Writers Seek Advice and Fun at Teen Book Fests
Many cities now have teen book fests. If you haven’t been to one, you should try the nearest available. This is particularly true for anyone who is writing YA fiction, but, considering that authors speak about craft and their own … Continued
Writing Inspiration from The Mars Room
The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner There are many excellent reviews of The Mars Room, plus its a bestseller, so I don’t see a need to go on too long about it. Except–if you’ve somehow missed this book about the … Continued
Writing Lessons from Ron Carlson
Writing Lessons from Ron Carlson I’ve never read anything by Ron Carlson that I didn’t enjoy. I began with his short stories and later read two novels, “Return to Oakpine” and “The Signal.” Later I read “Ron Carlson Writes a … Continued
Johnny Cash, Glen Sherley and Kristen Lamb
A Loose Connection: Folsom Untold and Rise of the Machines I took a long walk while listening to Folsom Untold: The Strange True Story of Johnny Cash’s Greatest Album. I wanted to listen to Folsom because I’d recently read Rachel Kushner’s The Mars Room (great stuff!) … Continued
Writing Inspiration from The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez is about writers, how they relate to one another, and how they engage with the larger world. It’s a great read for anyone who is writing just now.
Writing Prompts from “The Buried Giant”
Use Quotes from Reading for Writing Prompts I’ve come to think that some of the best writing prompts are the things we underline in the books we read. I’ve decided to periodically post some of my underlining here. The nice … Continued
Independent Bookstores: I Do Like Them
Say! I like this intriguing book! I do! I like it, take a look! And I would read books in a boat. And I would read them with a goat… And I will read them, … Continued
Horror: The Haunting of Hill House, Lovecraft and More
Multiple Horrors We didn’t begin with Shirley Jackson or the Haunting of Hill House this week. My sons and I started our email conversation about an article in the LA Review of Books on how authors are reimagining H. P. … Continued
Women’s Anthology: Carrying Fire
My story “In the Cards” is out in the latest TL;DR anthology, Carrying Fire. Here’s a nice blog post about the project.
Try a Family Book Club
People joke about their love of the wine and food, but book clubs are essentially a great experience because we get to discuss one of our favorite things with some of our favorite people. I’ve participated in book clubs with … Continued