My train tour starts this Friday, and I won’t be back to Birmingham until … Sunday. It’s not because the trip is that short (the trip from New Orleans to New York on Amtrak is many things, but short isn’t one of them). It’s because geography (and Amtrak, I guess) […]
I have a love-hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. I think it’s fun to have a day to eat candy, give little cards to friends, and not worry about red and pink clashing. But the heavy pressure on making Valentine’s Day THE indicator of your romantic relationship seems a little bit […]
This morning, I’m eating breakfast at Trattoria Centrale — and I’m not going to Instagram it. That feels kinda weird, because for the month of January, I’ve been making sharing about the businesses I visit a priority. I started Thirty Days of Local Praise on January 1, and since then […]
When I think of warehouses, I normally think of cookie-cutter, homogenized products that ship out to big box stores — but at Huntsville’s Lowe Mill, the warehouse has been reclaimed and repurposed by painters, architects, craftspeople and other artists. The result is a group of people who work side-by-side to […]
It’s Thanksgiving week, and that means the holiday season is really kicking into gear. A lot of people hate that, but I love it — I’m kind of a sucker for holiday traditions, twinkly lights and anything peppermint. But even I know some holiday traditions aren’t so great — like […]
Here’s the best metaphor I can think of for what it’s like to publish a book: It’s like trying to do a craft project on a rollercoaster — you’re scared, the wind’s in your face, the adrenaline is flowing, and at some point you change from being a perfectionist to […]
1. Don’t post when I have nothing to say 2. Don’t post when it makes me feel less human
It’s easy to say numbers don’t matter — but how do you communicate that to a client? Up front, find out what your client is really looking for. Is it more likes? Then definitely use the tools and methods that will get you there. But if your client is really […]
This year, I reviewed not one but two books for BookPage in which technology advances allow the characters to scienfically know if they’re soulmates. (The other was Crosstalk.) Is this part of the zeitgeist now or something? Anyway, I liked The Future for Curious People; I don’t think we were […]
I’ve spent the last few months writing a book! I’m very excited about it, but I’ll need some funding to make it a reality (to pay a designer and editor and to get the book printed). Want to help? Click here to check out my video and donate to The […]
“I’m a 34-year-old man with a house full of puppets,” Jason Segel said to me and a huge group of children’s booksellers at the BEA breakfast this morning, “so it occurred to me that I might feel at home in a room full of people who love children’s books.” Jason […]