Stupid Things Great Writers Say
Let's start with V.S. Naipaul, Nobel Laureate of 2001: I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or…
Who Cares About Literary Likeability?
From the L.A. Times: In a widely circulated interview with Publishers Weekly, writer Claire Messud was asked if she would want to be friends with the protagonist of her new novel, "The…
Psst…I’ve Got this Great Article On Word of Mouth For You. Pass it On
Book publicists, and authors who enjoy talking like book publicists in casual conversation, always aver that word of mouth is the best means of selling a book. But what is…
Review: Dismantle the Sun is “Wrenching”
I certainly hope so. (From Dactyl Review) Dismantle the Sun (Booktrope, 324 pages) is literary, but if you are looking for a novel of bright sunshine, lollipops along with skittles and…
What D.P. MacManus Said
Noodling around on the internet (which takes up a huge amount of my time) yielded this quote from Elvis Costello that I agree with only wholeheartedly: We're all just animals. That's…
The Fun Bits Of Editing Galleys for Summer of Long Knives
--Research the origin of the expression "Bull dyke". (It's actually a fascinating story.) --Discriminate between the terms "in stir" and "in the stir". --Research why, and exactly when, Germany switched…
A Not Quite the Worst But Still Really Bad Book Cover
We declared a worst a while back, and I'm sad to report that this one can't top it. Still, well, see for yourself: Okay, here's what they got right: the…
The Dos and Don’ts of Reacting to Bad Reviews
The other day, my friend Mai on Facebook pointed to an article about Sheryl Sandberg's publicist, who sent the following tweet to Kate Losse, who'd reviewed her already endlessly discussed…
Greetings, Book Club Members
Dismantle the Sun is now listed at readerscircle.org, a website that connects book clubs with authors like me. How fortunate that I am an author like me. Check it out.
The Worst Book Cover Ever
Only yesterday I was making a few suggestions about what the Summer of Long Knives cover should be. Basically, I suggested a theme and left it at that. The cover…