(View entire post here)

(Parts of this blog entry first appeared on a blog called Literature & Life that I run at Barnes&Noble.com. Check out this ongoing conversation about how classic books change our daily lives).

You might love your job, house, and family, but the sound of your own voice might still sometimes bore you. That is: Life is good when we have a routine that works, but sticking to the routine has its own drawbacks: From time to time, I can feel deadeningly, or too much, like “myself.”

I do like my fixed routines--like the daily trip to the gym--but sometimes, lifting weights, I’m frustrated that another possible “me” isn’t living the life it could.

We are always allowing ourselves little escapes from the work-day “me.” Escapes come from the mild to the extreme: A midday cell-phone conversation is a mild form of self-escape; a book is a dependable, rich escape; so is a trip to a foreign country.

Virginia Woolf is my favorite dreamer and novelist—a woman who lived and wrote from 1882 to 1941. Woolf was someone who lived so thoroughly in her head that she also spent a lot of her time dreaming up ways to escape or expand it.

(View entire post here)

It took me three weeks to get the requisite security clearance to enter the Penguin Publicity Panopticon and be granted an audience with Publicity Manager Tina Anderson. Her ability to multi-task was incredible; even while answering my questions she kept a weather eye on over fifteen screens which were, as far as I could tell, relaying information from all seven continents simultaneously.

Tell us about yourself, how you came to your current position, to publishing in general, and what your relationship is to Roc and Ace.

As an assistant I was assigned to work on the Ace imprint, which is actually the sister imprint to Roc. After graduating through the ranks I ended up as the publicity manager of Roc and Ace, and I now oversee somebody who does all the day to day work. I’m in charge of the high level thinking and scheduling any tours, and making sure that we stay within our budget and the publicity plans that we set for the titles.

I didn't think I would work on SF/fantasy when I originally came into publishing, but I soon came to appreciate the books that I worked on and grew relationships with my authors. That made it worthwhile to continue working on the genre. But it wasn't my first love, actually.

What was your first love?

My first love was historical fiction, mysteries, and good novels in general. But if I had to pick between SF and fantasy, I would probably choose to read fantasy novels.