David Brooks, courtesy Library of Congress

Boy, the Public Editor’s column in the June 28 edition of The New York Times really struck a chord with me. The column by Margaret Sullivan wondered if both The Times and its readers are served by reporters who write books, people like columnist and PBS commentator David Brooks, whose latest work, “The Road to Character,” has been the subject of several columns that linked to his website. Readers complained not only about his shilling for his book but about errors in the book that have since been corrected.

While I haven’t read the book, I thought the premise of related columns – that the individual needs to be subjugated to the good of the community – was essentially illogical and unrealistic.

But I sympathize. I, too, have published a book, the novel “Water Music,” and am working on a second, “The Penalty for Holding,” both part of my series “The Games Men Play.” And though I have tried to keep my day and evening/weekend jobs separate, I must admit they often overlap, pleasantly so.

A journalist would have to be a fool not to acknowledge that his very profession is a springboard to publicity for any book. Yet I also think being a published author adds a certain cachet to a publication.

While everything in life is a balancing act, your day job is your day job. In the end, it and its readers must come first.