How I write: For crime writer Kathy Reichs there are three phases to her routine
stuff.co.nz – Wednesday May 12, 2021
Forensic anthropologist Kathy Reichs has brought her own dramatic work experience to her thrillers. She continues the journey of Temperance Brennan in her latest novel, The Bone Code. Here she shares with The Dominion Post readers some of her thoughts on writing.
What's your writing routine?
My writing process unfolds in three phases. First comes the phase when my mind collects and stashes tidbits. Then I move to the paper phase, making lists, drawing charts, scribbling outlines. I ask myself, what if this, what if that. I consider plot twists, various endings. When all the imagining and weaving and juxtaposing are done, it’s on to the computer phase. Bum to the chair, eyes to the screen, fingers to the keyboard. I like to begin early in the morning, wrap up by mid-afternoon. Then I read or do more research.
HarperCollins Completes Purchase of HMH Trade
publishersweekly.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
HarperCollins, the second largest trade publisher in the U.S., has completed its acquisition of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media. HC, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, agreed to buy the HMH trade division in March for $349 million.
In a letter to employees, HC CEO Brian Murray acknowledged that "many" decisions need to be made over the coming months surrounding the acquisition. Still, he noted that he has outlined an initial, temporary organizational plan that will be kept in place until a new, permanent structure has been conceived.
Town & Country UK magazine to close as publisher Hearst slashes jobs
cityam.com – Tuesday May 11, 2021
Town & Country UK magazine is set to fold as part of cost-cutting operation at publisher Hearst that will see up to a fifth of UK staff made redundant.
The luxury title, the British version of which was first published in 2014, is set to be scrapped as the company adapts to a decline in print media consumption.
The proposed move will also mean up to one in five UK staff face redundancy or will have their roles pooled. It is understood employees will be offered enhanced redundancy packages.
Hearst, whose UK titles include Cosmopolitan, Elle, Men’s Health and Good Housekeeping, has so far weathered the pandemic without making job cuts or using the furlough scheme.
Douglas Murray criticises transphobia letter, slamming 'left-wing bubble' of publishing
thebookseller.com – Monday May 10, 2021
Author Douglas Murray has criticised an open letter published in The Bookseller, which claimed UK book publishing is transphobic.
In the article for Unherd, a digital magazine which aims “to push back against the herd mentality with new and bold thinking”, Murray generally lamented the left-wing presence in UK publishing as well as criticising the letter urging acceptance of transgender rights published on 3rd May.
Murray's article, entitled "Publishing is now a Left-wing bubble", cited a US study comparing professions with voting preferences which showed 100% of those in publishing were left-wing. Murray, author of The Madness of Crowds (Bloomsbury) and associate editor of the Spectator, wrote: “To those with friends in publishing, despairing at the regular struggle session-style get-together they are now subjected to in which every conceivable centre-left political orthodoxy is celebrated, this is not a revelation. Although the survey in question is from the US, it is certain that a similar pattern can be found over here, too.”
GoodNovel hosts series of writing contests to strengthen author's creative welfare
prnewswire.com – Saturday May 8, 2021
GoodNovel, an international platform focusing on the creation of original online novels, has launched two writing contests – The Blessed Wolf and The CEO and Me – to celebrate its first anniversary. The two contests run till August and September, 2021 respectively and reach over 5 million readerships on the platform prospectively, with total prizes add up to over 40,000 dollars.
GoodNovel attracts readers from over 100 countries and authors from more than 50 countries. They are producing and consuming online stories in languages including English, French, Indonesian, Filipino, and Russian. Officially launched in April 2020, GoodNovel is featured as one of the Top3 reading Apps on Appstore and Google Play store ranked by grossing.
In the past year, GoodNovel has successfully held several writing contests on diversified topics, receiving thousands of works from online writing talents around the world, among which winning works received customized promotion and extra exposure. Correspondingly, winning stories gained great reputation for their edge over other novels and the authors also benefited greatly from their works.
New Magazine Listing: Island Online
firstwriter.com – Thursday May 6, 2021
Digital publishing platform operated in conjunction with longstanding print magazine.
New Literary Agent Listing: Kristin Ostby
firstwriter.com – Thursday May 6, 2021
Represents authors of middle grade and young adult fiction, as well as picture book author/illustrators and select adult fiction. She is primarily seeking tightly written, tightly plotted, fast-paced commercial middle-grade and young adult fiction—adventure, mystery, and contemporary humor—as well as young adult romance.
How to write a book
cambridgenetwork.co.uk – Monday May 3, 2021
Whenever I go anywhere, meet anyone, and introduce myself, a comment authors are pretty much guaranteed to hear is:
- I've always wanted to write a book.
If that's you, and there's a book hiding inside you, longing to come out...
This is how to go about writing it.
One word of warning first.
What I'm not going to talk about are the ingredients of a book, the characters, settings, plot, research, all that.
This blog specifically focuses on how to motivate yourself to write a book, and ways to deal with some of the most common concerns.
If these help, there are plenty of resources to help you do the actual writing. I'll mention a couple later.
The publishing industry has turned into modern-day book burners
nypost.com – Sunday May 2, 2021
Serious accusations have been made against Blake Bailey, the author of an acclaimed new biography of Philip Roth. Bailey has not been convicted of anything, or even criminally charged, yet the book’s publisher, W.W. Norton, announced it was withdrawing the book from print. That doesn’t make sense and it’s a terrible precedent.
Harvey Weinstein is a convicted rapist, but does that mean no one should ever be allowed to see “The English Patient,” “Clerks,” “Pulp Fiction” or “The King’s Speech” again? Roman Polanski does not deny he carried out a gruesome sex attack on a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Should we pull everything he’s ever done off the cultural shelf and throw it on the bonfire? We’d lose “Chinatown,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Tenant.” The French philosopher Michel Foucault, who died in 1984, raped thousands of boys as young as 8 in Tunisia in the 1960s, according to a shocking recent claim by writer Guy Sorman, who knew him then. Should all of Foucault’s books be taken off the shelves, or can we acknowledge that we are not endorsing a man’s character when we allow his books to exist?
I dread writing any kind of romantic scene – or, even worse, anything remotely sexy
irishtimes.com – Saturday May 1, 2021
I literally dread having to write romantic scenes of any description. Of all the aspects of writing a book, for me, it is without a doubt the hardest thing I have to do. I’m not talking about the more extreme, bodice-ripping, “leave little to the imagination” type of scene – I could never even attempt that. I’m talking about a more pedestrian, everyday sort of romance.
But it doesn’t matter, I still dread writing any kind of romantic scene and even worse, if there is anything remotely sexy going on it’s absolutely mortifying!
As I sit and type, casting characters in some sort of embrace, or state of undress, I cringe inwardly as my fingers hit the keyboard, imagining people I know turning the pages and wondering if by any chance I’m describing myself or one of my previous misadventures. I will put off the inevitable for as long as physically possible, skipping over any romantic parts and leaving large gaps in the text, deferring the writing of those scenes until a later date, hoping that somehow, magically, I will be better able to rattle off those scenes without duress.
Get the free newsletter | Submit a news item or article | Get Writers' News for your website
