Columns

Ask The Agent: When to Nudge Agents, Hiring Editors, and MORE!

April 29th, 2013

Navigating the rough terrain of today’s publishing industry shouldn’t be a solo event. This week in Ask the Agent, I’ll explore and dissect a few of the industry’s mysteries, straight from the shoulder.

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Life-Changers and Soul-Crushers: 3 Books I Feel Blessed to Have Read & 3 I Wish I Could Obliterate from My Memory

April 26th, 2013

There are books, and there are good books. There are books that are not so good, but that are good reads. And then there are the books that, when you finish reading them, make you feel emotional, inspired, full of love for language and hope for humanity. These are the books that you can’t forget, the LIFE CHANGERS.

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7 F***in' Great Ways to Build Your Writing Routine

April 25th, 2013

I spent ages looking for tips on building writing habits, and was disappointed. There's a lot of bland advice out there: write every day, don't edit while you write, have a goal… None of that is very helpful if you're trying to understand how you should actually put this stuff into practice.

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All the Reasons Californication is Terrible Now

April 25th, 2013

Dear Tom Kapinos and everyone else responsible for Californication, What the hell happened? Are you guys okay?

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10 Authors Who Prove It's Never Too Late To Start Writing

April 25th, 2013

Some women are badgered mercilessly by biological clocks that tick louder and louder as infertility approaches. "Have a baby," the clock tells them. "Just look how cute that baby is! You need a baby. Now! While you still can." That part of me doesn't exist, but in its place is some sort of literary clock, every bit as annoying in its insistence and ubiquity. "Write the book," it says. "Look at that store full of books. One of those should be yours." Around my birthday, it turns rather mean spirited.

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Storyville: 20 Things I've Learned About Writing

April 24th, 2013

What have I learned over the past five years, as a writer, a reader, and a patron of the arts? Here are twenty items—I hope they help you with your career.

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Crossing the Rubicon: A Steve Erickson Primer

April 24th, 2013

On January 10th, 49 BC, Julius Caesar led a legion of soldiers across the Rubicon river into Italy, an act of insurrection that started the Great Roman Civil War. Roman historian Suetonius gives this apocryphal account:

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First Drafts in a Mobile Landscape: Five Word Processors for Tablets & Smartphones

April 23rd, 2013

In my previous column, Paperless Writer: Five Steps to a Successful Digital Rewrite, I focused on draft editing practices in a mobile landscape. Now I’d like to take a step back and talk about the first draft, that initial pouring of characters and plot onto the page (or in our case, the screen). Just as there is an abundance of word processing software for both Mac and PC, so it goes for iPad and other tablets on the market.

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The Blagger's Guide to L Frank Baum

April 23rd, 2013

To blag (v): to sound like you know what you’re talking about when you don’t The Blagger’s Guide to Literature (n): an invaluable resource for those who wish to blag about books without actually reading them.

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The Drought of Environmental Fantasy

April 22nd, 2013

In honor of Earth Day, I thought I would write a column about ecological fantasies, about fantasy novels and stories that explore environmental and ecological themes. I prepared, as I usually do, to come up with a list of books off the top of my head and... I couldn’t think of any.

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