The Capital Weekly newspaper in Augusta has a longish profile of me in today's edition. As a journalist, I've found being interviewed for my book to be an interesting (and probably healthy) experience. When you're a reporter, you listen for good quotes and try to make sense of everything you're hearing, and then you aim to translate the essence of your interview into print. When you're the subject of a profile, you realize how much gets lost in translation.
Slow News Day
When I'm not writing novels I spend most of my time editing magazines. On days like today I'm glad not to be a daily journalist trying to cover breaking news. Let's see: Senator Robert Byrd dies, which has the unforeseen effect of endangering financial reform, just as the death of Ted Kennedy seemed to doom health care reform; the Elena Kagan hearings begin; the Supreme Court rules that cities can't restrict handgun ownership while it upholds the power of the government to regulate the accounting industry and agrees to hear a challenge to Arizona's notorious new immigration law. Plus the Netherlands (my sentimental favorite of the remaining teams) eliminates Slovakia from World Cup contention. And it's only just past noon.