Barnes and Noble are suffering one of the worst years in their history. Borders is trying to sell. No one is buying. Books A Million is down 9% and one publisher has instructed its staff to buy NO MORE MANUSCRIPTS.
Why is business so bad? It’s bad everywhere. And most of it [...]

So I’m working on a book, and staring at the original portrait of a nude black woman with three faces. It’s a fascinating piece…by jazz aritist Miles Davis. And while I glance around the library with its rolling ladder,vaulted ceiling and wet bar, I see an original self portrait of Vicent [...]

I checked the markets yesterday using my computer. Then I hit refresh and watched them drop. Hit refresh and saw them jump back up. I could have done that all day. And Fox News has every change when it happens. They’re even faster than my computer.
I was in Florida last [...]

Everyone gets a tune in their head that they can’t get rid of. It happens to all of us. But why isn’t it a tune that we like. Or did we like it in the past and then, after it burned into our brain for a day, a week, a month, we [...]

Tony Hillerman walked into a discussion group down in New Mexico several years ago. There were about 12 of us in the room, and Tony took a seat in the back of the place. Our moderator, John Dunning, mentioned Tony and started telling a story about him. It seems that Tony’s first agent [...]

I cancelled my subscription to Men’s Health yesterday. I loved that magazine…funny, informative,brash, helpful tips…but yesterday they splashed Barack Obama’s portrait on the cover. I don’t need my escape magazine to push their agenda in my face.
This past weekend, Comedy Central’s John Stewart spoke before a group of Boston college students and opened [...]

God bless ‘em. This past weekend they were in Detroit at the Great Lakes Booksellers show, and they showed up in droves. I don’t know if it was a better than expected turnout or less than expected, but they were everywhere at the convention. And the publishers showed up as well, with [...]

There’s this list that goes out to all the independent book stores…and there’s a boat-load of them! It used to be called Book Sense, but now its new name is Indie Next Pick. And in October, people like Ian Rankin, Dennis Lehane ( Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone) and Kent Krueger are listed. [...]

So I was on my way home from Judy’s book launch Sunday, and talking to my attorney/good friend/book collector/avid reader, Don Witter, and for some reason he starts on a story about Bob Feller. Now Cleveland people know Bob Feller. I know C.R. was well aware of him and I’m certain Casey and [...]

This week is dedicated to C.R. I am still in shock over the passing of a good friend, a great writer, and a fellow blogger. Please, keep C.R.’s family in your prayers and remember that your past deeds reflect on the present and the future.
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