Photo courtesy of Lila Vogt Yes, the fall season of author events is officially over and plans are already underway for the spring program! Thank you to the warm crowd who turned out last night at Great Harvest Bread to hear Anchorage author Lee Goodman read from his new work and talk about his attempt […]
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When this post first ran back in 2009, bestselling author Dana Stabenow was in the process of writing the first novel in what became her Silk and Song trilogy, about Marco Polo’s granddaughter traveling the Silk Road west from 1322 to 1327, China to England. Now that she has just released the second book in the
From the Archives: Dana Stabenow on Writing History Read More »
That’s quite a cover shot—a huge, wild Alaska wolf and a Labrador retriever facing each other. What’s the story on that? That’s the actual photo from the opening scene of the book, the first time my wife, Sherrie, our dog, Dakotah, and I met the wolf we’d come to call Romeo. He’s two years old
Nick Jans: Q & A about A Wolf Called Romeo Read More »
In Charles Baxter’s book The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot, he claims that “Between staging and subtexts a bewildering relationship seems to exist. Writers must often use a staggering amount of surface bric-a-brac to suggest an indistinct presence underneath that surface. The stronger the presence of the unspoken and the unseen, the more gratuitous details
Caroline Goodwin: Wintergreen Read More »
Sculpture by Marcel Buhler, courtesy Cream Contemporary Scan advice from agents and editors, and you’ll find a common thread: too many writers send off their work before it’s ready. Reader reviews of self-published books echo this concern. But how do you know when a piece is as good as it’s going to get? This is
Deb Vanasse: Is It Done Yet? How to Tell if Your Book is Ready to Market Read More »
Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s membership drive! You helped us to meet and exceed our goal of 100 new members in 2014–we’re at 106 and counting. We also appreciate the support of everyone who donated part of their Permanent Fund Dividend to 49 Writers this year through Pick.Click. Give., our first
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For over ten years, like nearly every writer on the planet except for Jonathan Franzen (who jammed a screwdriver into his laptop to disable the wireless) I’ve been distracted by the internet–and just about everything else. My brain’s reaction to typing the period at the end of any promising sentence, or feeling the glimmer of
Andromeda: Saved by the Tomato Read More »
Nick Jans It’s a writer’s dream come true. A major publisher grabs your pitch, offers a wow contract, and off you go. You get good support but plenty of freedom, spot-on editing, and a great cover design. Best-selling authors offer fabulous blurbs. Your book opens to glowing reviews from the usual places, and better-than-good national
NIck Jans: When the Book Dream Comes True Read More »
Lee Goodman I’m thinking about “want.” as in: “What does a character want?” When talking about screenwriting, this issue gets pushed right to the front. Your protagonist must want something, there must be obstacles… etcetera. With regard to prose fiction though, the element of wanting is less overt, maybe because it’s just instinctive to us
Lee Goodman: Wanting Read More »
Bill Vaudrain I’m once again on the Seward Highway, headed south out of Anchorage. Another trip to Alaska, this is the latest of many that over the course of the past several years have helped keep my battery charged and life in focus. I pull into the Tesoro in Girdwood, stopping for gas, some coffee,
Alaska Shorts: Stopping at Girdwood, by Bill Vaudrain Read More »
