Publishing Insider

Rick Bragg's magic touch

I worked with Rick on his first book, and even visited his mom's house. Such a good guy. Have fallen out of touch, but saw him listed on the Alabama Book Festival schedule and dropped him an email. Great to be back in touch -- and don't miss his short but very, very sweet and touching piece about his aunt and the roses of Fairhope in Southern Living.

Mark Twain

When I got to St. Louis, I immediately bought a copy of Life on the Mississippi. The river is amazing and I was drawn to it, especially on trips out of town. The flood gates in Cape Girardeau creeped me out a bit, and looking over the river from Hannibal was inspiring. Hannibal was also the stop of an author whose book I edited, and it's coming out April 19: SEEDS, by Richard Horan. He goes on to look for the trees that inspired the likes of Faulkner and Kerouac, Welty and Wharton. It's a wonderful, trippy, funny and poignant book. Check out Rick's quote of the week and book excerpts!

one of the best museums anywhere

The St. Louis Art Museum is a gem in and of itself, but the setting in Forest Park is magical. When you get to St. Louis, get to the bookstores . . . and then to the museum. It's free and full of paintings you have never seen.

one of America's coolest cities

Gonna be writing up all things St. Louis for a bit; you'll see why. First up, a fantastic music venue: the Old Rock House.

naps

I don't see eye-to-eye with Ben Stein about much of anything, but I agree with him about the power of naps. As he said about naps letting us relax and work out our worries, quoting Shakespeare: "Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care . . ."

a sublime view of things in this nuclear age

My favorite new quote -- in fact, it's my Blacberry screen image: "The universe is made of stories, not atoms." - Muriel Rukeyser. I found it on a bronze sidewalk plaque on Library Walk in NYC. Here is a Flickr archive of all the plaques. Thank you, Reid Cooper!!!

guilty pleasures

Ok ok, don't hate me, but i love Classics IV! That guitar strum on Spooky still gets me and I love the horns, and Traces of Love is schmaltzy but still a heartbraking song. 

other publisher pick

Booksellers are buzzing about Say Her Name, by Franciso Goldman, from Grove.

the Yankees future?

Charley Rosen is posting a 3 part look at what NY fans may have missed during the off-season with all the other news, and what is the surprise key to the 2011 Yankees season. Check out this and more at Bullpen Diaries.

Announcing bookseller and librarian essay collection

Well, announcing that i need more essays! The Great Lakes and Pacific Northwest Readers are out; i'd like the Southeast and New England to be next, but i'll consider any quirky, interesting and personal essay about the state you live in now, or grew up in, or lived in.  1500-2500 words; open to my editing. You must be working in a bookstore or library now. No money in this; just glory and fame. AND, I'm considering a national edition of i can't get enough essays for each state for reg'l editions. Let me know if you're interested. The printing of these books is totally subsidized by Delphinium Books, and the books carry a list of indie stores and addresses in the back.