Writing
Persistence Notes
“I never would have continued as a writer if The Temple of Gold had not been taken by the first publisher I sent it to. I’m not that masochistic. There was no way I was going to write anymore. I didn’t know that then, but I know it now. There was no encouragement; no one ever said … Continue reading
Reading Material
Today marks the tenth anniversary of when I began keeping a record of every book that I read. Therefore, without further ado, I present the complete reading material of a decade.
“Miguel”
Miguel, ma belleThese are words that go together wellMy MiguelMiguel, ma belleSont les mots qui vont tres bien ensembleTres bien ensemble
Closing Windows
http://grantland.com/features/simmons-oklahoma-city-thunder-nba-championship/ Bill Simmons ‘meditation’ on the uncertainty of the future, the ephemerality of opportunity. The thing about sports is they tell you when it’s over. Everybody talks about giving 110% and never quitting, but only as long as the game is going on. When the final buzzer sounds, whether you’ve won or lost you know to … Continue reading
Brain Teasers
I’m a big white rectangle with sheets and blankets on top and people sleep on me. What am I? I’m invisible, yet you can know what I am by using a clock or watch or a sundial or in a pinch you can just guess what I am. What am I? What’s black and white … Continue reading
Non-Insane Proposals for Publishing Industry Professionals
What I don’t understand is why we writers believe that those on the other side of the transom act in such illogical ways, ways in which I definitely wouldn’t act if I were in their shoes. Agents. If I were an agent I wouldn’t read anybody’s stories or novels.
Begging the Question
We call a story good because of what is written, not who wrote it. But sometimes people invert the relationship—i.e., we believe a story must be good because a particular name is attached to it. In “A Legend in His Own Mind” (The New Yorker, Dec. 22 & 29, 1997, pp. 54-65), John Walsh reports … Continue reading
Annals of Superhuman Persistence, Vol IV: Veronica Roth
On March 31, 2010, 21-year-old Veronica Roth wrote a blog post titled “You + $$$ = ?” Two weeks later, Roth sold her first book, a dystopian YA novel about a society segregated by moral virtues and a girl who doesn’t fit in. “I was in Psych learning about exposure therapy,” she recalls. She started … Continue reading
Annals of Superhuman Persistence, Vol. III: Samantha Shannon
21-Year-Old Novelist Samantha Shannon on Her Debut, The Bone Season Samantha Shannon’s “inspiration for The Bone Season, the ambitious first novel in a projected seven-part series to be published by Bloomsbury, came from an internship with literary agent David Godwin the summer after her first year at Oxford.
Trailer
Fade in on an office building at sunset. Mournful music plays. Cut to interior of the building as the white collar workers leave. One turns back on the threshold and calls, “See you in the morning, John.” Cut to John, late twenties, All-American looks, clean-shaven but with a lock of hair falling over his forehead, … Continue reading