rock bottom remainders | rock bottom remainders
May.07.2009
Mark Tauber, publisher at HarperOne, called my attention to an extremely interesting book the other day. (To protect Mark’s identity, henceforth I will call him “Mark T.”) The book is Grey Aliens and the Harvesting of Souls: The Conspiracy to Genetically Tamper with Humanity and is being published...
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May.06.2009
San Francisco—[A note from Sam: This blog has strayed somewhat from its original purpose of bringing you the most important news of the day, so today I am straying back.] A girl was injured at the corner of 14th Avenue and Santiago yesterday while attempting to jump over a bush. According to Steve...
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Apr.30.2009
Anyone who has ever walked into a recording studio knows that there are ever-increasing choices available for processing sound: EQ, compression, reverb, etc. And if you want to sound knowledgable in a recording studio you can say stuff like "I think you should roll a little off the bass"...
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Apr.29.2009
I work in publishing. I also write a column called the Author Enablers in BookPage (www.bookpage.com) with author and international spy Kathi Kamen Goldmark in which we attempt to educate and encourage writers. Most of the people who write us are great, but there are those who are angry that their...
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Apr.28.2009
I'm almost finished with a new novel, based loosely on my first. In the process of sharing the manuscript with some trusted reader-advisers, I sent it to a dear friend who happens to be a literary agent. Her critique boiled down to the fact that she loved my writing, but thought the book would...
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Apr.27.2009
The other day I was giving a harmonica lesson and twice in the course of one forty-five minute lesson the phone rang. “Hello,” I said, and there was that weird pause, followed by a slightly inhuman voice that means only one thing: robo-call. The Voice wanted to sell me a new mortgage on my house. I...
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Apr.26.2009
When I entered the third shop in a row and was immediately pointed towards the Mother-of-the-Bride section by a snooty, skinny blonde, I decided I'd had enough. My brilliant friend (and noted author) Rabih Alameddine introduced me to Robert Berry, his dress-designer pal. Robert stole my heart with...
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Apr.26.2009
Readers have expressed a lot of concern about my virtual son Keaton, whose existence I learned of when the human resources department of HarperCollins informed me he had been added to my insurance. Keaton has been missing and Jim Seybert, who is a “consultant,” recently asked me if he had turned up...
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Apr.25.2009
April 25, San Francisco: The pigeons have capitulated. I repeat: the pigeons have capitulated. As has been diligently reported here, our house has been under siege by a pigeon couple who wanted to build their nest o’ love in the light well outside our kitchen. On Thursday, April 24, 2009, a date...
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Apr.24.2009
One of the books we publish where I work is the Bible, aka the Good Book, the Message, the Word, etc. I work for Rupert Murdoch, so there is no doubt about why we are publishing the Bible—to make money. The Bible also has something to do with religion, I know, but faith is not really what we are...
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