Archives - Weekly Update

In 1996, when we started this site, it was only available on AOL. At the time, there were something like 500 websites on the Internet, and we did not want to “get lost out there” (humorous to think about that now). Most people were connecting to the Internet from AOL, Prodigy or CompuServe; we opted for AOL, which was backing companies financially, seeing a value in content to keep their customers spending time online as they charged by the minute. We had a chat room called Bookaccino, where readers would gather to chat (actually typing their comments) about books. There we had a dedicated group of chat hosts who would facilitate readers talking about books throughout the day, greeting them and keeping the dialogue going.

There are moments that bring back lovely memories of book discoveries that make you smile. One of those came on Tuesday night as I attended a party celebrating 15 years since the publication of THE NOTEBOOK by Nicholas Sparks. These days, unlike the days of old, there are very few big parties to celebrate books and authors --- the kind where the cocktails flow, there are lovely hors d'oeuvres, and the mood is just warm and celebratory. The party for Nick was all that, but also something more.

I am intrigued by zombie makeup. I was at New York Comic Con yesterday, and there were folks lurching around in full zombie garb and makeup. I found myself staring and trying to figure out HOW they do that. Wednesday night I attended the signing for the prose book, THE WALKING DEAD: RISE OF THE GOVERNOR by Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga. In addition to writing this book --- and, of course, the original comics and graphic novels --- Kirkman is a producer of AMC’s hit show "The Walking Dead”; Season Two debuts on Sunday night. Click here for more about the TV show. Note that this program has even higher audience numbers than "Mad Men"!

I spent last night at Back to School night at my younger son’s high school. He has a terrific group of enthused teachers, for which I am really grateful. His English teacher, Mrs. Phelan, made me think back on one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Halpern. When I got home last night, I spent some time trying to track her down via social media channels as I wanted to let her know how much she’s meant to me, but no luck so far. There were a handful of teachers like that, ones who made learning fun. All of mine were in the English and Communications area, which is no wonder given what I do. I was never a math and science kind of student.