James D. Best

Writers can be a competitive bunch and can say nasty things about others in their profession. A good barb needs to be pithy and clever. Her...

The Cornishman reports that Mounts Bay Academy has banned red markers. Red ink will be replaced with green to protect the self-esteem of ...

I arrived in Arizona last night with my wife. For the next two days, we’ll be staying with friends in their home surrounded by a stunning d...

Money is printed by the government, so the faces on our various bills tend to be politicians. Okay, they’re all politicians. Three were not...

The Tucson Festival of Books (March 15-16) is the largest book festival in the southwest. Featured authors include: Richard Russo, Ali...

Nelson DeMille The Barnes and Noble Book Blog published a list of 25 odd, clever, or humorous book dedications . Ever since Cathedral...

I recently read Stephen Hunter’s, The Third Bullet , which is a novel about the John F. Kennedy assassination. Through the years, I have re...

My wife and I just finished a perfect vacation in Southern California. Our daughter and son’s families have returned to their homes and eve...

I've been invited to be a panelist at the 2014 Tucson Festival of Books, which will be held March 15 and 16. The Festival will be held o...

It was a cold and windy night. Laura Borealis has published a blog article on TheTen Worst Story Openings. As I've mentioned pre...

Many people are unaware that Amazon has a program called Matchbook. If the publisher enrolls their books in the program, Amazon purchasers...

Some people are visual. I'm not one of them. But I appreciate good design, even if I'm incapable of drawing a straight line with a r...

Aspiring writers frequently agonize over words, sentences, and paragraphs. They want to get every piece of it right. Because they admire gr...

Kim McDougall of Castelane, Inc. recently wrote to  ask for permission to re-publish  on the new  Castlelane website   an article I wrote f...

I guess it would be more accurate to say Jane Austen is on the money. I’m proud of her since she didn’t make a fortune with her writing whi...

 Reading Cowboy Statue, Azle, Texas American Cowboy  magazine has listed the top 10 Western Books , plus a few also-rans from the s...

I’m a Jane Austen fan. That probably seems odd since I’m male and write Westerns. The Wild West and English countryside have little in co...

Hi, I'm looking for a Bible for my mother but I'm not quite sure who the author is Here are three sites that allow us to lau...

Book cover design is an art ...and I am not an artist. At least, not a visual artist. Previously, I posted a mock-up of the book cover for ...

The spine is the most undervalued aspect of book design. This is especially true today, when so many indie-books only publish elect...