If I were asked to choose (hypothetically) one book to take with me into solitary exile on an island, I’d ask if I could bring my fishing tackle instead. But if that wasn’t allowed, I would choose the heaviest anthology of short stories I could find. Maybe The Story and its Writer edited by Ann […]
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | On Becoming a Short Story Junkie Read More »
A number of years ago in a fiction writing workshop, a student turned in the early chapters of a novel she’d been working on for some time. The writing was so good that when the class ended I asked her if I could see more of it. After reading it, I ventured an opinion that
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | Who’s Afraid of Revising Work? Read More »
That title is borrowed from an essay by venerable writer and publisher Nick Lyons that appeared in the New York Times Book Review some years ago. Lyons himself borrowed the title from a 1935 animated short film starring Betty Boop. In the cartoon, Betty wails those words to a villain trying to seduce her. But
Guest Blogger Rich Chiappone | No! No! A Thousand Times, No! Read More »
For the last few years, I’ve been conflicted about something integral to fiction: writing characters with different backgrounds and experiences from me. I am white, and though I now live in Alaska, my family has deep roots in the south. I have benefited in pretty major and obvious ways from white privilege. I don’t want
Mary Catharine Martin | On Writing Characters Who Don’t Look Like You Read More »
A delighted reader from the Loewen household “I leaf through now one book, now another, without order, and without plan, by disconnected fragments,” wrote Michel de Montaigne, father of the essay, claiming, “If I am a man of some reading, I am a man of no retention.” Last week I made a similar admission, wondering
Guest Blogger Sara Loewen | Six Reading Tips for Writers Read More »
Great advice and encouragement on research, from this month’s featured author Dana Stabenow: The absolute best part of a writer’s life is the research. I’ve written two thrillers, Blindfold Game and Prepared for Rage. For both novels I went on patrol with the US Coast Guard, first on Alex Haley for 16 days in the
Dana Stabenow | Loving Coasties Read More »
