Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Fidel Castro: BFFs

I had no idea that Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Fidel Castro were friends. According to a story that appeared in la Prensa Latina, the two have been friends for fifty years, and he met him before his revolution.

I don't know an awful lot about the writer — or Castro for that matter — so, while it sounds like a surprising relationship, perhaps it fits perfectly with their personalities.

What I do know about "Gabo" is that he's a brilliant writer with a love of the magical.

HarperCollins Looks for Friends Who Read

In case anyone was interested, you won't find me on MySpace or YouTube. I have no friends -- not in the 2007 sense of the word, at least.

But other authors are looking for friends among the teen audiences they're trying to build. HarperCollins has established a MySpace teen site. HarperTeen actually doesn't look like most MySpace pages, which seem to be festooned with loads of crap, generally. Looking at it tonight, I noticed a poetry contest that a bunch of teens sounded interested in. And at least the first ten were polite to each other. OMG!

My point, however, is not about the contests, it's about the overt push by a major publisher to reach out and develop a connection with young readers. Despite studies that say the number of young readers is declining, a major publisher is willing to cultivate their future audience. Get 'em while they're young. (Wasn't that the tobacco industry's motto?) This is an addiction I can feel good about.

Blast! Foiled Again!

Well, I didn't get anywhere near where I wanted to go with my NaNoWriMo novel. A bit better than 10 percent. Shabby, definitely shabby.

I'll do better next year. For one thing, I'll go in with a plan; this year, I jumped in without any prior thought to doing it.

While I joined the competition with nothing more than a stray idea inspired by my wife, I exit November with more ideas for the future. I've contacted a couple other writers and I might even venture into a different genre yet again. Not exactly virgin territory, but something I've only written in torrid fluorishes.

So, now it is December: a month of revision and resolution. I won't post my New Year's Resolutions here. That's no one else's business. But rest assured, dear readers (both of you), I will advance my writing career in 2008. A decision will be made about my first novel -- hopefully, an agent or other publishing representative will recognize its (and my) potential -- or I'll find another way to get it out into the world.

The people who've read it have liked it and offered me excellent recommendations for how to improve it. So I believe I'm on the right path.

I hope all of you out there are too.