Newsflash: The Ski Patrol Is Not Coming

The trail was 45-minutes long. One of those long, windy black diamond numbers over steep moguls, through unconsolidated snow.  My bindings were acting up.  One turn, two, and my ski would fall off. Walt was getting frustrated.  Down on his hands and knees for the...

R.I.P.

This is a guest post from my friend, Patrick Combs. Patrick Combs. He was one of those chance encounters that changed the course of our lives. Walt had crossed paths with him on Facebook, bought an extra conference ticket from him, and off the relationship went, down...

Be. Here. Now.

When I was a kid, we’d sit as a family at the dining room table for Thanksgiving and my heart would sink at the sight of the kitchen I’d be expected to clean. Potatoes dripping from the mixer blades onto the floor; the cast iron skillet on the stove top, both of them...

Writing talent will only get you so far

While I was in the States last fall, I had dinner with my buddy Tim Vandehey, a ghostwriter who lives in Kansas City. I often refer to Tim those folks who’d like to have a book, but aren’t the least bit interested in doing the associated work. Tim knows the...

I’m a disaster at cocktail parties

Here’s the question I get all the time, the minute I identify myself as a book coach. (Not that there aren’t, like, 1,634 definitions of that job title alone. Me, I’m what you’d call a developmental editor.) Can a person write a book in a weekend?...