When I was considering self-publishing, I attended a great deal of publishing conferences. Maria Murnane often spoke at these conferences, on Amazon's panel. She was always the most upbeat, optimistic, sweetly encouraging person in the room.

She had good reason to be. After...

Amanda Hocking is really something of a wunderkind. At only 26 years old, the Minnesota native has written a total of 17 novels. Since self-publishing eight of those books in April 2010, she's sold over 185,000 copies, making her indie publishing's latest star. Most of us are familiar with J.A....

Wow, I was really surprised at how much I liked Bristol Palin last night. She seemed so sweet and shy and lacking in self-confidence -- not at all what I was expecting (a smaller version of her mother). I can't believe I'm saying this, but after the first show, I'm...

I can't believe we're already at the finale. Some of those scenes from the season recap that they showed at the beginning of last night's show -- like Alex's injury -- seemed like they just happened.

So, first on: a Nakul Dev Mahajan Bollywood routine for Kent and Lauren...

So, we're only one week away from the final. This season really went fast.

Last night's semi began with a group dance to a Tyce Diorio Broadway number set to Guys and Dolls. I thought this was pretty fun though it didn't really blow me away. Lauren stood out...

Tonight is the Los Angeles premiere of Step Up 3D, the very first 3D dance movie. Last night, I was able to chat a bit by phone with tWitch Boss, So You Think You Can Dance all-star and now soon to...

Well, almost! Really hoping that whatever happened to Lauren that required her to see a medic at the end of last night's show is not serious. I'm beginning to feel like I'm jinxing people! Whoever I end up favoring as a possible winner gets hurt...

Anyway, onto last night's...

Oh no, now Billy too?! Well, at least the doctors don't seem to think his knee injury is that serious, so hopefully he'll be back to dancing next week.

First on were Lauren and Twitch in a Tabitha and Napoleon hip hop. This was fun and I thought she...

I thought I was going to be too depressed over Alex's injury to watch this week, but once the show got going and there was some good dancing and great choreography, I felt better. I love how they had a little update on Alex from his post-operation hospital bed though....

Ugh, how heartbroken am I that Alex Wong is injured and may have torn his Achilles tendon? If he's out permanently I'm going to be very upset; he was the main reason I'm so into the show this season. I guess we'll find out tonight...

I'm also surprised Nigel basically...

So, this week, they had the first same-sex routine (not the first ever, but the first pre-finals) -- and it turned out to be an excellent one -- a hip hop Alex Wong danced with Twitch, and they also allowed the contestants to talk a bit about their inspirations for...

Officer Michael Carey, who was recently named a defendant in a wrongful death action by the Sean Bell estate, has filed a counter-claim, seeking to sue the Bell estate for a leg injury he sustained when his van collided with Bell's car. The counter-claim has inflamed the blogosphere, and rightly...

Officer Michael Carey, who was recently named a defendant in a wrongful death action by the Sean Bell estate, has filed a counter-claim, seeking to sue the Bell estate for a leg injury he sustained when his van collided with Bell's car. The counter-claim has inflamed the blogosphere, and rightly...

I'm really loving the new So You Think You Can Dance format, which was originally controversial among fans of the show. Instead of the usual twenty competitors - ten male, ten female - this season there are half that number, and instead, those ten competitors (expanded to eleven for the...

My favorites from last night's show were Niecy, Chad and Erin, but not necessarily because of their dancing -- more because of their personalities, their interactions with their partners, and all the behind-the-scenes goings on... which is probably why most people watch this show anyway.

Niecy cracked me up...

Overall I was less impressed with this week's show than last week's, owing no doubt to the fact that the producers chose two very hard dances: Foxtrot is widely considered the hardest of the Standard Ballroom dances, and while the Jive isn't as hard a Latin dance as say, Samba,...

I haven't written about "Dancing With the Stars" here for the past couple of seasons because, even though I love ballroom, I just haven't found much to say about the show lately; it seemed to get blasé, like it had lost its entertainment value. But this season, there are a...

I've lived in a studio apartment on the second floor of a Manhattan brownstone for six years. The first four and a half were wonderful: I loved my neighborhood, my beautiful bay windows, my cute non-working fireplace and pillared sleeping loft, and my apartment's high ceilings perfect for exhibiting art...

I was riding the Brooklyn-bound 2 train during evening rush hour when suddenly a man sitting across from me collapsed onto the woman next to him. The man was white, mid-forty-ish, with oily hair and lines of black under his fingernails and in the crevices of his hands. His jeans...

The TV show, Superstars of Dance, hosted by superstar Irish step dancer Michael Flatley and co-produced by So You Think You Can Dance's Nigel Lythgoe and American Idol's Simon Fuller, just wrapped up its first four week-long season with last night's finale.

I think the show had very good...