NOTHING TO DECLARE BUT "WILDE"NESS

Oscar Wilde, was asked if he had anything to declare when entering the U.S. and processing through Customs. "Nothing but my genius," he answered. You have genius inside you. Access it. Write it. Enjoy it. Bask in your genius. Say it with Wilde...say it out loud to yourself, "I have only my genius to declare."

The Old Ground

Here's what's fantastic tonight. Today I was in the same pub that W.B. Yeats frequented when he was alive and becoming one of Ireland's brightest literary lights. The Old Ground pub in Ennis. Creaky pine parque' flooring, dark smoke-stained woodwork, old photos of past masters like Yeats, and Shaw, and Wilde. Just walking into the place was inspirational. It fairly glowed with the patina of literary excellence. For the pub and the Irish writing tradition to go on and on for so many hundreds of years is humbling. In this modern age of digital expression, I sometimes wonder if all the works I and Savage Press are creating will be wiped out in an instant with a single EMP, thus erasing all the hard drives on the planet. If I were guaranteed that such a disaster was certain, I'd still write. And so should you.

www.savpress.com

CONGRATS TO JON A. SEVERSON

Congrats to Jon Severson on receiving a nomination from the Northeast Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA) in the nonfiction category. Let's hope he wins! Delivered With Pride is a real winner regardless of the outcome. If you want to see more about NEMBA click on: http://www.d.umn.edu/lib/nemba/index.htm.

If you want to see some of the impressive historical photos from inside the book, go to: http://www.savpress.com/Details.asp?ProductID=157

Romantic Ideas: A Last-minute, Low-cost Valentine's Day Gift Idea

Romantic Ideas: A Last-minute, Low-cost Valentine's Day Gift Idea

HITTING THE BIG TIME

Meeting with a Savage Press author last Wednesday, she indicated that she'd stumbled upon a sure marker of how she had "arrived." For her, it was the fact that her book was for sale on eBay. "That made my day," she said with obvious pleasure.

Her story reminded me of a visit to the Superior Post office a few years back. The Superior Post office is a good place. Lots of positive energy, something you don't really expect at the P.O. Anyway, there was a clerk there named Kieth who was very droll. He had a crafty grin, but he wasn't real demonstrative. One day I walked up to his "window" and handed him my books to be mailed out for the day. He casually said, "You know Mike. I'm really glad I didn't buy your most recent book."

"Why is that, Keith?"

"Well, last Saturday I found one at a rummage sale for a quarter."

Ohhhh, man. That was so awesome. I knew I'd arrived. My books were selling at rummage sales for a quarter. For me, I'd hit the big time.

What's your threshold for being big time?

Let's Get Melinda Braun on the Ellen Show!!!

I'm thinking that, if Ellen can get George Clooney on her show by using viral amounts of email, "we" should be able to get Melinda Braun on the Ellen Show by flooding them with emails requesting that the author be on the show.

Here's the deal: National Children's Book Week begins May 12th.

We've offered to give a copy of Melinda Braun's book Luella to audience members of the Ellen show one of those days if they will have Melinda on to tell the sweet, sweet, TRUE story of the orphan duck raised by a Pug named Pancake.

Would you be willing to help make this a reality by emailing Ellen's show and "encouraging" them to have Melinda on as a guest? Tell ALL your friends to do the same. If this goes viral and enough people ask, maybe they'll invite Melinda to the show and she will be able to meet one of her favorite stars. Plus, children around the world will get to know a true story of love and acceptance. Please email Ellen for us! Ask your friends to do the same! Thanks! Go to: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/show/respond/?PlugID=10 and help get the plucky ducky, the pugnacious pug, and the angelic author on Ellen for National Children's Book Week!