Do You Care About an Author's Personal Life?

I will not watch a movie starring an actor who has made an idiot of himself in real life (though admittedly, I'm not a movie watcher in general).
I will vote for a politician who makes questionable personal choices if I agree with his political ideology and record, and if I believe he will be a great leader.
I do not want to buy a book written by an egotistical, nasty author (assuming I have solid knowledge of these facts, which are difficult to come by unless you dig for them), but if I'm drawn to the writing and, especially with a series, want to find out what happens next, I might still buy the book.

Still working out how I reconcile these things.

2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) Contest

Last month, I entered my science fiction novel, Nervous System, in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest. Contestants must submit a 300-word pitch, a 3-5k word excerpt from the beginning of the novel, and the full manuscript. The contest for General Fiction (all genres) was capped at 5,000 entries.

On February 23, Amazon announced the 1,000 entries that were moving on to the second round.

I made it. Thank you, Amazon.

Now, two Vine Reviewers will read and review my excerpt. I will get to read those reviews. Only 250 entries will be chosen to move on to the quarterfinals.

I'm trying to be optimistic yet realistic about this second round. I'm much more confident about my excerpt than I was about my pitch, but who knows? I just feel lucky to get this far.

I am posting my pitch and my excerpt for those who have asked about them. Thank you everyone, especially Michael, for your unwavering support in my writing endeavors. Love you all so much.

I'm Back

Wow. It's been quite a while since I've posted on this blog. I actually took it off line for the last year, because I'd posted some things about my extended family, and then those posts ended up in discussion during a legal battle. The powers that be are not kidding when they say that anything you post online is fair game.

I'm not actually ashamed or in trouble because of anything I've written. In fact, I'm okay with all my posts, so now that the battle is over, I'm putting my blog back out there, without any editing. But the past is the past, and I'm going to move forward without looking back.