NaNoWriMo authors beware!

This post from Ann Crispin on Writer Beware is a great point. While I don't believe anyone reading my blog would be silly enough to sign a contract without doing some research about the publisher, I do think it's a great point. Ever since my days as a CRM at B&N, I've been cringing about self-publishing companies which take advantage of writers' frustrations and aspirations. One woman told me she'd paid $10,000 to a publisher to produce a self-published elementary-level handbook for sign language. Don't be that silly. Writer Beware is a great site.

Would you like sour cream with that?

Webdelsol.com features a series of essays called Writers On The Job: Tales of Non-Writing. Even though I've been doing plenty of writing of late, I still find camaraderie in writers discussing what happens when they're away from their desks/cafe tables/zinc bars.

Celia Woloch's piece titled "I'm Really Not a Waitress (Or Am I?)" resonated with the former waitress in me. I, too, have blue-collar roots, child-bearing hips, and -- thanks to years of waitressing -- the ability to gracefully navigate a swinging door with a three-foot tray bearing thirty pounds of food and china. Once I left my last waiting job, I had a real sense of "God, I'll never do THAT again!" but Woloch's piece is a nice bit of nostalgia. It reminds me to appreciate my strength and resourcefulness. Luckily, I have no ex-husband, but in between publications, I could always waitress.