Columns

The Long & Winding Road: Part 1- Writing The Novel

March 8th, 2012

The Long & Winding Road is a multi-part essay about how I wrote my first novel, found and secured my agent, my experience revising both with and without an agent, what happened when we tried to sell my first novel, and where I now stand on this ever changing road toward publication. IN THE BEGINNING In late 2004 I started writing my first novel. It happened a bit by accident. The idea was to write a screenplay, because I was living in Los Angeles, and that's what people do in Los Angeles.

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Top 5 Mysterious Authors

March 7th, 2012

We are now in a state of affairs when an author, particularly a new kid on the block, is expected to build a platform, a fanbase, often before even a single line of their work sees print. Twitter followers and page hits are a vital step in appealing to publishers, important signs for whether an author's work will actually be bought. It's already becoming difficult to conceive of a life with complete and utter privacy, particularly in the case of a writer, so dependent on exposure the process has become. It was not always so.

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Don't Judge A Comic Book By Its Movie

March 6th, 2012

The only thing Hollywood loves more than making movies is turning other things into movies. We live in an age where film is fast replacing literature as the record of culture. Film reviews take up more and more printed space while book reviews dwindle. We live in an age where it’s generally accepted that if something's worth knowing, there should be a movie about it.

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Book vs. Film: Drive

March 5th, 2012

I’m not the type of reader who obsesses over whether the film adaptation of a novel is true to the original text or not.

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Ask The Lit Coach: "Will A Publisher Take A Master Thesis Seriously?"

March 5th, 2012

When I was a literary agent, I would often read queries from writers fresh out of undergrad or MFA programs. I was always happy to consider their thesis projects and frankly, it didn't matter to me where they went to school - I just cared about the work itself and whether or not the writer had any previous publishing success. Not all agents are the same, though. This week, we're discussing how to pitch thesis work. 

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Does Gay Writing Deserve Special Treatment?

March 2nd, 2012

The 2011 short list for the Man Booker prize – the UK’s main literary award – ruffled a few feathers. Mainly this was because the chair of the judging panel, Dame Stella Rimington, had the nerve to suggest that readability was one of the main factors in deciding who made it onto the list and who didn’t.

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Top 10 YA Books That Adults Will Love

March 2nd, 2012

Even as a young adult, I never read much Young Adult fiction. But a few years ago my friends started Forever Young Adult, a hilarious site aimed at grown-ups who love YA. Being friends with YA experts means that I always have someone to weed through the dross and recommend (and loan me) the best the genre has to offer. I’m here today to pass on their expertise to you.

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The Path To Publication Part 3: When Is Done, Done?

March 1st, 2012

Recap: This is a monthly column about trying to publish my crime/noir/literary novel, formerly known as 'Apophenia'. Part 1 talked about the book and its history, as well as my decision to seek an agent. Part 2 talked about beta-readers and the various methods for finding an agent.

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New Release Roundup: Recommendations for March 2012

March 1st, 2012

Every month I'll be toiling in the dank, dark mines of literary obscurity, scouring the catalogues of every major publisher to bring the LitReactor faithful a few choice titles hitting the shelves. The following is a brief look at what's worth checking out for March. Full disclosure: unless otherwise noted, none of the below books have been reviewed by myself or other LitReactor staff. These are just a few recommendations based on publisher's notes and my own opinions. Without further ado:

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Autobiographical Fiction: Using Your Real Life To Craft Great Fiction

February 29th, 2012

There is a fine line between a fictionalized autobiography or memoir and autobiographical fiction. In both cases, the author includes tidbits about his or her life. The difference is to what extent. Fictionalized autobiographies are mostly a truthful telling of the author’s experience with sections fictionalized to “protect the innocent”, filling gaps where memory fails, and occasionally rearranging events for maximum narrative effect. Generally speaking, the reader is to believe the author’s account and take it for truth.

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