I’m reading an older book - older as in this thing is in its 54th printing and I’m just now getting around to reading it.  I could be wrong but I think the author has retired from writing.  Yeah, I’m that far behind.
The books is a historical romance.  Even has a train robbery in it, [...]

I’m assuming most publishing contracts are like mine.  There’s a "thou shalt give us the right to review your next XXX book first" clause in there.  The general idea is if the publishing house invests in you they want to keep you and have the first shot at your new work.  I get that.  Makes [...]

For some reason the Washington Post (and probably others) thinks we should know what the President is reading this Summer.  I guess this is a must-know thing but, really, I’d rather he be working than reading.  Maybe that’s just me.
To the extent this is interesting - and please note that I actually don’t think it [...]

I read an article the other day where the point seemed to be that the writing style and voice of the author didn’t match everything else that was known or discussed about the author.  The author in question was Salman Rushdie.  The gist went something like this:  for a guy with a bounty on his [...]

Picture this….two book trains leave their stations, one in New York and one in Los Angeles.  We’ll call the Los Angeles train The Historian and the New York train The Traveler.  If  The Traveler is, well, traveling at 60 m.p.h. and leaves at 5:00 p.m. and The Historian is traveling at 45 m.p.h. and leaves [...]

Over the last few years we’ve been subjected to a host of titles and descriptions for new writing subgenres.  We’ve heard about chick lit and experienced the backlash from some female writers who are, let’s say, displeased to be lumped in with that subset.  Then there’s hen lit, a title which always makes me wonder [...]

According to the the professional folks at the recent RWA conference chick lit mysteries are the next big thing.  If the review in today’s Washington Post Book World is correct, the genre still has a long way to go.
Maureen Corrigan (NPR book critic and literature professor) reviewed some "pink mysteries" and remarked:
The drawback to all [...]

So, I’m reading my 683 Viagra-related emails and I happen upon a discussion about editor rejection.  One writer complained that the rejection she received consisted of only two short lines and failed to offer any encouragement.  Not to point out the obvious but the main purpose of a rejection letter is not encouragement.  It’s to [...]

Time Warner’s website includes a section with articles by authors from various writing backgrounds on a variety of topics.  Some are writing-related and some not so much.  If you want to know about baseball, obesity, or something called "The Taco of Writing" then this is the place for you.
An article by Kate White takes on [...]

Jennifer Aniston is on the cover of Vanity Fair this month.  To the extent you don’t know and haven’t heard because, you know, you’ve been living in an Armenian monastery and pretending it’s the year 1210, Jenn and Brad are over.  I know, it hurts.  Tough news and all that but maybe we could leave [...]