A bit of kvelling!
In a blog posted today, my daughter supported (maybe, kinda, sorta…) Sarah Palin. Read it. Comment.
In part, Emily wrote:
[Sarah Palin] spent $150,000 on clothes and other grooming in the last few months. I have to cut the woman slack Continue reading “Daughter Blogs on Huffington Post!”
From the RWA website:
Romance Writers of America proudly sponsors the romance-publishing industry’s highest award of distinction — the RITA Award. RITA awards are presented annually to the best published romance novels of the year. The award itself is a golden statuette named after RWA’s first president, Rita Clay Estrada, and has become the symbol for the best in published romance fiction.
It’s Julia Quinn‘s second RITA Award.
She’s my daughter.
Armadas of publishing house execs, editors, and marketing staffers, agents working and being worked, 500 or so published authors, even more wannabes, and lots of book-toting and book-buying fans converged on SF’s Marriott Hotel for the RWA’s yearly conference.
Romance books account for more than half of all paperback sales in the U.S., and according to Business of Consumer Publishing 2006, net revenue for romance book sales in 2006 from U.S. retail sources accounted for an astonishing $1.37 billion Continue reading “Romance Writers of America Conference — San Francisco, July 2008”
After Doug and I returned home from that first afternoon of delivering eggs with Dad as our unexpected driver and co-deliveryman, we were completely unprepared for his next question: “How much bigger could we make this egg route if we really worked at it?
Doug and I looked at each other. Dad had said “we.”
He had a plan. Continue reading “Eggman — Part 6…The Next Generation”
In the spring of 1961, my parents lost their clothing store. It was not a tragedy. It was the final breath of a pain-wracked patient, the welcome demise of Cotlers’ Men’s & Boys’ Wear. After 15 years of stress and challenge, the crushing uncertainty—will today’s receipts cover the checks written yesterday?—that often caused my father to arise, throw up, and then go to work, was gone at last. Now he had abruptly switched from merchant to used car salesman. He didn’t like the work, but his complexion had gone from gray to pink.
In June, he would finally graduate from high school 30 years after dropping out during the Depression. I had tutored him in chemistry. It was my thrill, and he was an avid student. Continue reading ““Going Out of Business” Haggadah”
When I left for college in 1961, I bequeathed the egg route, then at 160 dozen per week, to my younger brother Doug. He was almost 12. But when I came home for winter break, the route had declined to 100 dozen. It was too much for him to handle…not to mention the strain driving him around put on Mom, who was nine-to-fiving as a offset print worker for the Oxnard school system. There was little I could do to revive Doug’s waning business except cheerlead and chauffeur.
Points of interest on the accompanying chart:
[1] Steve leaves for college; Doug forgets to deliver the following week. Some customers quit.
[2] Doug resumes deliveries, but temporarily misplaces route book. Working from memory, he overlooks some customers. More defections.
[3] Steve comes home in December. Doug is surprisingly pleased to have his older brother back.
[4] Steve reconnects with high school friends; leaves Doug on his own again. Continue reading “Eggman — Part 5…Mergers & Acquisitions”