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My first tour stop in 2008 will be the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore, where I'll be a part of the fifth-annual CityLit Project. The event is free to both the public and exhibitors, which is not typical for most book-related events. It's pretty annoying to go to some events where either you have to give up a large percentage of your sales or you have to pay an upfront fee.
For Christmas, I received one of those Page-A-Day calendars to keep on your office desk. Normally, when I have one of those, I pull off about two months' worth at the same time because I completely forget about it. And I still do that for the newest one I own, but this one is a little different. This calendar is full of odd and wacky websites, which of course, is great research for my columns. I'll highlight some of my favorites here, and try to give a little bit of info when necessary.
As a huge fan of baseball, I enjoy reliving the past seasons, teams and players that I may have seen, read or heard at some point in time. Rob Neyer cleverly combines the best and worst of every Major League Baseball team in his "Big Book of Baseball Lineups".
It helps tremendously to have the chance to work with an actual editor with any writing project ... especially a full-length novel. Patrick Coyle provided a lot of great feedback with "Polos to Ties," which is probably one of the main reasons I've received decent feedback so far from literary agencies. I'm still looking for a reasonable deal, though, as finding the right agent isn't always the easiest thing to do.
In the near future, I plan to post the first five chapters of the book, but I'm also waiting a response from a second editor as well.
You'll notice that I haven't been writing much, for a few good reasons. At work, we've been pretty busy, and we just moved into a different office. In my spare time, I've been devoting most of my time sending out book queries and proposals and also working on my girlfriend's school's website.
But let's face it: The important thing happening right now is men's college basketball. Who will win their conference tournaments? Which teams will make it to the Big Dance? What team will win it all?
There are two important links you need at this stage:
This question is easy. Of course, women are smarter. Or wait, maybe it's men. Or maybe it's neither.
If you listen to psychologists Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn, you might think men are more intelligent than women by about five IQ points on average. The study is due to be published in the British Journal of Psychology.
If you're in the technology field, and you feel that every project that you work on is completed close to 38 years late, you are not alone.
Globeandmail.com reported that a market research firm Info-Tech Research Group says 95 percent of IT groups don't deliver their projects on time, at least not to the satisfaction of the client.
Every once in awhile, there's something I cannot find on the Internet. Usually it's either something to do with lists of people's credit card numbers or food, and this item is no exception.
Melissa, a somewhat concerned reader, wondered where a person could purchase a cake that could be jumped out of. I had mentioned a cake like this in a previous column, thinking it was funny, because it never actually happened. I guess I didn't understand at the time the repercussions this could have.
One of my friends sent me a link the other day to a site that claimed to plant trees while using its search engine. The Ecoogler seems like a good idea, and a worthy cause, but it takes just a few minutes to realize that maybe it's not.
Traveling to new countries is a great opportunity to see customs and cultures that you may not find in your own backyard. While it can be an exhilarating experience, it can also turn into a problem when not properly prepared for the journey. To make sure you have everything you need, I would suggest reading "Healthy Travel: Don't Travel Without It!" by Michael P.