George Saunders: what writers really do when they write
theguardian.com – Saturday March 4, 2017
Many years ago, during a visit to Washington DC, my wife’s cousin pointed out to us a crypt on a hill and mentioned that, in 1862, while Abraham Lincoln was president, his beloved son, Willie, died, and was temporarily interred in that crypt, and that the grief-stricken Lincoln had, according to the newspapers of the day, entered the crypt “on several occasions” to hold the boy’s body. An image spontaneously leapt into my mind – a melding of the Lincoln Memorial and the Pietà. I carried that image around for the next 20-odd years, too scared to try something that seemed so profound, and then finally, in 2012, noticing that I wasn’t getting any younger, not wanting to be the guy whose own gravestone would read “Afraid to Embark on Scary Artistic Project He Desperately Longed to Attempt”, decided to take a run at it, in exploratory fashion, no commitments. My novel, Lincoln in the Bardo, is the result of that attempt, and now I find myself in the familiar writerly fix of trying to talk about that process as if I were in control of it.
The 10 Best Interlinked Short Story Collections
publishersweekly.com – Saturday March 4, 2017
The interconnected stories in Knight's exquisitely crafted collection Eveningland explore the lives of characters living in and around Mobile, Ala., in the years preceding the destruction wrought by a fictional hurricane. Funny, wise, and heartfelt, the stories stand on their own, but also add up to a stunning whole. Here are Knight's picks for 10 interlinked short story collections.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Thursday March 2, 2017
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction; Poetry; Reference;
Areas include: Adventure; Archaeology; Architecture; Arts; Autobiography; Biography; Business; Cookery; Crafts; Crime; Fantasy; Gardening; Health; Historical; How-to; Humour; Legal; Military; Music; Mystery; Nature; Photography; Politics; Religious; Romance; Sci-Fi; Short Stories; Spiritual; Sport; Theatre; Travel; Westerns; Women's Interests;
Markets: Adult; Children's; Family
Began in the 1970s with a focus on nonfiction about the American Southwest, but has since expanded its focus to include mainstream themes and categories in both fiction and nonfiction. Send query by post only with short summary, author bio, one sample chapter, table of contents, marketing plan, and statement on why this is the right publisher for your book.
New Magazine Listing
firstwriter.com – Wednesday March 1, 2017
Publishes: Fiction;
Areas include: Fantasy; Sci-Fi; Short Stories;
Markets: Adult
Publishes science fiction and fantasy stories up to 10,000 words. No horror or poetry. Flash fiction is unlikely to find favour unless exceptional. Send submissions by email as RTF attachments. No Word files. See website for full guidelines.
Thinking About Writing Literary Fiction?
psmag.com – Tuesday February 28, 2017
In 2013, James Patterson, the paperback writer whose volumes are typically consumed somewhere between 25,000 and 32,000 feet above ground, made $90 million from book sales. Ninety million dollars. With publishers finally quashing the old-school idea that big-name authors should release no more than a book a year, Patterson opened the floodgates. After assembling a 16-member gang of ghostwriters (provided by Little, Brown and Company, his publisher) and sketching a series of boilerplate plot lines, Team Patterson started cranking into the lowbrow literary universe two to four “BookShots” a month. He says he looks at writing “the way Henry Ford would look at it.” He also says he’s responsible for about one-third of his publisher’s overall book sales.
What Moonlight Teaches Us About The Importance Of Creative Writing Training
huffingtonpost.co.uk – Tuesday February 28, 2017
Tarell McCraney, the writer of the play which is the basis of the film Moonlight which was last night’s Oscar winner for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay amongst other awards, was in the year above me at Yale, where we were both studying for an MFA in Playwriting at Yale School of Drama.
New Publisher Listing
firstwriter.com – Tuesday February 28, 2017
Publishes: Fiction; Nonfiction;
Markets: Adult
A dynamic publisher offering quick responses to MSS and queries with a fast time to market for accepted works. Submissions always welcome. Please send your first 3 chapters, synopsis and a brief bio by email or via our website.
Susan Hill: ‘Can I be a serious writer, keeping such casual hours?’
theguardian.com – Saturday February 25, 2017
The past is another country. I wrote things differently there. First it was the school day: O-levels, A-levels. I was always writing. Some paint, some play an instrument, some swim fast, some run. I wrote: poems, plays, stories – anything, so long as it was words on paper. During O-levels I started a novel, because I asked advice from the writer Pamela Hansford Johnson, who told me I should.
Writing Issues: Advice I Give: Patrick O’Neil
huffingtonpost.com – Friday February 24, 2017
Patrick O’Neil is the author of the memoir Gun, Needle, Spoon (Dzanc Books). His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Juxtapoz, Salon, The Nervous Breakdown, After Party Magazine, and Razorcake. O’Neil is a contributing editor for Sensitive Skin Magazine, a Pushcart nominee, a two time nominee for Best Of The Net, and a PEN Center USA Professional and former Mentor. In today’s “Writing Issues,” I asked him what advice he would give aspiring authors.
Poetry, love and psychosis: can writing help us come to terms with mental illness?
theguardian.com – Thursday February 23, 2017
Paula Keogh never intended to write about her relationship with Michael Dransfield, one of the most prominent – and colourful – poets in Australian literature.
“I was actually doing a PhD on Michael’s poetry,” she tells Guardian Australia. “And my supervisor discovered that Michael and I had known each other and been very close, and she said, ‘Hang on, I don’t know whether you’re writing the right thesis here, maybe you should write a memoir!’”
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