Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Blowhards --

It seems to me that the cheeriest and most enterpreneurial of the book-blogs is Kevin Holtberry's Collected Miscellany. The CM posse -- Kevin, David, Phil and Jeff -- are nothing if not devoted readers and book-lovers, and their reviews and tips reflect a lot of brainy experience and sensible thinking.

Energy, too: Kevin and the boyz publish q&a's, for instance -- and they're open-minded and down-to-earth enough to recognize that the book-thang ain't just about the writers. Check out this talk with Kelly Hughes, who works in p-r; or this one with that dynamo M.J. Rose, who began as an ad-gal, self-published a novel or two, and who has turned herself -- willed herself, really -- into a successful author. Forget the English-major baloney; this is the way the book-making process works. I also can't help linking to Kevin's excellent two-parter with W. Wesley McDonald, the author of a biography of Russell Kirk. Kirk was a major -- perhaps the major -- figure in American conservatism, and Kevin's interview is very informative about this influential figure.

At the moment, Collected Miscellany is even sponsoring a short-story-writing contest. Dogs are the subject, and 800 words is the maximum length -- now that's a short short story. We don't see enough of those, IMHO.

Best,

Michael