Dot Dead Diary

Chairman of the Board

I really admire versatility.  I'm so impressed with the way so many crime fiction authors juggle a day job as a lawyer or doctor or executive or what-have-you with their writing.  Jim Fusilli has written the terrific Terry Orr series and at the same time is music critic for The Wall Street Journal.  Impressive?  He has a piece on Frank Sinatra in today's paper which is both insightful and elegaic.  I listen to Frankie (and Ella, Tony, Sammy, Doris, Dino, Rosemary, etc.) on AOL Radio's Sinatra Style station while doing any boring, mindless task -- usually paying bills. 

What Frank Loesser Said

I was reading a Journal review of a new biography of Frank Loesser, one of the greatest American songwriters, who wrote the songs for "Guys and Dolls" and "How to Succeed in Business."  While struggling to make it in the music biz, Loesser wrote this to his brother about the trade he was pursuing:  "I said 'trade.'  It is no art. I found that out.  It is all contact, salesmanship, etc. -- not a bit different from cloaks and suits or any other industry."

Sound familiar, fellow writers?