The Renegade Writer Blog

Today both Gawker and GalleyCat have links to a YouTube video of disgraced memoir writer Margaret Seltzer talking about her childhood spent running with (cough) LA’s most brutal gangs. Obviously this was taped before her real-life sister blew the whistle on her. It’s fascinating to watch: the accent, the stories, the emotion — the chutzpah! […]

Late this summer, Linda blogged about her MIL’s experience with AOL. I mentioned in the comment thread about my lousy experience with Cuisinart and their rip-off rebate program for their food processors. I never did get a satisfactory response from them, so when a journalist was looking for rebate horror stories, guess who had a […]

Here’ s the story: My husband’s aunt (his mom’s sister) died in May. While we were in San Antonio for the funeral and taking care of the estate, Eric’s mom, Judy, called AOL to have her sister, Barbara’s, account canceled, explaining that Barbara had passed away. AOL promised to do it and also said they […]

A “writers wanted” ad from the Philadelphia Craigslist:
New Magazine HIRING! — Fri Jul 28
email: o.easter@devinevisionsent.com
Position Type Full-Time Employee or Part Time Company Name: Devine Visions Entertainment Location: Wilmington, Delaware but accepts applicants from all over. (you may work from home) Great Opportunity for College Students! At the moment there’s no monetary compensation till we get […]

Yesterday I received an e-mail from an editor at J. Morgan Magazine inviting me to send articles to his publication. Ah, once again my charm and beauty have attracted work. But wait…the e-mail included lengthy writer guidelines, at the very end of which was:
1. J. Morgan Magazine offers no financial compensation for published articles. Authors […]

Linda told me about fellow writer Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell’s blog post yesterday, where she posted her communications with a Craig’s List advertiser about his ad for a high-paying writing gig, when, in fact, he wanted writers who’d work for free. You know, the glory of exposure and all. His response is, well, as funny as the […]

If you’ve been reading this blog or you know me IRL, you know I’m a sucker for celebrity gossip. One of the sites I regularly visit is dedicated to celebrity babies … 24/7 about kids who wear $400 sweaters and travel on private jets with nannies and bodyguards. I read this mindcandy while my kid […]

Yesterday I saw a post on a Craigslist writing forum:
Friends, tonight I was on a conference call with Steven E. and Lee Beard - the compilers of the best selling “Wake Up - Live The Life You Love” books. I have the opportunity to write a 1000-1200 word short story that will be included in […]

During my morning dose of snark, I learned that our friend Jenna’s site Absolute Write had been shuttered. Seems that one Barbara Bauer took offense being included in a list of the 20 worst literary agents on Absolute Write’s watercooler board.
Check out Bauer’s website here. The author matching form was especially humorous. Yeah, I’m […]

Here’s an excerpt from The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, which is to be published in November:
QUESTION: Should I buy some query writing software to give me an edge?
ANSWER: Hey, we’re all about saving time when it comes to writing queries, so we checked out a Web site that sells “Instant Query Letter Software.” […]