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Showing posts from July, 2013

The lost art of anticpation.

Have you ever wondered why some memories are just burned into your head, and why others--perhaps those attached to more significant events in your life--get lost in the neurosynaptic shuffle (and, yes, I made that term up, but I kind of like it.) For instance, I have very few memories of my graduation from grammar school, and yet I have almost visceral recollection of an event that took place the following summer, an event that will seem very mundane to many of you. I was fourteen-years-old and an avid reader of comic books and similar magazines for boys. My favorite part of these was the small ads in the back hawking all kind of things that a boy my age might want--like a model airplane with a real Cox engine. I can still feel how badly I wanted that plane. When I spoke to my father about it, he shared my enthusiasm for it. "Best get going earning some money," he said. So I put a sign up looking for work, lawns, raking, weeding, stacking wood, whatever. I remember being ve

How to succeed at failing. (From somewhat of an expert in the field!)

We live in a success oriented culture. If you don't think this is true, consider the case of Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) of the New York Yankees. When A-Rod was leading the Yankees to one pennant after the next, no one seemed to care that A-Rod was using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. But when A-Rod started to struggle (after he was forced to play without PED) he became the pariah he is today. Lesson to the young people in the world: As long as you are successful, the methods you used to become successful don't matter. And the converse: if you are not successful, you will be rigorously cross-examined and then cast aside. By way of a second example, here is just one paragraph of what I found on the net when I googled the issue: (from Total Pro Sports)    The Caltech Beavers men’s basketball team (NCAA Div. III) hold the longest losing streak in NCAA history. Spanning 207 games and 11 years, the team went from 1996 to 2007 without a win. Their in-conference losin

PeterHogenkampWrites: Book review: Saving Laura by Jim Satterfield

PeterHogenkampWrites: Book review: Saving Laura by Jim Satterfield : If you are, like me, on the lookout for a fresh voice in the thriller genre, clear out your schedule for a few days and ...

Book review: Saving Laura by Jim Satterfield

If you are, like me, on the lookout for a fresh voice in the thriller genre, clear out your schedule for a few days and pick up a copy of Jim Satterfield’s Saving Laura . Set in Wyoming and Colorado—a region Satterfield knows like his backyard— Saving Laura is the tale of a young man willing to risk everything to save the girl he loves from an unscrupulous drug dealer. It is a common theme, yes, but Satterfield does it with uncommon style: in the smooth and easy prose that flows like the waters of the Roaring Fork River, in the characters as real as the Rockies themselves, and in the use of the setting—described beautifully—as a character unto itself. So well does Satterfield know the terrain and understand its denizens, that the reader is much like a movie-goer, watching the story unfold amid the snow-tinged peaks and aspen-covered hills. But there is more to Saving Laura than beautiful scenery, much more. In classic thriller fashion, there is never really an

A candid interview with literary agent Liz Kracht of Kimberley Cameron & Associates

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 It is my great pleasure today to bring you an interview with my literary agent, Liz Kracht of Kimberley Cameron & Associates. I want to keep my introductory remarks brief--because you all have heard much from me before and you are reading this because you want to hear from Liz--but suffice it to say that Liz is an author's literary agent (kind of like a player's manager in baseball): approachable, witty, realistic yet hopeful (tough combo in this gig), loyal (let me stress how important this is), and reliable. Enjoy the interview.  Peter Hogenkamp (PH): What is the biggest misperception today about writers and/or publishing? Elizabeth Kracht (EK):   I think one of the biggest misperceptions I’ve seen—concerning both writers and publishing, plus media coverage—is around highly publicized “overnight” success stories. I don’t believe there are overnight success stories. I think we like to believe there are, because it gives hope and feeds our fantasy life, and ca