Some people want to abuse you. Some people want to be abused. —Annie Lennox And now Colin Robinson of OR Books reveals a little something more about Amazon’s relationships to publishers in yesterday’s Huffington Post. You’ll see a parallel here between Robinson’s approach to the Amazon monopoly and the growing… Read more“Being abused by Amazon”
Tag: Writing Advice
Writing in your space
So, the author Chris Ryan and I have been talking about writing spaces. All the photos on my new website are of my office in the house my husband and I built, not including the subfloor and stacked lumber and unfinished drywall and shims and foam insulation where the trim… Read more“Writing in your space”
Catching up on 2009 in 2010
Happy New Year 2010 to you all! I hope you had as peaceful a New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as we did here at our house, ensconced by the fire by a lovely (dying) tree all lit up, towers of new books next to everyone’s chair, sleeping cats… Read more“Catching up on 2009 in 2010”
Pulp Rag: Following the details to inspiration
Now, I don’t mind chopping wood. And I don’t care if the money’s no good. You take what you need, and you leave the rest. —Robbie Robertson, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” Let’s talk about inspiration. My husband and I are selling a house right now. (And on… Read more“<em>Pulp Rag:</em> Following the details to inspiration”
Linking to the Writers’ Emergency Assistance Fund
December’s mania is the Season of Giving. Thank you to Susan Johnston of The Urban Muse for promoting the Writers’ Emergency Assistance Fund. This fund is a 501(c)(3) charitable trust made up of donations from writers like you to help freelance nonfiction writers in times of acute financial distress. As… Read more“Linking to the Writers’ Emergency Assistance Fund”
Linking to Moby Dick
I’ve mentioned before my addiction to the Hugh Laurie characterization of P.G. Wodehouse‘s quintessential dingaling, Bertie Wooster. Bertie is everything hopelessly one-sided about the British upper classes: white, male, rich, privileged, and a complete brainless gorm. He’s melodramatic, narcissistic, and self-glamorizing to the point of insanity. He’s also, fortunately, good-hearted,… Read more“Linking to <em>Moby Dick</em>”
Pulp Rag: Explicating the gnat
Let’s explicate that piece of Carson McCullers dialog. There’s tons to learn from it, but today we’ll just focus on conflicting agendas and how she rings such a realistic, poignant note by keeping her characters firmly and clearly grounded in their separate agendas. Doctor Copeland: “I will not be hurried…. Read more“<em>Pulp Rag:</em> Explicating the gnat”
Pulp Rag: Weighing point-of-view techniques
So let’s talk some more about Point-Of-View. Because this is quite a sticky widget. The simplest, commonest, most straight-forward POV is third-person limited. And there’s a really good reason for this. Because it WORKS. Once upon a time it was first-person limited. However, first-person got kind of beat to death… Read more“<em>Pulp Rag:</em> Weighing point-of-view techniques”
Being in the right place at the right time
NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and there are now millions more written words in the world than there were a month ago. Aspiring writers all over America—all over the planet—are sitting in front of their masterpieces wondering what they have to to do to them before they can start querying… Read more“Being in the right place at the right time”
Linking to Millicent Dillon
This week we’re linking to an excerpt from a novel by Millicent Dillon, A Version of Love. I know who Dillon is because in 1995 I stumbled across her biography of Jane Bowles in a bookshop in lower Fillmore in San Francisco, A Little Original Sin, introducing me to the… Read more“Linking to Millicent Dillon”