The mystery of the six-minute hard-boiled eggs

The mystery of the six-minute hard-boiled eggs

“I’d like two six-minute hard-boiled eggs,” I said, enunciating each word carefully. The young man who had assisted me with the very same order the day before nodded, then darted off to the hotel kitchen. Weaving in and out of the crowded breakfast area, I took my...

Giving away the farm

Right now, a lot of my clients and colleagues are confused about the current business environment. Times are hard, what with the quarantine situation, what with lots of people losing their jobs, so should they be trying to sell things right now? Shouldn’t they...
Just be bothered

Just be bothered

I got to thinking about this bike rack I refused to buy because it looked like way too much bother. Anything that requires me to read a user’s manual, well, I I just don’t need it badly enough.  Yet, if I hadn’t been nagged to death to buy the damn...
Beautiful language that says jack shit

Beautiful language that says jack shit

Lately, I’ve had my head in manuscripts just rife with purple prose. Purple prose, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, is writing that’s so extravagant, ornate, or flowery, it breaks the flow and draws excessive attention to itself. Purple prose is...
Talent will get you only so far

Talent will get you only so far

While I was in the States a few years back, I had dinner with my buddy Tim Vandehey, another ghostwriter who lives in Kansas City. Tim knows the publishing industry inside and out. He writes for celebrities and industry leaders and has had a number of his projects hit...