Without meaning to disparage the great work some book reviewers do, I came across a passage in Hemingway's Green Hills of Africa about how critics undermine …
Meg's Posts
Inside This Place Not of It
“Good writing takes place at intersections, at what you might call knots, at places where the society is snarled or knotted up.” - Margaret Atwood In all the …
The Future of Book Publishing?
Several years ago now, my friend Margie McKinley from the University of Michigan sent me a paperback book that had been printed on demand in just a few minutes, …
Downton Abbey: An Inspirational Writing Story
Downton Abbey is one of my three television weaknesses (along with The News Hour and the Daily Show). And I'm not one to read about what I watch. But I found …
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Reputable Novel Contests You Might Apply To
Following up on a conversation we had in the Novelist Group on SheWrites, I've put together a list of contests for unpublished book length fiction (including …
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Anne Tyler on 1st Drafts
"I would advise any beginning writer to write the first drafts as if no one else will ever read them - without a thought about publication - and only in the …
Writing a Novel is Like Making a Jigsaw Puzzle
I've often said writing a novel is like running a marathon, but I'm beginning to think it's more like making a jigsaw puzzle: The charge of the first draft is …
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Sandra Beasley: The Accidental Memoirist
I'm delighted to be hosing Sandra Beasley on 1st Books today. The Boston Globe calls Sandra's memoir, Don’t Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life, …
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Now All I Need is a Sand-Repellent Laptop
The summer I studied for the bar exam, I went to my bar review class in the morning and then drove over the hill with my books, set up a beach chair on the …
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First Draft!
Just finished a first draft of my new novel, and am reminded of the Hemingway saying re same: "First drafts are s#!t." Well, except he had a version of hello in …
