feedback on the following comment: Chris said (concerning my post last week about ARCs) ‘e2’80’9cNot keen on the ‘e2’80’98advert.’e2’80’99 It’e2’80’99s presumptious. Not the done thing to…

I’e2’80’99ve been thinking about ARCs lately, after my publisher very generously upped their order of the things for my own purposes. And then Sarah has been talking about the subject over at the great communal blog Galleycat, too(the Dec 2 posting), prompting this post of mine. ARC, for those not conversant with the ins and…

MURDER ON THE FOUL LINE, a collection of basketball-related short stories edited by Otto Penzler, will be out the first of the year’e2’80’94we’ll put the cover and information onto the web site before too long. In the meantime, here’e2’80’99s what Publishers Weekly has to say about it: Penzler’s choice of contributors is varied and often…

Thanksgiving is one of the two big holidays around the King house (the other being Memorial Day.) My brother and his family come down from Portland, my sister and her husband are parked in the drive in their motor home, my niece and her kid, my nephew and a partner, my mother and this year…

TOUCHSTONE is beginning to prowl around the dark boundaries of my mind, making its presence felt. Considering that I’m supposed to begin writing the thing in six weeks’ time, I suppose that’s a good thing, however, I could wish I had a clearer idea of What It’s About. I know WHO it is about, and…