A King and a Lawyer . . .

. . . walk into a bar. No. Wait. Let's try that again.

Stephen King and John Grisham walk into the packed Neel Performing Arts Center here in Florida and proceed to entertain the audience - including me and my husband! - with stories about reading, writing and life, all to benefit libraries and literacy.

Stephen King did the event himself last year, and apparently, when the committee wondered how in the world they'd ever top that, King replied he had a friend who might be interested in participating . . . .

We've heard King speak before and he's always so down-to-earth and entertaining, and it was fun to see that Grisham is the same way. Both men wore jeans, chatted and told stories like the old friends they are, and donated their time to the event (which raised over $200,000!)

Grisham (left), King (right)

A few highlights from the evening:

* When Grisham's first novel A Time to Kill (one of his best, in my opinion) made the New York Times bestseller list, King sent him a congratulatory note.

* Early on, they shared the same editor who bought both King's Carrie and Grisham's A Time to Kill.

* Both men are often approached by fans who praise the movies, not the books. King often responds with "I've written books, too."

* They talked about being famous authors in a society that doesn't really read, how they can pretty much move about their lives unnoticed. (I thought this was an interesting point, although I recognized King when I saw him in the store awhile back while I would've walked right by one of the Kardashians.)

* Grisham prefers print books, while King reads both paper and on screen.

* When asked if he'd ever write a horror novel, Grisham said some people think writing about lawyers is already pretty horrifying. (My husband, who is a lawyer, found this hysterical. And true.)

Oh, and at the end - cookies!

The Write Way to Start 2016

I'm excited to share some recent publications and writing news with you all!

First up, most of my regular readers know I'm a huge fan of Nailpolish Stories (stories are 25 words, titles are nail polish colors.) My story, Coming Up Roses, originally published in the July 2015 issue, made it into The Best of 2015 issue. I loved taking a positive phrase and giving it a dark spin. (I know, I know, big surprise.) And, in the January 2016 issue are two more stories, Fade to Black and Shifting Power. 

Next, as a huge fan of literary agent Janet Reid's blog and her flash fiction contests, I was thrilled to see my most recent entry make Finalist. Here's what she had to say about it:

This is incredibly creepy given the clues about the character's age/s.  So much is left to the reader's imagination, but there's exactly the right amount of information here so we can fill it in with all the horror it deserves.  This is very elegant writing.

Whoo hoo!

Click here if you'd like to read all the Finalists and the Winner.

Click here if you'd like to read all the entries. 

How's your writing going so far this year? Any exciting news - writing or otherwise - you'd like to share?