Planning!

Without a plan, a goal is simply a desire.
Not a planner? If you’re wondering how the Pulitzer Prize winning authors do it, I’ll let you in on a little secret. They have publishers, editors, and agents pestering them to put pen to paper, to get down to it, to make completing the manuscript a priority, and that’s what I can do for you. I’ll make your goals a day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month plan, until they’re a reality.

Editing!

Practice makes better, editing makes perfect.
I can’t make you smarter, but I can make you sound smarter. I can be that extra set of eyes for you. I'll look at your work before it goes public or to a client. Your and you’re, that and which—all those rules that the grammaristas love to correct. I can check those for you. It’s not a super power, it’s grammar—the lost art!

Writing!

Tell your story, I’ll write it how you want it to read.
Yes, I can. Share your story with me and I can make it into a book. If you can channel what it is you want to convey, I’ll craft your narrative to sound just like your personal tone and voice. My pen won’t be put down until your story is shared the way you want it to be read. I write it and you’ll get the credit.  Ever wonder how the celebrities do it? Ta-da!

The Assumption
An exercise from a memoir writing class I took a few years back. We’d talk about things for a few minutes, then they’d offer a prompt in class. When I started, my assumption was I’d write something completely different. As often happens to me, I defaulted to my 1973 setting. Read more…

Shea Stadium Remembered

Over its forty-four year existence Shea Stadium witnessed a colorful cavalcade of sporting and entertainment events, all detailed in this lively, skimable tribute to a memorable New York landmark.

It’s all here: the memorable games; the unforgettable characters such as Tom Seaver, Joe “Willie” Namath, and Seinfeld buddy Keith Hernandez; and even the solemn moments such as when Shea was used as a staging area for first responders after 9/11. By the time of its demolition in 2008, the Mets had played more games at Shea than the Dodgers had ever played at Ebbets Field, and the stadium had hosted seven National League Championship Series, four World Series, three Jets playoff games, and the American Football League Championship game in 1968.

Swinging ‘73

Interest and attendance were dropping, and football was ascending. Stuck in a rut, baseball was dying. Then Steinbrenner bought the Yankees, a second-division club with wife-swapping pitchers, leaving the House That Ruth Built not with a slam but a simper. He vowed not to interfere—before soon changing his mind.

Across town, Tom Seaver led the Mets’ stellar pitching line-up, and iconic outfielder Willie Mays was preparing to say goodbye. For months, the Mets, under Yogi Berra, couldn’t get it right. Meanwhile, the A’s were breaking a ban on facial hair while maverick owner Charlie Finley was fighting to keep them underpaid. But beneath the muttonchops and mayhem, lay another world. Elvis commanded a larger audience than the Apollo landings. A Dodge Dart cost $2,800, gas was a quarter per gallon. A fiscal crisis loomed; Vietnam had ended, the vice president resigned, and Watergate had taken over. It was one of the most exciting years in the game’s history, the first with the designated hitter and the last before arbitration and free agency. The two World Series opponents went head-to-head above the baby steps of a dynasty that soon dwarfed both league champions. It was a turbulent time for the country and the game, neither of which would ever be the same again.

One-Year Dynasty

Relive the games, moves, and players of the hard-hitting team that won the 1986 World Series. Vin Scully called the tenth-inning groundball in Game Six of the 1986 World Series—Mets versus Red Sox—that sealed a comeback, fueled a curse, and turned a batting champion into a scapegoat. But getting there was a long, hard slog with plenty of heartache.

After being knocked out of contention the previous two seasons, the Mets blasted through the National League that year. They won blowouts, nailbiters, fights, and a 14-inning game that ended with one pitcher on the mound, another in right field, and an All-Star catcher playing third base. Matt Silverman covers famous baseball players including: Ron Darling, Dwight Gooden, Keith Hernandez, Darryl Strawberry and more. Going beyond the partying and excess, Silverman recounts in this book, step by step, the team’s meteoric rise in 1986, when they captured their first division title in over a decade, shattered the franchise record, and then won it all.