Here we go..

The word “blog,” like “literature,” is a deterrent to the thing itself. The latter term suggests physiology or engineering. The former brings to mind some unspeakable medical malady, probably pertaining to the digestive system.
I’ve always been skeptical of blogs, which writers produce without benefit of editing or money. In general, I’m in favor of both. Yet here I am, doing the unspeakable.
So let’s get some basics out of the way. This blog is part of scottlasserbooks.com, a website created (well, just about created) at the urging of my editor and agent; its main purpose is shameless self-promotion. That I am promoting books (albeit mine in particular) makes it less shameful. Lord knows, books need and deserve the help. My intent here is to keep my readers up to date on what’s new with me (read: please, buy my books), and, since my life and career often aren’t that exciting, to celebrate good writing and comment on anything else that strikes my fancy as it pertains to the written word.
Today is Groundhog Day, February 2, 2009; things are tough all over, and not just in finance (which happens to be my day job). A magazine editor of mine didn’t get his paycheck last Friday. Book publishers are letting people go; the magazine business is (obviously) dismal. And yet a friend just told me that fiction is what people are now buying (if they buy at all). She offered no proof, but I hope she’s right. She should be right. Where better to turn than fiction in times like these? As it happens, this June I have a new novel coming out, the first in seven years. The title is The Year That Follows. It’s about the search for a lost child, inheritance and bloodlines, and how we carry on after a terrible event. It’s a dramatic novel, but not without humor, and it’s mercifully short. Check it out. Order it and perhaps I’ll be able to keep writing here for free.