While I was a girl in the 70s, I had a little 45 record player in my room that I would play my favorite tunes (Partridge Family, Jackson 5, Monkees, and of course, Bobby – cool girl that I was! LOL) and I’d listen to his records over and over. It didn’t hurt that he had guest starring roles on all of my favorite shows: Partridge Family, Here Come the Brides, and the Monkees. He did a lot of guest starring roles, and as a young kid I didn’t quite get the gist of what that meant. So when I’d see him on a show, I assumed he’d always be on it. The next time I would turn in, I’d be disappointed when he wasn’t on. But get this, I had this poster in my room of Bobby that I would kiss every night before I went to sleep. I also had this 45:

that I would kiss every time I played it.

The thing about Bobby Sherman, is that he just seems so darn sweet. He still looks good. My gosh, does he ever. He was on the Rosie O’Donnell Show a few years ago, and he was very charming and even sang “Easy Come, Easy Go.”

Here is the original version. Check out the groovy shirt:

Here’s a clip from Here Come the Brides, which is fun because it also includes a pre-Starsky and Hutch David Soul:

Here he is on The Partridge Family:

Here’s another fun fact, and what makes me love this dude even more. He built a 1/5th scale model of Main Street Disneyland in his backyard. Here he is talking about it in 1985:

I hope Bobby had a wonderful birthday, with many more to come. Peace, love, and Bobby Sherman!

Well after Michelle wrote about the commercial, Isaiah commented on her blog and said he had created a special video just for her. And he did! Check it out:

The fabulous part was that this really was a unique and individual video just for her. It wasn’t just a “Hello Michelle” and then a “Hello Darla” or whoever. When I looked on their YouTube Channel, they had created several unique videos, for various people that tweeted and wrote about them. Brilliant! That’s the way to get some buzz about your product! I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been able to stop watching it.

DH always likes the commercials, especially the first one (“look here, look back”) because he says it was done all in one shot. Impressive. I know we are going to see tons of Isaiah Mustafa in the months ahead, no doubt in his own show. And hey, Isaiah, I’m a writer… and um… I could write some material for you! LOL. Just saying…

I also understood her dismay, because I didn’t want to share a title with someone else either. I expressed this to the hiring person and they said it shouldn’t be an issue because there should be enough things to write about. You know what? They were right.

Still, it shocked me a little when I read Susie’s public lament. After all, I wasn’t happy about the situation either, but I sure as heck wasn’t going to complain about her or the company giving me a paycheck. Second of all, I had just started and hadn’t really done much writing yet.

I decided to ignore the whole issue and just write. Since she had not reached out to me, I wasn’t going to send her a message and say, “Hey there… saw you trash me in the forums and just wanted to introduce myself.” Several writers on the site, however, have reached out to me personally, and I’ve been encouraged that not everyone there is like Susie. In fact, I’ve had a great time getting to know quite a few new writers.

I kept doing my job, and as a result, Susie got even more upset, because now I was writing more than she was. In fact, in just over a month I overtook her article total, and she had been there half a year. She decided then to leave snarky comments on my articles. I answered one but then decided to ignore the rest. Then, she started leaving snarky comments under a pseudonym. (After this I’ve no doubt she’ll start using the name “Susie” just to be super mature and because she’s probably a stalker as well as a comment troll.)

There are a couple reasons this behavior makes me laugh. One is that the freelance writing community (especially in the online world) is very small. Many writers on this particular site are also on several other sites. Susie doesn’t write for more than just this one, or she would know if you alienate one writer publicly like she did, you are going to be met with resistance because the majority of writers out there don’t tolerate that behavior. They might not lash out at you right away, but they will remember it.

Another reason her behavior is funny to me is because look at how much time she is wasting on “being mad.” She could put that time and energy into actually writing.

Her behavior brings up a good point, though, and that is sometimes writers are jealous of each other. Being jealous is never productive, people! Trust me, I would love to sell as many books as Dan Brown or have the following that Mary Higgins Clark does, but I’m not them. So why bother being upset about it? I’ll just keep writing and if it’s meant to happen, it will.

Susie’s jealously isn’t unique. I hear writers get pissy with each other, or with people they feel shouldn’t have bestselling novels, and since I’m a sports nut (football to be exact) I started looking at the whole thing as unsportsmanlike behavior. To that end, here are some “Good Sportsmanship Rules” I’ve come up with, especially for writers:

Don’t Compare Yourself to Other Writers

This is a very hard thing to do. After all, writers see the success that others have and we strive for the same thing. To make it worse, some online writing sites list their top performers in terms of pay, pageviews, or comments for the rest of their writers to see. Everyone responds differently to this. Some writers are encouraged and motivated to write more, while some get instantly ticked.

I found this out myself recently when it was revealed by one site I write for that a writer had a record month with earnings. This writer got thousands more than I got, and I was happy for her until I realized she had the same amount of articles as me! I went through a series of thoughts: what the heck?, I should just quit, why am I doing this?, and on and on. Then, my reasonable side kicked in, and I took a look at her articles so I could learn a thing or two. First, she had a completely different topic, one that paid more than mine. Second, her keyword subtitles were much better than mine.

I instantly felt better because I knew I could improve, but also because I realized I didn’t write in her subject area and wasn’t going to. How did that make me feel better? Read on:

Make the Most of Your Writing Strengths

Let’s face it, every writer has a slightly different skill set. Focus your career on what you do best. Many writers try to fit their particular skills into a certain site’s or genre’s qualifications, and then they spend the entire time miserable (and unsuccessful.)

You’re Not Dan Brown, or Stephen King, or Stieg Larsson, or…..

It never fails, that when one writer “makes it big” and has a huge hit, there is some fool who is immediately talking about how he or she doesn’t deserve the success because they “aren’t a good writer.”

Now here’s the thing, another writer’s style may be different than yours, but why begrudge him success? Why compare yourself to his works? Why be hostile with a writer that now has what you want?

There are different kinds of writers, and yay for that. Willa Cather for example, could write about garbage cans and make it so beautiful and compelling that you couldn’t turn away. Other writers have a different tone, method, style. Some are great at characterization and others tell a fantastic story. We all have strengths, and it’s up to us to make the most of them. Trust me, Dan Brown’s book deal isn’t the reason your book or article didn’t make millions.

Now, the publishing business is crazy sometimes. There are books by celebs, joke books, trendy books, whatever, that somehow manage to sell a bunch and surprise people. Even the person who claims he wrote a book and it became an instant success and he was never a writer before… does not deserve your hatred. Let them have their success; it has nothing to do with you. If you don’t like their book then don’t buy it.

If you’re the type of writer that sees another author’s success and thinks, “I could do that so much better….” then do it. If you are honest with yourself, however, you might realize that you could not tell a story like Dan Brown. That’s okay. You don’t have to. Tell your own story. (And be happy for Dan Brown. What did he ever do to you anyways?)

Don’t Look Down Your Nose at Other Writers

Here’s another thing writers love to do sometimes: trash a writer because he is making a living differently than you. I still get comments every once in a while from someone when I tell them I’m a paid blogger. They make a pissy comment because “everybody blogs.” Well everybody might blog but I’m getting paid for it.

When I was writing in entertainment (which I loved and still do occasionally), I’d get the random pissy comment about “writing about celebrities” or “writing about gossip.” My writing career is really varied, and I like that. I like writing about entertainment, celebrities, and dating just as much as I do sports, frugal living, news, and health. Just because another writer’s work isn’t your cup of tea? Don’t trash them.

There are some writers that think you have to only: write novels, write for major magazines, write certain types of articles, etc. There have been threads upon threads in forums where writers attack each other for where and how they choose to work. Don’t be like that. Each writing career is different, and really, what’s it to you if a writer’s career is different than yours?

Don’t Be Pissy About What You Have

Part of the jealousy thing comes from writers who are just plain unhappy with what they have. There are so many options for freelancing and publishing today that writers should never crab about it. After all, how many times does someone tell you they “always wanted to be a writer?” I hear that all the time. I could tell people that “I work long hours, sometimes I struggle to find jobs, I have a novel I need to get published….” wah wah wah….. but I don’t because in the end, all of that stuff sounds cool to other people. That’s because it is. We’re lucky to be able to write. If your career isn’t what you’d hoped it would be, work on changing it. It’s in your power to do so.

Don’t Trash Other Writers

Let’s bring it back to Susie’s example. Susie has probably already rubbed a few people the wrong way simply because she chose to attack. Don’t do that. It will never gain you respect or success. Instead, focus on yourself.

Learn From Other Writers

If you’re feeling a little jealous, take a look at the things that particular writer is doing, and learn from them. Ask them how they got their success. Want more radio interviews? Ask a writer who is always giving interviews. Want better freelance jobs? Find out what other writers do. Want a book deal? Find out how another writer got theirs.

The lesson here is in finding something you can do and apply to your own career. You can’t have exactly the same kind of career as someone else, but you can apply tactics they use. Look at my keyword example above. I learned a lesson and applied it.

I’ll admit, I’m in awe of most writers. I work with so many published authors and successful freelancers that I can’t help but to be inspired. As a result, I am constantly asking writers how they market themselves, how they found agents, how they polish their fiction, how they get more pageviews, or how they got that fabulous job at a large writing outlet. There’s an opportunity to learn something every day.

Market Yourself As If You Are a Huge Success

You know the phrase about assuming things, right? Well that applies to other writers. Every once in a while I get some bozo who wonders why I get an interview or listed on a site, or even, hired by a company to write for them. They act like these opportunities just fall out of the sky into my lap. One guy recently sent me an email after I announced I was featured in a new book with some famous celebrities and he wrote me to say, “You are just so lucky. Man, I wish some of that stuff would happen for me, but some people just get the breaks.”

I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I market myself constantly. I sit every day and spend a couple hours finding opportunities to sell my writing or expertise. All the time. Not just when I feel like it or when I have a new book out, but all the time. I’m marketing myself as if I was already the success I want to be. I did this from the beginning, even when I had one paying freelance gig and one poetry book out. I have an idea of what I want my writing career to look like, and I market as if I am already that busy, in demand, incredibly successful writer I hope to be. (Right now I have busy… but in demand? Incredibly successful? Not yet.)

What do I mean by marketing? Pitching articles or ideas for radio or TV segments. Not just “I wrote a book” but what kind of knowledge you can bring. Getting involved in writer’s forums and finding opportunities. Getting to know other writers. Contacting bloggers and reporters. Contacting sites and asking them if they can review or list your book. Getting involved in social media – not just to promote your work but to be a valuable part of the system. Someone will contact you if you have established yourself as an expert, not just when you claim you are but when you show them you are.

And on and on…..

Bring Other Writers Up With You

There’s nothing worse than some fool who thinks his success tips must be kept a secret. He won’t share a thing, or does it reluctantly, but then is the first person to ask for help from other writers. Your own success will not suffer if you help promote other writers. Share ideas and opportunities freely. Trust me on this one, when one writer is successful it helps all of us. We can all bring each other up and help promote the craft.

But…. I was glad that I had this pact in place. We agreed that we would paint a picture. She did one in watercolor and I did one in acrylics.Michelle and I made this art pact deal in part because sometimes you need a push to do something creative. I think that’s especially true for bloggers and freelance writers. We work a lot. We don’t keep 9-5 hours sometimes, so we don’t come home after a long day and unwind by doing crafts. We probably should, but we don’t. The professional bloggers I know are pretty driven and do a variety of things.

So having an “art pact” with someone can really help. It’s like having a workout buddy. You might still workout by yourself but if you know there is someone else there waiting for you, you will be less inclined to skip your workout.

This art pact, while it took me two months, was very motivating for me. It helped remind me to step away from the keyboard and use my creativity in a different way. I have the new picture up in our craft room, and it will help to remind me that creativity takes all forms.

So I pretty much have given up and instead use (gasp!) plastic flowers on the patio, and even a few in the yard! LOL! But I also plant bulbs, which I think are truly amazing. Bulbs are like a magic trick to me. You just shove it in the ground and a few months later a flower comes out… and keeps coming out. That’s amazing. And to a non-gardener like me, it’s just too darn fabulous.

So here are some of my favorite bulbs: irises. I love to paint these especially. I like how they look like a ruffled sleeve and when you look really closely they show a whole new set of colors and designs. I also like how they stand so tall against the other flowers.

So here are a couple of my irises. Gorgeous, aren’t they?

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The Singing Bee Is Still on TV

Okay, this might sound dorky, but since when have I ever sounded cool? So why not share. I heart the Singing Bee. I was ever so sad when they were suddenly off TV! But this weekend, DH found them once again. In channel surfing we realized it was now on CMT, and although it’s got a lot of country music in it (which means I don’t know any of the lyrics or songs) there is also a lot of pop, rock, etc. So yay for the Singing Bee!

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A New Bret Michaels Reality Show is Coming

Last night VH1 premiered Bret Michaels’ new show called Life As I Know It. Now, I know I said Bret needs to rest (for deuce sake!) but before these health problems started he began filming a new reality series. Will you watch? You better. It shows him at home and hanging with his girls and being a semi-husband. Good stuff. Filming is stopped now and will resume once Bret is doing better health-wise, but it’s nice to know he is still coming to a reality show near you.

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Hanging at the Bookstore

Is there a place in the world, anywhere in the world, that is more soothing and fabulous than a bookstore? I think not. I did some serious hanging out in there, and was happy to see that What to Do When No One Has a Clue: Advice for the Brave New World was displayed prompting on the new arrivals table! Of course I flipped through it so I could see where I was in it as well as the other participants. Incidentally, one of the authors will be on the CBS morning show tomorrow discussing the book, so be sure to check it out.

As I flipped through the book, I happened to catch an absolutely hilarious conversation in the graphic novel aisle between two geeks. There were arguing about comic book versions and reeked to high heaven. God bless them. I love the geeks.

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Sales, Sales and More Sales

The used book store had tons of stuff on sale, as did Old Navy. Yes, I’m cheap. So what if I love getting five books for $12 and three T’s for $10. So what!

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First Draft of New Novel is Done!

I finished the first draft of my new novel, which really gave me a lot of joy. Now comes massive editing. I have notes I’ve been keeping throughout the writing of the draft, and now I’m ready to add them, make changes, and then do the first (real) round of editing. I love how it’s coming together.

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Movies, Movies, and More Movies

I watched three movies this weekend, which is unusual for me because basically I never sit and just watch a movie. I might have one on in the background, but eventually I get antsy and do other things. I actually sat and watched these. Go figure. First I watched Fantastic Mr. Fox (which I loved – so cute and original), then I watched Avatar (which was visually stunning but also good when I saw it as Dances With Wolves – same movie if you ask me), and finally It’s Complicated (which I loved – I hope they make more of this type of movie in Hollywood – very nice).

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It’s Patio Time

Finally, we set up our patio. In Wisconsin that means it’s officially summer. Can’t argue with that.

How was your weekend?

Following are the Rights and Responsibilities as defined by Wikipedia, with a few thoughts of my own thrown in (in italics):

Rights:

1. The right to be even geekier. That goes without saying.

2. The right to not leave your house. Now, maybe this is true for me. I am a bit of a hermit. Plus I make my living by sitting in my chair all day. So… I don’t interact with people a lot.

3. The right to not like football or any other sport. As someone that adores football, this wouldn’t apply to me. However, my adoration of football borders on the obsessive, and this does follow along with one of the “responsibilities” below.

4. The right to associate with other nerds. I associate with all kinds of interesting, wacky, and groovy people. But I would guess most people (geek or not) do the same.

5. The right to have few friends (or none at all). LOL! Yes, some geeks have zero friends. I have always had a few good friends. I’m not one of those people who have tons of friends, although I do think I can make friends easily enough if I’m in the right environment.

6. The right to have as many geeky friends as you want. Well… duh.

7. The right to be out of style. Very true of many of the geeks I know. Fashion isn’t something we care about. What? That shirt hangs like a tent on us? But it’s comfortable….

8. The right to be overweight and near-sighted. I hate to say it, but it’s true. It’s a right of mine! It is!

9. The right to show off your geekiness. Geeks love to chat about their particular brand of geekiness. And when people don’t care (or think what we’re saying is wrong), we naturally say that “they don’t get it.”

10. The right to take over the world. This is a mantra of many a geek, and while I think geeks as a whole really do rule the world, I think individuals should not seek to take over the world. Personal opinion.

Responsibilities:

1. Be a geek, no matter what. Here’s the thing, if you’re a geek you just are. It’s in your bones, you don’t have to subscribe to it or try to be a geek. You just are. So this responsibility is like saying, just breathe.

2. Try to be nerdier than anyone else. Here’s one I don’t agree with. I don’t know of a single (real) geek that tries to be nerdier than anyone else. They are what they are, but if they try to be into the latest geek thang, then they cease to be a geek. They jump into something because they love it, not because they want people to like them or to be popular. Because not being popular is the right of every geek! Read on.

3. If there is a discussion about something geeky, you must give your opinion. Geeks are the most opinionated of the world, which is generally a good thing. It’s only when geeks refuse to listen (which is often) that it becomes obnoxious.

4. To save and protect all geeky material. Yes!

5. Do everything you can to show off geeky stuff as a “museum of geekiness.” This is why Star Wars figures remain in their original boxes, Currier & Ives dishes are displayed, Godzilla has a special cabinet, and Henry VIII action figures are proudly displayed.

6. Don’t be a generalized geek. You must specialize in something. This is very important. You can’t love everything, or try to be all things to all people. Part of being a geek is that you realize you aren’t popular and you are very okay with this. It doesn’t stop you from being who you are. Geeks are never concerned with being popular. They know they aren’t, and that’s okay because it’s part of being a geek.

7. Attend every nerdy movie on opening night and buy every geeky book before anyone else. This is for younger geeks, or at least ones with some money. Not all geeks live in their parent’s basement, and it’s for those of us that can’t run out and buy everything geeky immediately when it comes out. But you can bet your bippy that we will find the geekiest way to get such goodies frugally! Rummage sales, people!

8. Wait in line on every opening night. If you can go in costume or at least with a related T-shirt, all the better. Ditto what I said for #7.

9. Don’t waste your time on anything not related to geekdom. Very true. One thing I love about geeks (and about being one) is that we don’t give a rats ass if something is in style or what all the people are talking about or cool. If we don’t sincerely dig it, we never try to pretend we do.

10. Try to take over the world! We already do.

As soon as Casey James started singing “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, I actually looked up from the laptop which I have terminally attached to my hip and said aloud, “He isn’t seriously going to do this too?”

But he did. Bret Michaels showed up live on stage to sing his signature song with Casey, and while it was totally wonderful and fabulous… I am worried about him! Yes, I’ll say it. I’m very concerned.

I know. I am a dork of the highest order. But I love Bret Michaels. LOVE HIM. DH knows this and actually feels bad for me when I “worry” over his health. I loved Bret when I was in high school. When I first became diabetic I took solace in the fact that Bret had it too. I watched him win Celebrity Apprentice on Sunday and thought that would be the end of seeing him publicly for awhile.

And then comes American Idol. It wasn’t that the performance wasn’t great, because it was. The crowd loved it. Take a look:

As soon as Casey starts singing people are going, “Is Bret coming out?” which is exactly what I was doing at home.

But seriously, Bret, you need to stay and rest! Rest, my rocker, rest. You are simply too cool and awesome to leave this world early, and to stay here awhile you need to take care of yourself.

I’ve read a lot of incredibly interesting posts that relate to this lately. Read them and come back here to discuss. (Please… come on back, ya hear?) Here they are:

• Kyra Davis‘ thoughts on self-publishing. Kyra is a traditionally published author who I interviewed a while back at Working Writers.  She’s chatting about a new “trend” of sorts, of traditionally published authors who are considering self-publishing one or two of their novels.
• M.J. Rose‘s thoughts on the “shortcuts” of writing a great work and keeping readers.  (If you’re interested, I also interviewed M.J. at Working Writers.)
• Jason Pinter‘s fabulous column in Huff Po about “The Konrath Effect: Will New Technology Ruin Talented Authors?”

Did you read them?  Good.  Let’s talk.

I loved all three of these posts because they were all so very true. Writers do have a lot of options today, but we have to be smart about them. For some reason, writers (authors and freelance writers alike) love to declare the “right way” to do things. In reality what they are saying is what has been the right way for them. But what works for one writer doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. Let’s put freelance writing aside for a moment, however, and concentrate on novelists.

As you know, I finished my novel For Those Who Knew Zach and I’m shopping it around to agents right now. This novel, for all intents and purposes, was finished and ready to go five years ago. At the time, I started my own publishing company so I could publish my poetry and nonfiction work. I was all set to publish Zach and then… I backed away. Thought about it some more. I realized I was using the writer side of my brain in wanting to publish it. The business side, however, held me back. I didn’t want to admit it, but I didn’t love my book then. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book. But was it great? Was it the book I really really wanted to write?

I tossed it aside while I thought about it. About six months ago, I got a spot in M.J. Rose’s Buzz Your Book class. I knew this was an opportunity to find marketing opportunities for Zach, so months before the start of class I re-read it and started editing. And boy, did I edit. I chopped half of it away because it was just plain too dark for me. It’s about serious things and bad people, but I wanted some humor to come through also. So I ripped out unnecessary characters, beefed up the good ones, and revised how they all fit with each other. I worked four more months on it, and gave it to a test round of people, many of whom had read the first version years ago. This time, instead of saying, “Yeah, it’s a good book” they said, “Wow, I really like what you did with this.”

Much better reaction.

I took the Buzz Your Book class, and developed a probable marketing plan for the book. But I still didn’t self-publish it. Why? I didn’t feel like I knew the market and publishing world well enough to do that yet. I didn’t feel that I had a fiction following built up yet. Instead, I did what I had never done before and seriously shopped the book around to agents. I took my time in writing a good query letter. I read up on what agents were interested in. I read up about things going on in the industry. I talked to authors. Lots and lots of authors.

Every author tells you what worked for them. Just like many of the great debates in life, self-publishing versus publishing traditionally is a very heated argument. My take on things is that self-publishing a novel can work for certain people. For others, they are better off trying to get it traditionally published. Neither of these methods, however, guarantees that a book is going to be an overnight success. And this is what gets some writers tripped up. Some writers think once the traditional contract comes, they “are set.” Others believe they will never have to market themselves again. Still others think that one book contract guarantees future book contracts. None of that is true.

I’ve seen the flip side of the coin as well. New writers who have that entrepreneurial spirit self-publish thinking they don’t “need” the publishing industry. They become shocked at how difficult it is to gain new readers, and how long it takes some of their books to catch on. They become angry at what types of books are getting published traditionally.

Much of the frustration comes from thinking that, as M.J. said in her post, there are shortcuts. But there aren’t. Also, what works for one writer won’t necessarily work for another. Now that I’m shopping my book around, I’ve received advice and opinions from a bevy of authors, and their advice is all over the place. Some think self-publishing is evil and even if my novel sits in a drawer for 80 more years I should never do it, while others think I’m stupid to even try to get a traditional contract. Isn’t it great to get such a wide range of advice?  Good thing I do a lot of research, and separate the emotional from the business side of writing.  I know exactly what a book contract will and will not mean.  I know exactly what self-publishing for me at this particular time would mean.  I’m weighing all my decisions, and while I do, I’m continuing to write.  I’m halfway through the first draft of a new novel, and I’m continuing to support myself as a freelance writer.

I encourage other writers who have a novel they are thinking about publishing to do their homework and make the right decision for them.  Don’t just make up your mind and then look for things that support that stance, rather, read it all and consider the source.  Does one particular writer share the same vision, status, and marketing ability as you?  Maybe they are someone you could learn from.  Be honest with yourself about what type of writer and promoter you are.  Don’t give up on your dream, but be smart about how you go about making it happen.

What was Idol meant to do? Find talent that normally would not have been discovered. Last night my favorite guy, Lee DeWyze, made it into the top two. The reason I love this guy is not just that his voice is amazing, or that he’s humble and talented, but that before Idol he worked at a paint store! He wasn’t like Carrie Underwood or Kelly Clarkson before him, who had shopped their voices around trying to get a record deal. It was refreshing to see this guy, who couldn’t seem to believe that he was really good enough to be a recording artist, progress each week.

DeWyze’s voice is really amazing, and every song he sang this year felt like something I could hear on the radio. He’s got a very distinct voice and I personally can’t wait to buy his record. It doesn’t even matter if he wins next week, I know that dude is going to get a record deal. How can he not?

Here’s an example of what I mean. He sang “Treat Her Like a Lady” which is a 40-year old song and yet it sounds like it could be on the radio today:

Here he is singing one of my favorites, “The Boxer“:

And finally, one of my favorite songs of all time, the one that can make me cry and stand up and cheer all at the same time, “Hallelujah“:

I didn’t think I’d find a version I liked better than Jeff Buckley’s, but this one comes very close. I also think it’s fitting that Simon Cowell chose this song for judge’s week for Lee, because it could very well launch his career.