I’m fascinated by beginnings. That is, the first words that fall into a reader’s brain when she opens up a book. Not all stories have evocative openings. I was bemused to find that some of my favorite novelists do not, … Continue reading
This is the second article in my series on Becoming a Professional Amateur — by which I mean simply that if you’re going to write and you’re a lover of writing (literally an amateur), you might as well be professional about … Continue reading
Funny story. As I detailed in my last Confession, I dodged a wild bullet about two years ago, when a dear friend and collaborator referred a gentleman to me who had a book he wanted ghostwritten. Long story short, a combination … Continue reading
This is a true story. The names and titles have been changed to protect the guilty. A longtime collaborator and friend, whose movie script I was novelizing, referred a client to me. ”He approached me to do this,” he said, … Continue reading
I recently read a column in CodeLikeaGirl (on Medium) in which Kira Leigh eloquently expressed the sheer scariness of pursuing a career as a freelancer. I was compelled to respond because while Kira is fairly new at freelancing, I’ve been … Continue reading
I recently had to exorcise, er, fire a client. One I’d been working with for years. I have written three complete novels for this fellow, rewritten a fourth and outlined a fifth. The novel we were working on when we … Continue reading
My favorite clients are the ones that ask questions, because it means they’re curious enough about the process of writing that they want to understand it. Those questions may be specific: ”On page 50 of my manuscript, why did you … Continue reading
A client for my ghostwriting and editing services—I shall call him Rocky—once asked me what essential things a writer must do to lay the foundations for a writing career. He wasn’t asking about the writing itself, he explained, but about … Continue reading
My first gig as a ghostwriter came about in 2005, within a week of my entire software team being laid off. I was furious on behalf of my staff, who had expected to be rewarded for the bang-up job they … Continue reading
I’ve never sat down and counted all of my ghostwriting/editing clients. Every once in a while, when I go in to clean up my file folders, I realize that I’ve had more than I thought and that I’ve actually forgotten … Continue reading
