First Draft to Published

About Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil by Jerome Charyn As the New York Yankees' star centerfielder from 1936 to 1951, Joe DiMaggio is enshrined in America's memory as the epitome in sports of grace, dignity, and that ineffable quality called "class." But his career after retirement, starting with his nine-month marriage to Marilyn Monroe, was far less auspicious. Writers like Gay Talese and Richard Ben Cramer have painted the private DiMaggio as cruel or self-centered. Now, Jerome Charyn restores the image of this American icon, looking at DiMaggio's life in a more sympathetic light. DiMaggio was a man of extremes, superbly talented on the field but privately insecure, passive, and dysfunctional. He never understood that for Monroe, on her own complex and tragic journey, marriage was a career move; he remained passionately committed to her throughout his life. He allowed himself to be turned into a sports memorabilia money machine. In the end, unable to define any r...

Writing Daze has the pleasure of spotlighting children’s author Larry Peterson with his first children’s book, Slippery Willie’s Stupid Ugly Shoes. Larry is on virtual book tour with Tribute Books during the month of March. Slippery Willie Synopsis: Willie Wiggles hates his slippery feet. He just slips, slides and spins all over the place. But what he hates even more are the special shoes that have been made for him that will help him to walk just like all the other kids. Willie thinks that they are the "stupidest, ugliest shoes in the whole world." Discover how sometimes we worry about things about ourselves when actually there is nothing to worry about in the first place. About Larry Peterson Larry Peterson was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. As a freelancer, he has written many newspaper columns for local publications. Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes is his first children’s book. Peterson has lived in Pinellas Park, Florida for the past 28 years. Buy links...

Today at Writing Daze it’s time for Friday Fun. We asked our visiting author Karian Fabian to tell us Five Fun Things that happened while writing her book. She teamed up with co-author Deacon Steven Lumbert, to write Why God Maters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life (Tribute Books, May 2010). It is a Christian living, self-help book. These authors join us on their first tour with Pump Up Your Book. Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life was a different experience for me for a couple of reasons. I'm a novelist, and this is a non-fiction book about stories in my own life and how they taught me about God's love. It's also the first time I've collaborated, and with my own father, no less. So my five fun things: 1. Bossing Daddy around. It wasn't that bad, but I am the writer of the family. His experience has been writing 10-15-minute homilies. I had the fun--and the challenge--of sending back his 1500-word stories bleeding with red ink and telling him to...