Posts Tagged ‘authors’
Women’s fiction vs romance. One author’s discovery
In this very informative post on the Writer’s Digest site, romance author Linda Goodnight discovered, once she submitted a story proposal to her editors, that her story was not romance but women’s fiction. In this post, Women’s Fiction or Romance? The Differences, and 5 Reasons Why They Matter, Goodnight explores the differences between the genres. As…
Read MoreDrink too much coffee when you write? Don’t feel bad…
For those writers who may guzzle a bit more coffee than they should during the writing process – don’t be too hard on yourself. After all, writers often seem to be a strange bunch and this excellent post in the Writers write blog entitled 58 Famous Writers and their addictions is required reading. From Byron’s obsession with…
Read MoreFarewell to novelist Shirley Hazzard
Earlier this month, Australian author (later turned American citizen) Shirley Hazzard (1931 – 2016) died at the age of 85. Hazzard was probably best known for her novel, The Transit of Venus, which won the National Book Critics circle Award in 1980. But for me, the book I most closely associate with Hazzard is the…
Read MoreNew-to-me authors in 2016 I’ll want to read more from…
Since discovering the excellent Book Date site, I always get great ideas for reading or posts for book lovers, such as her post New-to-me authors in 2016 I’ll want to read more from. What a great idea – each year I discover new writers whose work I enjoy, and it leads me to look up their…
Read MoreHappy National Short Story Week 2016!
It’s that time of year again, National Short Story Week 2016 – running 14-20 November! Short story readers and writers like me always appreciate efforts to concentrate much-needed attention on the short story. That’s one of the reasons I always look forward to this week. And I often tend to set aside short story collections…
Read MoreAre all writers hopeless liars?
“Is the artist a liar, or simply one for whom even a fact is not a fact? ” -Ned Rorem I love this quote by American composer Ned Rorem in The Paris Review. What do you think, writers? Are we merely liars when we make up an entire world and populate it with invented characters story after…
Read MoreThe links between authors and painters
“I learn as much from painters about how to write as from writers.” -Ernest Hemingway An interesting question raised by an author I have to admit (stereotypically? unfairly?) I would never have imagined to have pondered such a question. But I have always loved art for many of the same reasons I’ve always loved literature…
Read MoreWriting as a second life
“Writing is neither a happy nor an unhappy occupation—it is something between. It is a second life.” —Ismail Kadare Thought-provoking words from the talented Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Writing is a type of second life for authors who have an imaginary word in their heads, with their characters speaking to one another, acting out possible…
Read MoreElena Ferrante on bending writing rules
“I use plots, yes, but, I have to say, I can’t respect the rules of genres.” —Elena Ferrante Successful, anonymous author Elena Ferrante certainly has the right to devise books any way she chooses. The Italian novelist (male or female, we don’t know, but my money’s on female) became an international bestseller with her ‘Neapolitan…
Read MoreNovels over authors
“I am more interested in works than authors.” -E.M. Forster “What is important is ‘Hamlet’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream,’ not who wrote them.” -William Faulkner An interesting observation from the great novelist, E.M. Forster (1879-1970), who has a soft spot in my heart for all the novels he set in Italy. And something very…
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