Posts Tagged ‘authors’
Writers – is (your new) book delivery the best delivery?
Packages – and especially book packages – are always exciting, but as every author knows, there is one delivery that starts your heart going pitter-pat at record speed. That’s when your own novel delivery arrives in the mail. Sure, you’ve seen the digital proofs. You’ve obsessed over colors, fonts and design. If you’re an indie…
Read MoreWriting as a way to banish concerns from your mind, according to Dos Passos
“When you write about something you often never think of it again.” —John Dos Passos I’m a big fan of John Dos Passos and his stories about how cruel the reality could be for immigrants arriving in American cities at the turn of the century – and how harsh and solitary life in those…
Read MoreMargaret Atwood on book reviews by authors
I think of reviewing like giving blood: some day you might need some yourself. -Margaret Atwood I liked this Twitter comment from Canadian author Margaret Atwood. This was in response to a person who suggested that authors – especially famous authors – should recognize their success and pay it forward by writing book reviews for…
Read MoreHemingway’s take on life’s not fair, get over it
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” -Ernest Hemingway I grew up reading Ernest Hemingway, and devoured most of his works in my younger years, but I couldn’t say he was ever a favorite author of mine. Yet, in this odd age of “Words are violence!” and a quest…
Read MoreBook review: Love Stories for Hectic People
I have written past posts about Australian-author-transplanted-to-Italy Catherine McNamara’s fiction, whether it be her debut novel, her short story collection, Pelt or her Rome reading from her latest short story collection, The Cartography of Others. So I was thrilled when I learned that she’d branched out into flash fiction, and that her latest collection of…
Read MoreWriters take heart – even John Steinbeck was intimidated by the blank page
“After many years, to start a story still scares me to death.” —John Steinbeck If it can happen to John Steinbeck, it can happen to anyone. Who can believe that the famed American author (1902 – 1968) of such classics as The Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, East of Eden and The Pearl…
Read MoreReviewing your own writing – except the bad bits
“I like reading my own work, and often do it. I go gently over the bits I think are bad.” —E. M. Forster I’m a big fan of E.M. Forster’s work. The British novelist ( 1879 – 1970) of masterpieces such as A Room with a View, Where Angels Fear to Tread, Passage to India…
Read MoreThe final resting place of writers, artists and musicians at Prague’s Vyšehrad Cemetery
This famous cemetery was built in 1869, at the edge of the site of the Vyšehrad castle – where legend has it the first settlement was created that would later become Prague. The first Czech kings ruled from this spot, before the more well-known Prague Castle was constructed. Legend has it that Princess Libuše founded…
Read MoreA fascinating glimpse into sea-sourced vocabulary from author Grace Tierney
From baggywinkle and gollywobbler to tempest and flotsam, the sea in all her moods has given a boatload of words to the English language throughout history. Grace Tierney’s fascinating Words the Sea Gave Us explores their origins along with a cargo of old sea dog yarns. Cast your line for the salty history of skyscraper,…
Read MoreShould I take voting advice from a beach reads author? Should you?
‘Tis the electoral season, but this site is not about politics. That’s not to say I am not deeply interested in politics. I am. My undergraduate degree is in political science and history, and I started interning in politics at the tender age of 16 – and have worked in all branches of government at…
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