Eliot Spitzer and the Science of Forgetting

I'm at the beach writing this week, but I'm due for a post and a blog post is writing, too, right?

The April 27, 2009 issue of Newsweek had a cover story on Eliot Spitzer called "The Confessions of Eliot Spitzer" and right above his picture on the cover, it says "How Could I?" The story is basically "A Year Later" type of piece.

I'm always interested in the stories about Spitzer and others like him, because they highlight the same question I tried to explore in my novel, TELL NO LIES: Why does a guy who "has everything" do something to screw it all up? What motivates him? The answers are different for everyone, of course, including for Jack, my main character, but I think there are certain traits they share in addition to the specific motivations they might have. There's a great sentence in Jon Meacham's "The Editor's Desk" piece at the front of the issue: "The route between political ambition and sexual hunger is among the shortest in human experience." It's also one of the most fascinating, I think, which is why authors write books about it and news magazines print cover stories about it, over and over again.

Interestingly enough, that same issue of Newsweek had a health article about "the science of forgetting." Why do I say "interestingly enough"? My second novel (tentatively titled HOW TO SAVE A LIFE), which will be out early next year, has a major plot line that relates to deleting traumatic memories from the brain. I don't want to say more lest I give too much away, but I'm starting to feel like someone at Newsweek is looking over my shoulder as I write . . .

Lessons Learned, from a Debut Novelist

I've written about Laura Benedict before, and if you look to the left, you'll see her first novel, Isabella Moon, is on my list of books recently read. Her second novel, Calling Mr. Lonely Hearts, above, goes on sale this January, and I can't wait to read it. I instantly liked Laura the first time I read her blog, Notes From the Handbasket, and my initial instincts about her were confirmed when I met her in person at Thrillerfest. She's down to earth and a warm, generous person. She has a wonderful way of expressing certain thoughts about writing and publishing -- very honest and open about the process and the business -- and I find myself screaming "Yes! Yes!" at my computer screen when I read some of her blog posts.

Laura recently guest-blogged at the Fantasy Debut blog about her first year as a published author, and I encourage all writers -- especially those who are unpublished or those who have a contract but whose release date is sometime in the future -- to read what she has to say. These are things to keep in the "Things I wish I'd known" file. It's also a great article for readers and fans who wonder what it's really like to be a first time author . . . :-)

Aspiring Writers, NanoWrimo Starts November 1st!

What's NanoWrimo, you ask?

It stands for National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 175 page (50,000 word) novel between November 1 and November 30.

Learn all about it at http://www.nanowrimo.org/.

I participated in 2005 and 2006, and though I didn't finish by the deadline during either year -- it sure kick-started my writing! I've decided to do it this year as a way to start working regularly on my third novel.

Give it a try, and good luck!