How Writers Get Started

In celebration of Nanowrimo, I’m rerunning some of my favorite guest author posts (and trying to tidy them in the process). This one was written by Booker finalist Karen Joy Fowler for June 5, 2013 — on the occasion of publication of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, which went on the win the PEN/Faulkner… ...

For NanoWriMo month, I’m going to repost some of my favorite guest author posts, which I’m rereading to inspire myself! This one — by one of my fave authors, National Book Award winner Julia Glass — originally ran in September of 2010! I’ve just moved platforms, and have not yet tidied up everything here yet,… ...

I’m delighted to have as my guest this week Jennifer Haupt, whose debut novel, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills is just out! Jennifer went to Rwanda as a journalist in 2006, twelve years after the genocide that wiped out over one million people, to explore the connections between forgiveness and grief. She spent a month… ...

Today's guest author, Ethel Rohan, has just released her third book and first novel, The Weight of Him. ...

Harriet Scott Chessman, whose new novel, The Lost Sketchbook of Edgar Degas, is just out, writes about the importance of a writer embracing her stubbornness. ...

My guest today is debut novelist Abby Fabiaschi, author of I Liked My Life. A former tech executive who left to pursue a career in writing, Abby is also a human rights advocate on the board for Her Future Coalition, an international nonprofit organization with a unique prosperity model that uplifts victims from human trafficking… ...

Micah Perks won an NEA grant and The New Guard Machigonne Fiction prize for excerpts of her new novel, What Becomes Us, which is out this week and which Elizabeth McKenzie calls “exhilarating and terrifying … is a novel I love for its wild beauty, its offbeat inventiveness, its effervescent language, and the artfulness with… ...

Ruth Whippman is a British journalist, author and documentary film-maker living in California.  She has written for the New York Times, Time magazine, The Guardian, The Independent and the Huffington Post and she is a regular contributor to time.com.  She has also made numerous documentaries for BBC Television.  She is the author of America the… ...

I’m delighted to kick off a new 1st Books feature–3 Minute Interviews–with the amazing Caroline Leavitt, whose new novel, Cruel Beautiful World, is just out. Lucky me, I got to read this one prepublication, so I can tell you personally that it is TERRIFIC. It’s an October IndieNext pick–the choice of booksellers all over the… ...

Constance Hale is a San Francisco–based journalist probably best known for her books on language and literary style, including the best-selling Sin and Syntax, and her New York Times columns on the subject. But she's also been writing about Hawaiian culture for more than twenty-five years, with award-winning features on hula, slack-key guitar, the sovereignty movement, the Hawaiian language, Big Island cowboys, and Spam musubi in the Atlantic, National Geographic Adventure, and Smithsonian, to name a few. ...

I love this post by this week’s guest author, Aya de Leon, because it shares a truth that few seem to want to talk about.* Carolina De Robertis, author of The Gods of Tango, calls Aya’s first novel, Uptown Thief, “a smart, sexy, sizzling good time of a novel–a daring and irresistible blend of high-voltage action… ...

My guest today, Marian Palaia, is a San Francisco (and often Missoula, Montana) author whose first novel, The Given World, was praised in a starred Kirkus review as “an immensely rewarding and remarkable debut.” It has been nominated for both the PEN/Bingham Prize and the Saroyan International Prize for Fiction. I’ve done readings with Marian… ...

For her latest novel, The Things We Wish Were True, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen has moved to Lake Union, which according to its website, publishes “contemporary and historical fiction, memoir, and popular nonfiction.” It sounds like it might be an imprint of one of the “big five” publishing houses: Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette and… ...

I’ve been crazy busy lately, and sadly remiss about hosting guest authors. But I’m delighted to share a post today by debut novelist Jennifer S. Brown, whose Modern Girls is just out this week from NAL. Booklist calls it a “moving debut, portraying the sacrifices a mother and daughter make in order to save face… ...

May I recommend this interview -- Elizabeth Strout with Terry Gross on Fresh Air -- to anyone who writes, anyone who wants to write, anyone who has been to law school, anyone who wants to know what it's like to be a writer, or ... well, anyone! ...

Karma Brown is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer whose first novel, Come Away with Me, released just a few weeks ago, when I was on book tour and 1st Books was on hiatus–so I’m delighted to host her today. Lori Nelson Spielman says of Karma’s debut, “Fans of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love will flock to this… ...

I’m so delighted today to be back at the 1st Books business of inspiring writers to keep on writing. And what better way to kick off the post-The Race for Paris publication chaos than with a post by Marilyn Yalom and Theresa Donovan Brown–writing about writing their new book, The Social Sex: A History of… ...

Lisa Brackmann is the critically acclaimed author of the Ellie McEnroe four novels, including Dragon Day–in bookstores August 18. Booklist, in a starred review, calls the new novel “a nonstop thriller, illuminating the Chinese police state in which ‘First they decide you’re a threat. Then they find a label for it.’ Top-notch international crime fiction.”… ...

Amy Reichert‘s debut novel, The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, was released yesterday. It has a scrumptious cover, and some scrumptious reviews to go with it. Bookreporter calls it “a delectable novel,” and Booklist says, “well-developed secondary characters and detailed descriptions of the Milwaukee food scene will leave readers hungry for more.” A wife, mom, amateur… ...

This is how a literary friendship begins: on a train going in the wrong direction. My friend Kamy Wicoff and I first met at a lovely literary salon our mutual friend Marilyn Yalom hosts, but Kamy lives in New York and I’m in California. We reconnected again, though, when we were both speaking at an… ...

Lori Nelson Spielman”s debut, The Life List, became a #1 International bestseller and has been translated into 29 languages. If that’s not enough, Fox 2000 purchased the film option. Her second book, Sweet Forgiveness, is just out, and Kirkus says of it: “Bright prose, a plucky heroine, and more than a few plot twists make… ...

Bestseller Meg Donohue has a new novel, Dog Crazy, just out, which USA Today has already named to a top 5 new and noteworthy list. I saw her read recently at one of my favorite bookstores, Book Passage, recently, and thought I’d share a post she did for 1st Books in March of 2012, when her first… ...

I’m so delighted today to host fellow Marly Rusoff author Jonathan Odell, whose first novel has been reimagined and rereleased as Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League. The Minneapolis Star Tribune calls the novel “an important story beautifully told,” and goes on the say, “It is why we read novels. You will care about these characters — and emerge… ...

As a young adolescent, I fell hard for Stephen King and devoured several of his horror novels. Predictably, my writing took a dark turn: murder became a central part of my stories. Thankfully, my parents and teachers weren’t too concerned. ...

My guest this week, Christine Breen hails from Kiltumper, Ireland, where she lives with her husband, the novelist Niall Williams, in the cottage where her grandfather was born. Publisher’s Weekly, in a starred review of her debut novel, the just-released Her Name is Rose, calls it, “A poignant tale of love and loss between an… ...

Barbara Stark-Nemon‘s debut novel, Even in Darkness, has been called “a remarkable and honest portrayal of unexpected paths, told with moving depth and literary skill.” She’s a University of Michigan grad (like me – Go Blue!) who went on to a teaching career in English and then a Masters in Speech-language Pathology. Working in schools,… ...

Anita Hughes's story of how her first novel, Monarch Beach, was published starts with first prize in a nationwide writing contest in Australia--when she was eight years old! ...

I’m so delighted today to host one of the most generous authors I know, M.J. Rose–whom the Washington Post calls “an unusually skillful storyteller.” M.J. has an absolutely terrific new novel out this week, The Witch of Painted Sorrows, which Kirkus calls “A cliffhanger … Sensual, evocative, mysterious and haunting.” It’s been selected by Indie… ...

I am so incredibly delighted to host my dear dear friend and mentor Madeleine Mysko. I first met Madeleine when a writing class I took–a group which connected with each other but not so much with our teacher–decided to go in search of a new teacher together. It was my great luck that someone in… ...

I have a two guests this week, so I’m doing for the first time ever morning and evening posts. This morning’s is Elizabeth Collison, whom I met through her editor at HarperCollins, the amazing Hannah Wood. Elizabeth’s debut novel, Some Other Town, is “Wry, peculiar, and compelling” according to NPR.org, which goes on to say,… ...

It’s about weaving the rich history of the place into the story. ...

...A week later I had a rough draft, very short and very drafty (as drafty as a haunted hallway!). I began reading it to my writers group and getting feedback to improve it. ...

Choosing the right details and working them into the text gently, softly, as if there were no other way – I grew to love the challenge, and to me, that’s where historical fiction really shines. ...

Tatjana Soli guest posted here when her first novel, The Lotus Eaters released. This lovely debut went on to become a New York Times bestseller, was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times and the ALA, was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, and WON the James Tait… ...

My novel was on my mind every single day for a decade, except the year and a half it lay in a drawer and I never thought of it at all. ...

One of the dearest and most generous writers I know, Amanda Eyre Ward, has a new novel out this week! Jodi Picoult calls The Same Sky “the timeliest book you will read this year,” and Christina Baker Kline calls it “riveting.” Amanda was an early guest here on 1st Books — in April of 2009. And I’m… ...

The Shadow Queen author Sandra Gulland shares her story of how she started writing. ...

I had the great fortune to read a galley for Ann Mah’s gorgeous memoir, Mastering the Art of French Eating – a lovely mix of travel, food, and personal exploration – and to host her here last year when it first released. It has since then collected so much deserved praise, from the likes of The Wall Street Journal,… ...

Elizabeth Enslin is a Stanford Ph.D who has done research in Nepal with funding from the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She’s received an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the Oregon Arts Commission, an Honorable Mention for the Pushcart Prize, a Notable for… ...

My guest author today is my friend and fellow Bay Area writer Linda Gray Sexton, whose Bespotted: My Family’s Love Affair with Thirty-Eight Dalmatians is just out. Linda’s previous books include Searching for Mercy Street: My Journey Back to My Mother, Anne Sexton, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year which was optioned by Miramax Films;… ...

Delighted to host Elena Mauli Shapiro, who first appeared here when her debut novel, 13 rue Thérèse came out. She’s back with a sophomore novel, In the Red, which Koren Zailckas calls “exotic, dangerous, deviant, delicious.” – Meg I was in college when she first came to me.  It was summer of my sophomore year and I… ...

I always love hosting debut novelists here, and ones who are lawyers from Ann Arbor–does it get better than that? Jodi Picoult calls Julie Lawson Timmer’s Five Days Left, released yesterday, “a beautifully drawn study of what is at risk when you lose control of your own life. Unique, gripping, and viscerally moving.” So yes, it… ...

Debut novelist Shelly King is a Silicon Valley social media strategist and information architect by day, but still found time to write The Moment of Everything, which Grand Central Publishing will release September 2. Tracy Guzeman calls this debut novel “a gift for those who believe in the magic of bookstores and in the power of… ...

If you think you have an excuse not to write, I have little doubt that today’s guest post by bestselling author Jean Kwok will disabuse you of that and send you to your writing chair. I’ve known Jean’s writing since the fabulous success of her first novel, Girl in Translation, an award-winning New York Times… ...

A Pinch of Ooh La La by Renee Swindle just released yesterday! My friend Ellen Sussman says of it, “Renee Swindle writes about the complications of love with great humor, compassion and sass. A Pinch of Ooh La La is a pure delight!” Renee is the author of two previous novels, Please Please Please, an Essence Magazine/Blackboard Bestseller, and Shake… ...

By the time Robin Black applied to the MFA program at Warren Wilson College, she was just shy of forty-one years old and had been writing, after a long, long hiatus, for a little under two years. ...

We writers do write what we know, even if we’re inventing stories out of thin air. ...

It took me ten years to get my first novel published, and another five to publish a second which would go on to be a New York Times and U.S.A. Today bestseller. This is the short version of those 15 years. ...

Tracy Guzeman guest posted here when her debut novel, The Gravity of Birds, released last summer. It releases in paperback the same day The Wednesday Daughters does – next Tuesday! – so I’m rerunning her post to celebrate. When you visit your favorite bookstore next week, please look for us both! – Meg People have asked me… ...

Julia Fierro is the author of Cutting Teeth, which was included in Library Journal’s “Spring Best Debuts” and on “Most Anticipated Books of 2014” lists by HuffPost Books, The Millions, Flavorwire, Brooklyn Magazine and Marie Claire. She also founded the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop; what started as eight writers meeting in her Brooklyn kitchen has… ...

This week’s guest authors, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, have been best friends for 25 years even though Liz now lives in San Diego and Lisa in Chicago. They host a blog together, and now they’ve co-written a novel – Your Perfect Life – which is just out from Atria Books! Jen Lancaster calls it… ...

Harpers calls Katie Hafner’s sixth book, Mother Daughter Me, “an unusually graceful story,” and Kirkus calls it “heartbreakingly honest.” KJ Dell’Antonia, writing for The New York Times, says it’s “the most raw, honest and engaging memoir I’ve read in a long time.” And if six books to her name isn’t enough, Katie, a frequent contributor to… ...

Sandra Gulland’s fifth novel, The Shadow Queen, “will remind readers why they fall in love with the past,” says Death in the Floating City author Tasha Alexander. She goes on to say, “Gulland uses her meticulous research with consummate skill, rendering vivid the luxury and squalor of Louis XIV’s France and breathing life into fully… ...

Winter Palace author Eva Stachniak blogs about how she started in a workshop with Margaret Atwood. ...

My very dear friend M.J. Rose has a new novel, The Collector of Dying Breaths, releasing April 8. Water for Elephant author Sara Gruen calls it “Mysterious, magical, and mythical. What a joy to read!” and it’s an Indie Next April pick.The paperback of Seduction–named last year’s Book of the Year by Suspense Magazine–is also just… ...

Amy Tan calls the just-released memoir of today’s guest, Jenny Bowen, “Both heartrending and victoriously uplifting,” and goes on to say “Wish You Happy Forever, begins with empty nesters Jenny and Richard Bowen’s simple pledge to provide love to one Chinese orphan…” A former screenwriter and independent filmmaker, Jenny also founded Half the Sky Foundation… ...

Cara Black, the New York Times bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc mystery series, has a new one out — Murder in Pigalle — which Booklist calls “as tasty as a chunk of French chocolate.”  And lucky for us, Cara is sharing an interview she did with Juliet Grames, the associate publisher of Soho Press. It’s a terrific… ...

When Cathy Marie Buchanan asked if I’d read her new novel, The Painted Girls, I jumped at the chance. I loved her debut, The Day the Falls Stood Still, and this one Sisters, dance, art, ambition, and intrigue in late 1800s Paris – what was there not to like? It went on in hardcover to be a People… ...

My guest author this week, Elizabeth Scarboro, is the author of My Foreign Cities–which was chosen as an Oprah Book of the Week, one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Notable Books of 2013, and one of Library Journal’s Best Memoirs of 2013. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it “Oddly uplifting . . . about recognizing… ...

I’m just delighted to host Ariel Lawhon, whose debut novel, The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress released yesterday. People Magazine says of it, “Inspired by a real-life unsolved mystery, this mesmerizing novel features characters that make a lasting impression.” Ariel is a co-founder of She Reads who hails from my old stomping grounds, in… ...

Happy New Year, everyone! I’m kicking off 2014 with a rerun post to celebrate the paperback release of Melanie Benjamin‘s The Aviator’s Wife. Melanie is the best of what book publishing has to offer: both a wonderful writer and an incredibly generous one. I’ve knocked on her virtual door for advice more often than I can say, and… ...

I first hosted New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch’s on 1st Books when The One That I Want released in paperback from Broadway, a Random House imprint. I’m delighted to welcome her back today as she plunges headlong into the new adventure of doing the publishing herself. She has sold audio and large print rights for The Theory of Opposites—which is just… ...

I am so delighted to host Harriet Scott Chessman on the occasion of the publication of her stunning new novel, The Beauty of Ordinary Things. Her previous novels, Ohio Angels, Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (a #1 Booksense pick), and Someone Not Really Her Mother (a Good Morning America “Read This!” book), have a special place on my bookshelf. I was fortunate… ...

I’m delighted to be hosting my friend Ellen Kirschman, a real life police and public safety psychologist and the author several nonfiction titles, who has just published her first mystery.  Camille Minichino calls Dot Meyerhoff of Burying Ben “the most interesting heroine to come along in a long time.” If the humor that Ellen brings to her post… ...

The House Girl author Tara Conklin did a wonderful post here about the persistence required to get her gorgeous debut published. The House Girl became a New York Times bestseller, and Marie Claire magazine called it “the book club book of the year.” It’s out in paperback in just a few days, so I’m rerunning her post to celebrate. – Meg I can… ...

Tatjana Soli guest posted here when her first novel, The Lotus Eaters released. That lovely debut went on to become a New York Times bestseller, was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times and the ALA, was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, and WON the James Tait Black, England’s oldest… ...

To celebrate the paperback publication of Dan Chaon‘s story collection Stay Awake (named a best book of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Washington Post), I’m rerunning a 1st Books post he did in 2009, when his Await Your Reply was released. His words are a great – and very funny – reminder that in the… ...

My guest this week, Kathleen McCleary, is a journalist and author who also has worked as a bookseller. Booklist praises her third novel, Leaving Haven, which released yesterday, as “a deeply engaging story of two families navigating tricky emotional waters and making surprising discoveries along the way, a gentle reminder of the strength and flexibility… ...

My guest this week, Constance Hale, wrote “probably the hippest grammar guide ever written,” Sin and Syntax – which has just been released in a new edition. Charles Harrington Elster, in the San Diego Union-Tribune, calls it “a plugged-in, cutting-edge alternative to the must prescriptions of Strunk and White … an open-minded, exuberant approach to style that… ...

My guest this week is the wonderful mystery writer and my dear friend Melodie Johnson Howe, whose latest, City of Mirrors, is just out. John Lescroart says of it, “The moral decay of the movie business has rarely been so deftly portrayed and with so little sentimentality … Jet-propelled narrative drive, non-stop action, a dark… ...

I had the absolute delight of introducing the absolutely delightful Tracy Guzeman at the launch of her debut novel, The Gravity of Birds, last night. And I’m equally pleased to be hosting her on 1st Books this morning. Tracy is a Pushcart Prize nominee, with work published in Vestal Review, Glimmer Train, and Gulf Coast,… ...

No guest today. Just me, since it’s my publication week! And just in case this is your first visit to 1st Books … I’m Meg Waite Clayton, the New York Times-bestselling author of four novels. My newest, The Wednesday Daughters – a sequel of sorts to my writing-group novel, The Wednesday Sisters – just came… ...

It’s always a pleasure to host debut authors on 1st Books, and this week is a particular pleasure for me. I read Lori Nelson Spielman’s The Life List prepub, and was delighted to do an interview with Lori included in the materials at the back of the book. It is an absolutely delightful read! But… ...

Nina Schuyler’s first novel, The Painting, was nominated for the Northern California Book Award, and named a “Best Book of the Year” by the San Francisco Chronicle. She’d also received a Pushcart Prize nomination, and she teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco. Her new novel, The Translator – which I was lucky… ...

Today’s guest author, Leslie Lehr, is the author of the literary thriller What A Mother Knows, which Caroline Leavitt calls “achingly moving suspense drama…with a ray of hope like a splash of light, and a knockout ending you won’t see coming.” Leslie’s prior books include Wife Goes On, 66 Laps, and three nonfiction titles. Her… ...

I first connected with Sally Koslow when I was asked to read her delightfully funny The Late, Lamented Molly Marx for a possible blurb – a first for me – and I’ve been enjoying her insightful humor ever since. I hosted her here last June when her fourth book, Slouching Toward Adulthood: Observations from the Not-So-Empty Nest, released. I’m rerunning… ...

This week’s 1st Books guest, Marybeth Whalen, is the author of four novels, including the just released The Wishing Tree, which Sheila Roberts calls, “A lovely journey of discovery and forgiveness.” She also runs She Reads, an online book club celebrating the best in women’s fiction. I met her at the Pulpwood Queens girlfriend weekend a couple years… ...

When I first met Sarah Jio – at the Pulpwood Queens Weekend in January of last year – she had both a new baby and a new book along with her (and a very supportive spouse). Since then, I’ve watched her do the career life balance thing at an awesome level, cranking out books and articles… ...

I first “met” today’s guest author, Amy Sue Nathan, when she interviewed me for her blog, Women’s Fiction Writers. I was on a layover at a packed, noisy airport, standing in a coffee line as we spoke by phone, but Amy somehow made that impossible interview so good that Ballantine bound it into The Four Ms.… ...

Joan Steinau Lester’s second novel, Mama’s Child released yesterday. Alice Walker calls it “an astonishing accomplishment … riveting art,” and it’s an Ebony Magazine Editor’s Pick. Joan is also the author of four other books, including the novel Black, White, Other and Fire in My Soul, a biography of Eleanor Holmes Norton. And Joan’s wonderful… ...

The New York Times Modern Love column had already turned her down twenty times, but no matter: she lobbed in another submission—about her pet tortoise. And when her ninth novel was turned down by her publisher, she picked up her manuscript and accepted an original issue paperback offer from Algonquin. The beginning of the end… ...

Allie Larkin is the internationally bestselling author of the novel Stay. Jen Lancaster calls her “a master at creating complex characters who feel like old friends and crafting situations that you’d swear really happened,” and says of her new novel, Why Can’t I Be You, “I adored this book!” And Allie is sharing with 1st… ...

Elizabeth Benedict is the author of five novels, including the bestseller Almost, and the National Book Award finalist, Slow Dancing, as well as The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers. She is the editor of two anthologies, the just-published What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-One Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most (which I’m… ...

Mary Mackey and I belong to a San Francisco Bay Area women authors’ collective known as WOMBA, and I’ve had the pleasure of doing a reading from our novels together. She’s authored 13 novels and 6 poetry collections, and is the recipient of the 2012 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. I’m… ...

I’m delighted today to host Caroline Paul, whose Lost Cat is just out from Bloomsbury. Publisher’s Weekly, in a starred review, calls it “Hilarious and moving” and says, “Even non–cat lovers will find this an engaging read, charmingly illustrated by Paul’s partner, MacNaughton, as Paul easily makes her strong emotions for her pets accessible… ...

Elizabeth Block is a poets who has also received national writing awards for her fiction, including the Doris Roberts/William Goyen fellowship from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation. She shares some thoughts on poetry today on 1st Books. – Meg “But I beneath a rougher sea” Was leaning The water sharply sliced, hypnotized Foam into down Cascades… ...

My fellow 85 Broad, Shannon Huffman Polson, has a first memoir being published by Zondervan/Harper Collins next Tuesday. Scott Russell Sanders calls North of Hope, “Daring, perceptive and eloquent,” and says, “Polson’s writing is clear and forceful. Like all true pilgrimages, this one is challenging, and well worth taking.” Shannon has also published essays and articles in… ...

It’s April, National poetry month, and I’m delighted to have as my first Poetry Tuesday poet my dear friend Elizabeth Rosner. Liz is a prize-winning and national bestselling author of two novels which are as poetic as her book of poems is. After you read her post, follow the link to one of her poems. Enjoy! – Meg… ...

I could not be more delighted to be hosting Ellen Sussman today. Her third novel, The Paradise Guest House, released yesterday. Ellen’s last novel, French Lessons, was a New York Times bestseller, and this one is even better. Publisher’s Weekly, in a starred review, says of it, “Two survivors of Bali’s terrorist bombing find love… ...

Nichole Bernier’s fabulous The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D – which was a finalist for the New England Independent Booksellers fiction award – is just out in paperback. J. Courtney Sullivan calls it, “a compelling mystery and a wise meditation on friendship, marriage and motherhood in an age of great anxiety,” and the Washington Post… ...

Monica Wesolowska's first book, Holding Silvan, was decades in the making, but when Monica was finally emotionally ready to write the story of her first child, the time she'd spent writing served her well. ...

Recently, a thread in an online writer's community popped up, beginning with someone (who hadn't begun querying) asking why folks sent query letters to so many agents. Did they have that many "dream agents"? Why not send to just one or two top choices? And, really, how long does it take? ...

This week’s guest author, Julie Kibler, began writing Calling Me Home after learning a bit of family lore: as a young woman, her grandmother fell in love with a young black man in an era and locale that made the relationship impossible. Like so many of us, Julie struggled at first to call herself “writer,”… ...

There are so many reasons I am absolutely delighted to host author Tara Conklin today, not the least of which is that I just love her story of the persistence that got her to the publication of her debut novel, The House Girl. At the risk of spoiling the reading of the post (but not… ...

Two wonderful authors who’ve posted in the past for me, Sara J. Henry and Alex George, have books releasing this week. Sara, who is a LONGtime friend – we were in a writing group together in Nashville, working on our first novels! – has a second novel, A Cold Lonely Place just out yesterday. Her… ...

I’m often asked if I always wanted to be a writer, and I answer is a definitive no. My teenage years were spent disgracing myself in high school English, often getting upwards of twenty percent deducted for spelling mistakes on exams.  ...

I went to graduate school right after college, in part because I didn’t know what else to do with myself. I’d thought I would be a journalist, but after summers spent interning for newspapers I knew I wasn’t cut out for the job. ...

That has been my saving grace, I firmly believe; my ability to keep writing “Chapter One” while wading through a swamp of rejection. Maybe I’m stupid, maybe I just have a short term memory problem, I don’t know. I do know that I have a strange ability to be absurdly confident of my abilities while absorbing criticism and the sometimes harsh realities of the publishing world. ...

Last year, when I read Courtney Sullivan‘s take on An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer – “A moving and bittersweet coming-of-age story about love, loss, friendship, ambition, and the power of memory. This complex and satisfying tale introduces a cast of quirky, hilarious, intellectual young women, struggling to find their place in the world.” –… ...

A novel is a big, floppy thing with sleeves and trouser cuffs and socks hanging out of the suitcase of itself, and even when you sit on it you cannot tuck it all in. - Kathy Leonard Czepiel: This Way to the Back Door (on writing a novel) ...

Tara Ison is the author of the novels A Child out of Alcatraz, The List, and the forthcoming Rockaway. Her short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Tin House, The Kenyon Review, Black Clock, and multiple anthologies. Alcatraz was published in print years ago, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for… ...

Today’s guest author, Linda Herman, is the author of Parents to the End, a book about what to do as the parent of an adult problem child. Thomas W. Phelan, PhD, says, “The advice here is priceless.” And Linda’s advice for writers is pretty good as well. — Meg I was never much for bucket… ...

I was desperate for something that was mine, that ... didn’t involve wiping anything (spills, noses, bottoms). Secretly I wanted to try writing a novel, but I couldn’t imagine even starting until the kids were older. ...

The San Jose Mercury News calls Indian Voices: Listening to Native Americans by this week’s guest author, Alison Owings, “Occasionally startling, often humorous, and always thought-provoking. A captivating book about contemporary Native American life.” The same can be said about her story of getting into print. Alison is also the author of Hey, Waitress! The… ...

Kelly O’Connor McNees guest posted here when her first novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, an Indie Next Pick and O Magazine Summer Reading List selection, released. I’m rerunning that post in celebration of the publication of her second novel, In Need of a Good Wife, which Robin Oliveira calls “a hopeful, compelling… ...

Debra Dean’s bestselling debut novel, The Madonnas of Leningrad was a New York Times Editors’ Choice, a #1 Booksense Pick, a Booklist Top Ten Novel, and an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year, and her collection of short stories, Confessions of a Falling Woman, won the Paterson Fiction Prize and a Florida Book… ...

I met Victoria Brown at the fabulous Christamore House Guild Author Book and Author Benefit the week her first novel released. Publisher’s Weekly calls Grace in the City a “troubling and touching novel” in which “the language of the Caribbean sings through the pages.” Her story of how her novel came to be published involves… ...

Karen Brown’s Pins and Needles received AWP’s Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, and her stories have been included in Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories. Her latest collection, Little Sinners and Other Stories, which won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize, is just out from University of Nebraska Press. Christine Sneed says of it, “I love this… ...

David Abrams’ debut novel, Fobbit, is one of the most anticipated releases of the fall. It’s a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Pick for Fall Literary Fiction, and a September Indie Next Pick. Darin Strauss calls the Iraq-war comedy “that rarest of good things: the book you… ...

Tatjana Soli guest posted here when her first novel, The Lotus Eaters released. This lovely debut went on to become a New York Times bestseller, was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times and the ALA, was a finalist for the LA Times Book Award, and WON the James Tait… ...

My long-time friend Rayme Waters has just published her debut novel, The Angels’ Share–cause for great celebration in our neighborhood and especially in our very supportive book club. California Book Award medalist and National Book Award finalist Diane Johnson says of it, “If you’ve ever wondered what became of those bedraggled little kids of the… ...

A former indie bookseller, The Map of Lost Memories author Kim Fay is also a bit of a traveler. She’s lived in Vietnam, and is the creator/editor of the To Asia With Love guidebook series, as well as the author of Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam (winner of the World Gourmand Cookbook Awards’ Best… ...

This week’s guest, Seattle novelist Heather Barbieri, has published Snow in July, The Lace Makers of Glenmara, and most recently The Cottage at Glass Beach. Booklist, in a starred review, calls Cottage “ wonderful, subtle, transporting story” – which also describes the story of how Heather first got published. Enjoy! – Meg It was a… ...

To celebrate the paperback publication of Silver Sparrow by my next door neighbor from the 2004 Sewanee Writers Conference, Tayari Jones – a little belatedly; there have been so many new releases this Spring-Summer – I’m rerunning her wonderfully inspiring post from the hardcover release. This lovely novel (really, really lovely!) has gone on to… ...

I’ve known Thaisa Frank since about the time my first novel was published, and always enjoy talking with her about the very different approaches we take to writing. I’m delighted to share the news that her third story collection, Enchantment, is just out from Counterpoint. “electable stories with touches of the surreal as well as… ...

Katharine Britton was by one measure fifty years to getting her debut novel, Her Sister’s Shadow, to print. Publisher’s Weekly called it a “touching debut,” saying “Britton seamlessly alternates between the two eras to unravel a tale of rivalry, tragedy, love, and the corruptibility of truth.” It was an NPR summer read, too. And like so… ...

My dear friend and guest author this week, Catherine Brady, is the author of three story collections: The End of the Class War; Curled in the Bed of Love, winner of the Flannery O’Connor Award for Fiction and just out in paperback; and The Mechanics of Falling and Other Stories, winner of the Northern California… ...

I met Claire McMillan through Twitter, in part because we are both card-carrying members of the Emily Mitchell/Last Summer of the World fan club – and Edith Wharton Fans. Her splendid debut novel, Gilded Age, is a bit of a House of Mirth set in modern-day Cleveland. Elle Magazine calls it “a beach read with… ...

I first connected with Sally Koslow when I was asked to read her delightfully funny The Late, Lamented Molly Marx for a possible blurb – a first for me – and I’ve been enjoying her insightful humor ever since. She’s dipped back into non-fiction with the publication this week of her fourth book, Slouching Toward… ...

Joshua Henkin wanted to be a fiction writer when he was growing up but, like so many of us, feared he wasn’t good enough. But his second novel, Matrimony – which took him ten years to complete – was named a notable by both the New York Times and the L.A. Times, and now his… ...

Last year I had the pleasure of hosting debut novelist Camille Noe Pagán when The Art of Forgetting, was published by Dutton. I’m delighted now to rerun her post to celebrate the release of the paperback version of this novel Library Journal called a “page turner” and about which John Charles, writing for The Chicago Tribune (the… ...

I just heard that fellow WOMBAtista, Rock Bottom Remainderer, writer, and inspiror of other writers (aka “author enabler”), Kathi Kamen Goldmark, passed away today. For want of any better prayer to the lit gods to take care of her now, I offer them and you a rerun of the post she and Sam did for… ...

Today’s guest author, Sandra Feder, has just published the chapter book, Daisy’s Perfect Word. It’s the first in a series, about which School Library Journal says, “Daisy’s irrepressible but realistic enthusiasm for life is charming and irresistable.” And Sandra’s story of getting to pop a cork is equally so. Enjoy! – Meg This was the question… ...

Before writing her debut novel, Prosper in Love, Deborah Michel spent years in the magazine world, as a New York nightlife columnist for Avenue magazine and, later, writing for Spy, Premiere, House Beautiful, Buzz, Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine about everything from the movie industry to interior design to which private jet Silicon Valley tech moguls favored. Another favorite author of… ...

Lynda Rutledge’s path to publishing Faith Bass Darling’s Last Garage Sale – which comes out tomorrow! – included stints petting baby rhinos and dodging hurricanes as a freelance journalist, as well as a serious “break up” with fiction. Shoeless Joe author W.P. Kinsella calls the debut “eerie, charming, heart rending and heart breaking at the same time … a triumph.”… ...

Writing is a little bit like that. There's a lot of sitting in the dark, metaphorically and otherwise, trying to come up with something that makes sense for the story you're telling and also still captivates your inner night-time critic. ...

I met Carolina De Robertis at a book club mixer at Books Inc. Berkeley when her first novel, the international bestseller The Invisible Mountain was just out. She had a newborn baby and a newborn book, but you’d have thought she was an old hand at parenthood and at book promotion from the grace with… ...

M.J. Rose – whom I’ve known since before my first novel was published – is one of the gutsiest and most generous writers I know. Needless to say, I’m thrilled to be hosting this international bestseller, and even more thrilled with the amazing attention her new novel, The Book of Lost Fragrances, is getting. It’s an… ...

Cara Black’s twelfth Aimée Leduc mystery, Murder at the Lanterne Rouge, is out this week! Templars, secret medieval guilds, Chinatown sweatshops, botched affairs of the heart… The book was given the coveted Publisher’s Weekly star (“Outstanding!”), and is an IndieNext Pick. I know you’ll enjoy Cara’s story about how a book and a lie led… ...

This week’s guest author, Maria Espinosa, is the author of two poetry chapbooks, a translation of George Sand’s novel, Lélia, and four novels, most recently Dying Unfinished, which Kirkus called “A fierce novel that explores the topography of passion and grace.” Enjoy her story of her path to publication through translating the work of another… ...

Randy Sue Meyers is an online writer-pal, and author of The Murderer’s Daughters, which Jan Gardner, writing for the Boston Globe, called, “A gripping tale of sisters Merry and Lulu struggling for 30 years to find their way in the world, one devoted to their imprisoned father, the other enraged at him.” I saw this… ...

Sara Gruen calls this week’s guest author, Alex George “a first rate talent.” And last week’s guest, Eleanor Brown, calls his new novel, A Good American, “by turns laugh-out-loud funny and achingly sad … that rare and beautiful thing – a novel I finished and immediately wanted to start again.” And they aren’t alone. A Good… ...

Have you read Eleanor Brown’s The Weird Sisters yet? She’s the first novelist I hosted on 1st Books who hit the New York Times Bestseller list before her post was scheduled. And with good reason. It’s a lovely book – definitely one your book club will enjoy discussing – and Eleanor is a wonderful person.… ...

Sarah Pinneo celebrates the publication of her debut novel, Julia’s Child, this week, missing her self-imposed 40th birthday deadline by a few months. Jenny Nelson, author of Georgia’s Kitchen, calls it “a savory read packed with humor and heart” – which might also describe Sarah’s post below. Enjoy them both! – Meg When I sat… ...

Terry McMillan calls this week’s guest author, Meredith Maran, “a powerful storyteller with a big heart and a big talent.” Her first novel, A Theory of Small Earthquakes, is out this week from Soft Skull Press. Meredith was first published in Seventeen Magazine when she was … 17. She’s since published so many books and… ...

Before I started writing, I imagined published writers were folks who could leap tall literary buildings in single bounds, and I knew that wasn’t me. I’ve written here before that the history of my writing started with a brown paper lunch bag – but that’s really just the start of my putting words on paper.… ...

My dear friend Julia Flynn Siler was my second guest author back in May of 2008, when I first started this little blog. To celebrate the release of her new book, Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure, “a riveting and intimate look at the rise and tragic fall of… ...

Todays guest author, Tamar Cohen, comes from London, and is the author of The Mistress’s Revenge. She has published nine non-fiction titles and written for The Times, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and The Guardian, but Mistress is her first novel. (“Deftly plotted and bleakly funny, with a devious twist of an ending,” Marie Claire says!) Reading her thoughts on… ...

Margaret Leary – recently retired as the director of the University of Michigan Law Library – gave me an historic tour of Michigan Law School when I was researching The Four Ms. Bradwells. She was such an amazing font of information that it was a delight to hear she was writing a book. Now Giving… ...

Tracy Seeley is a bay area writer-pal, whose memoir, My Ruby Slippers (released this spring from University of Nebraska’s Bison Books), was called “elegiac, gorgeous, understated” by The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. I’ve been watching how Tracy has supported her book with great fascination and awe. It’s quite a story. I hope you’ll enjoy reading about it here and… ...

I’m delighted to be hosting Alma Katsu, whose debut novel, The Taker, is just out this week. Booklist calls it, “An imaginative, wholly original debut” and says “readers won’t be able to tear their eyes away from Katus’ mesmerizing debut.” Alma is a SheWrites.com friend with whom I had a wonderful in person visit in… ...

“Since I wasn’t getting published, I reasoned, and this outcome might be no different, I might as well enjoy the process.” That’s the approach this week’s guest, novelist Kristina Riggle, took to write her “first” novel. At the risk of looking like I’ve begun a new series, Authors Meg Met at the Chicago Tribune Printer’s Row Litfest, Kris… ...

I met today’s guest author, Cavanaugh Lee, when we were “Ladies of the Write” co-panelists at the Chicago Tribune Printer’s Row Litfest. The Atlanta Journal Constitution calls her first novel, Save as Draft, “a swift, almost irresistible read…tailor-made for the big Hollywood romantic comedy treatment.” And she’s as delightful in person as she in her post… ...

I met today’s guest author, Maddie Dawson, on my favorite online writer’s community, SheWrites.com. Her … well, it’s complicated, but it is Maddie’s first novel, is just out in paperback. People Magazine says of Stuff That Never Happened: “This deceptively bouncy, ultimately wrenching novel will grab you at page one.” And she has written one… ...

I loved Keeping the House, by this weeks guest author, Ellen Baker, who won the 2008 Great Lakes Book Award for it. Now her I Gave My Heart to Know This is out. Richard Ford calls it “large in the best sense; large in its generous spirit, and its gallery of vivid, memorable characters” with… ...

Samuel Park’s This Burns My Heart is being called “astonishing,” “mesmerizing,” and “a delicate yet powerful story of love, loss, and endurance.” I’d like to add own applause for this lovely first novel, which has also been named an Indie Next pick and one of Amazon’s ten best books for July. I had the pleasure of meeting Sam… ...

I’m absolutely delighted to day to be hosting my friend Ellen Sussman on 1st Books for her second novel, French Lessons. “Touching, thoughtful, hilarious, and exquisite in its observations, Ellen Sussman’s day in Paris with the wonderful collection of characters that make up French Lessons is a treat. . . . Tres charmante!” – that… ...

My first novel, The Language of Light was the first thing I sat down to write in earnest, once I started writing as an adult. It was ten years in the making by one measure: it wasn’t the only thing I wrote in those first years of my writing career, but it did take ten years… ...

This week I get to do one of the things I most enjoy doing on 1st Books: Introduce a debut author. Camille Noe Pagán’s first novel, The Art of Forgetting, comes out from Dutton tomorrow! Library Journal calls it a “page turner” and American Way magazine says it’s a “powerful about friendship and love.” The cover is… ...

I could not be more delighted: today I am hosting Tayari Jones! I first met Tayari when we were next door neighbors at the 2004 Sewanee Writers Conference, and I’ve been a fan ever since reading her first novel, Leaving Atlanta, back then. Her new novel, Silver Sparrow – just out from Algonquin – is… ...

With National Poetry Month now over, it’s back to our regularly scheduled Wednesday programming on 1st Books – though I am always up for hosting poetry Tuesdays! I’m delighted this week to host Kelly O’Connor McNees as her first novel, The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott, releases in paperback. The Washington Post said of… ...

Poet Tobey Hiller writes about how a poet starts writing. ...

You have to find a writing submission system that works for your life and your schedule. ...

For this week’s Poetry Tuesday, I have some truly lovely words for you from David Huddle. He’s the author of six books of poetry, most recently Glory River, and he has a seventh, Black Snake at the Family Reunion, coming out in the Fall of 2012. He also has a new novel coming out, Nothing… ...

I’m just absolutely thrilled to be kicking off National Poetry Month with best-selling poet and artist J. Ruth Gendler. “A bright new talent whose work is at once reminiscent of James Thurber’s drawings, Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, and Zen koans” (Art Kleiner, in the San Francisco Bay Guardian), Ruth’s books… ...

No guest today. Just me, since it’s my publication week! The history of my own writing starts with a brown paper lunch bag. My first writing teacher—at a college extension class—dumped its contents out over the table and told us to write for five minutes about anything that spilled out. She swore we wouldn’t have… ...

Zoe FitzGerald Carter’s first memoir, Imperfect Endings, is out in paperback this week. The book was excerpted in O magazine, was a Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writer’s” pick, and was just nominated by the MS Society in the “Inspirational Memoir” category. Paula Span in the The New York Times said, “I could quote from… ...

I’m having a nice little Gaithersburg Book Festival run lately, hosting Caroline Leavitt in January, Eleanor Brown in February, and now Sarah Pekkanen in March. (I can’t wait to meet all three of them at the festival!) Sarah’s new novel, Skipping a Beat, won a starred review in Library Journal and has earned praise from… ...

I first read pages of Sara J. Henry’s debut novel more than ten years ago, well before I’d sold my own first novel. She is one of the most persistent writers I’ve ever met. And I couldn’t be more delighted to be celebrating the release of Learning to Swim this week! Lisa Unger calls Sara’s… ...

I’m just thrilled this week to welcome Eleanor Brown, author of Weird Sisters, to 1st Books (and very excited we’ll be participating in the Gaithersburg Book Festival together). If you haven’t already heard about this wonderful novel, where have you been? It hit the New York Times Bestseller list in its first few weeks out.… ...

Katherine Ellison is a friend and fellow Wombatista – a group of writers I gather with for the occasional dinner and chat. She’s one of those writers I hold in awe: a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist who has written for Smithsonian, Time, Fortune, Working Mother, and The Atlantic Monthly – and can also write the long… ...

I e-met this week’s guest author, Elena Mauli Shapiro, on one of my favorite writing sites, SheWrites.com. Her post about how a saved box of collected objects inspired her first novel, 13 Rue Therese – which The New Yorker’s “Book Bench” calls “gush-worthy,” with “an elegant weather of its own” – is gush-worthy as well.… ...

I’ve been a big fan of Caroline Leavitt‘s novels since I met her years ago on Readerville.com. Her earlier novels – she’s published eight now! – were wonderful. It’s her latest, though – Pictures of You – that is my hands down fave. And it’s getting raves everywhere. Vanity Fair, in Hot Type: “Caroline Leavitt… ...

To celebrate the release of Tatjana Soli’s The Lotus Eaters in paperback – it made the New York Times bestseller list this week! – I’m rerunning her lovely post. Enjoy! – Meg Almost ten years ago when I first got the idea of writing a story about the Vietnam War from the perspective of a… ...

Publisher’s Weekly compares Linda Schlossberg’s Life in Miniature to Mona Simpson’s Anywhere but Here, and my dear friend and looovely writer Terry Gamble calls it “poignant and riveting.” I’ve got it on my TBR pile, and only wish I were in the bay area this month. I’m missing two great opportunities to meet Linda in… ...

Heather Havrilesky co-created the cartoon Filler for Suck.com, was tv critic at Salon, is currently staff critic at Rupert Murdoch’s new ipaper, The Daily, and “dispenses peevish advice” at Rabbit Blog. If that’s not enough, she’s also just published her first book, Disaster Preparedness. Ann Lamott calls Heather’s writing “smart, hilarious, unique -just terrific.” I’m… ...

Daphne Kalotay’s first novel, Russian Winter, sold at auction, is being published in eighteen countries, and, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “could well be the debut novel of the year.” The Washington Post calls it “a magnificent tale of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption,” and concludes “the author lets the truth ebb and flow until a… ...

This week’s guest author, Chandra Hoffman, published Chosen – her debut novel – this summer. Best-selling author Ann Hood calls it “riveting … enlightening, terrifying, and big hearted.” You’ll definitely get a taste of that big heart in Chandra’s post about how she found the gumption to start writing through the support of her mom-in-law.… ...

Jillian Cantor’s first novel, The September Sisters, was called “memorable” and “startlingly real” by Publishers Weekly, and was nominated as a YALSA Best Book For Young Adults. She’s just out with a new debut novel of sorts, The Transformation of Things — this one for adults. Enjoy her post about the process of moving between these two worlds.… ...

Catherine Brady teaches in the MFA in Writing Program at the University of San Francisco and is the author of three short story collections, including Curled in the Bed of Love, winner of the 2002 Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, and The Mechanics of Falling, winner of the 2010 Northern California Book Award for… ...

I’m delighted this week to host Susan Straight, whose new novel, Take One Candle Light a Room, is just out from Random House. Susan was a National Book Award finalist for Highwire Moon, and has been called “One of America’s gutsiest writers” (The Baltimore Sun), and “a lyrical and intelligent storyteller, burns clean the… ...

“Only a writer as fierce and incisive as Meredith Maran could have written a book as intimate, dark, bracing and revelatory as My Lie.” That’s what Pulitzer Prize novelist Michael Chabon has to say about Meredith Maran’s new memoir. I first heard part of this amazing story of false memory at novelist Terry Gamble‘s house.… ...

Liz Rosner’s post today first appeared on her Redroom Blog, and I asked her permission to rerun it here this week, in celebration of one of the resurrections of the title: her novel, Blue Nude, is just out in paperback! I read this stunning novel earlier this fall, and found it to be a lyrical… ...

I first met Rosemary Graham on the chat at the sadly now-defunct Readerville.com. She’s both a lovely writer and a lovely person. I’m just thrilled to have her guest-posting this week as her newest novel, Stalker Girl, comes out! Her earlier books Thou Shalt Not Dump the Skater Dude and My Not-So-Terrible Time at the… ...

Publishers Weekly calls Ilie Ruby’s debut novel, The Language of Trees, “A haunting, lyrical story of love, loss, and second chances….” And her story of how it came to be published is a story of second chances, too. Enjoy! – Meg   I have always been a late bloomer. Much to my chagrin, I might… ...

You’ll perhaps not be surprised, after you read Tanya Egan Gibson‘s post, that I met her through a couple writing groups we both belong to, one of which is SheWrites.com. Her debut novel, How To Buy a Love of Reading – just out in paperback! – has been praised by one of my favorite writers… ...

Kim Wright has been writing about travel, food, and wine for more than 25 years, and is a two-time recipient of the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Writing. People Magazine said of her first novel, Love in Mid Air, “Wright understands female friendships, the interplay of love and envy, the way one woman’s change of… ...

I had such fun hosting poets here on 1st Books for National Poetry Month that I’ve decided to continue the occasional Poetry Tuesday throughout the year. Today’s guest poet is Diane Lockward, the author of four collections of poetry, most recently, Temptation by Water. She’s a recipient of the Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize and… ...

Irene Zutell’s most recent novel is Pieces of Happily Ever After, which Publisher’s Weekly calls, a “sassy, sweet tale of love lost and found.” Her path to becoming a novelist starts in childhood and takes an turn through People Magazine before finding it’s way to her first novel, They’re Not Your Friends. – Meg I… ...

Julie Buxbaum’s first novel, The Opposite of Love, has been translated into eighteen languages and optioned for film by Twentieth Century Fox with Anne Hathaway set to star. Jodi Picoult says of her new, just-out-in-paperback, After You, “Buxbaum writes with honesty and grace about the things we know about our friends and the things we… ...

This weeks guest author, Michelle Hoover, tells a terrific story of persistence paying. She started her first novel, The Quickening … well, I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’ll let you read her post to see how long in the making this book was. But it’s earned a much-coveted Publisher’s Weekly star, in… ...

Julie Compton’s second novel, Rescuing Olivia, has been called “a pleasing hybrid of fairy tale and contemporary thriller” (Kirkus) and an “an absorbing novel, sharp, tightly plotted and sexy, with strong, believable characters and an emotional edginess that sets it apart … an absolute page-turner” (NPR affiliate WGCU’s “Florida Book Page”). The story of how… ...

New York Times bestselling author Allison Winn Scotch has a new novel out: The One That I Want, which Publisher’s Weekly calls “an aching, honest look into the death and rebirth of relationships … a wise, absorbing narrative.” She also has a wonderfully inspiring story to tell about the determination it took her to get… ...

I met Leah Stewart at the Sewanee Writers Conference years ago, and was one of the first in line for her first novel, Body of a Girl, and her second, The Myth of Me and You. Elin Hildebrand says of her just-published third, Husband and Wife, “When you read it you will laugh, you will… ...

Poet Lynne Knight came to my attention through a mutual friend, novelist and poet Elizabeth Rosner. Lynne is the author of four full-length poetry collections, most recently Again, about which Richard Silberg says, “Exquisite, haunted, these poems search out a balance between beauty and despair; they reach that form, that vantage where we can see… ...

For my second Poetry Tuesday, I’m delighted to host Kirsten Jones Neff. Kirsten’s debut poetry collection, When The House Is Quiet, won the Starting Gate prize. She is a co-founder of Poetry Farm, a monthly reading series, and a writer and editor for the Marin Poetry Center newsletter. For Bay Area folks, Kirsten is reading… ...

Christina Sunley‘s first novel, The Tricking of Freya – just out in paperback from Picador – was praised by Booklist as “a bewitching tale of volcanic emotions, cultural inheritance, family sorrows, mental illness, and life-altering discoveries.” Christina’s post about her eight-year path to getting this first novel written and published is truly inspiring. Enjoy! –… ...

Can I gush about a book here for a moment? And its author? I first met Tatjana Soli at the Sewanee Writers Conference almost six years ago now, on the bus up from the airport. At the time, she was working on a novel about a female photojournalist covering the Vietnam war. At the time,… ...

Zoe Carter’s first memoir, Imperfect Endings, won first place in the 2008 Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association literary contest and was a finalist at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference. It’s been chosen for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers series, and an excerpt appears in the March issue of O Magazine. Overnight success? Zoe… ...

I’m absolutely delighted to have Dolen Perkins-Valdez, the author of the just-released Wench, as this week’s guest author. Randall Kenan, author of A Visitation of Spirits, in a glowing blurb of this “positively riveting book” says of Dolen: “she has the audacity to challenge her readers to re-imagine the ‘Peculiar Institution’ of slavery in ways… ...

Allison Hoover Bartlett’s first book, The Man Who Loved Books Too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession, hits bookstore shelves tomorrow! Yay! Devil in the White City author Erik Larson praises Bartlett’s “cozy, quiet style” and “compelling” narrative. It’s an Indie Next selection, and a Barnes… ...

My guest this week, Janet Skeslien Charles, is a novelist whose debut, Moonlight in Odessa, is just out from Bloomsbury. It was chosen as one of ten promising Fall debut novels by Publishers Weekly, and as September’s Book of the Month by National Geographic Traveler. – Meg I spent ten years writing stories of Odessa… ...

My guest author this week, Kathryn Ma, is the author of All That Work and Still No Boys, which won the Iowa Short Fiction Award. She’s the first Asian American to win in the forty-year history of the award, one of the country’s most prestigious literary awards for first time authors. Curtis Sittenfeld, author, American… ...

With apologies for this long introduction but … well, this is Dan Chaon we’re talking about. Dan is an amazingly talented writer: his story collection, Among the Missing, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and his first novel, You Remind Me of Me, was named one of the best books of the year… ...

This week’s guest, Firoozeh Dumas, is the bestselling author of two wonderfully funny and touching memoirs, Funny in Farsi and Laughing Without an Accent. Lee Thomas, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, said of Laughing Without an Accent, “the insights are practical and lighthearted and reveal a woman who has managed to embrace both her… ...

I have a wonderful guest post today by James Beard Foundation award-winner Sheila Himmel, co-author (with daughter, Lisa Himmel) of Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia. David Kessler, MD, author of The End of Overeating and a former Commissioner of the FDA calls Hungry “An engrossing look at the power of food and eating… ...

I was lucky enough to read the sophomore novel from today’s guest author, Carleen Brice, in advanced reader copy this spring, and loved it. But I’m not the only one singing the praises of Children of the Waters. Booklist calls it “compelling and difficult to put down,” and Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End… ...

Today’s guest author is my good friend Maud Carol Markson, whose lovely new novel, Looking After Pigeon, is just out from The Permanent Press. School Library Journal calls it “a neat tapestry of family flaws” narrated by five-year-old Pigeon over the summer when her parents have just separated and her 16-year-old sister becomes pregnant. Anyone… ...

I’m delighted to host Cara Black, about whom the New York Times Book Review has said, “If the cobblestones of the old Marais district of Paris could only talk, they might tell a tale as haunting as the one Cara Black spins…” Books in her bestselling Aimée Leduc mystery series have included San Francisco Chronicle… ...

I’m delighted today to host Linda Himelstein, author of The King of Vodka, which is just out this week. House of Mondavi author Julia Flynn Siler calls it “a fascinating tale of brilliance and destruction,” and NPR commentator Tom Gjelten, author of Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba, describes it as a “wrenching story”… ...

I just read a wonderful piece in The Literary Review that says, in the context of a review of a new book about Jane Austen: “In 1797, Thomas Cadell made one of the greatest mistakes in publishing history. A Hampshire clergyman had written to him, offering a three-volume novel for publication by a first-time author.… ...

I’m absolutely delighted to host fellow Ballantine author Jamie Ford this week. I had the great fortune to get an advanced copy of his first novel, The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which I devoured in a few short sittings over the holidays. Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret… ...

Frances Dinkelspiel is a fifth-generation Californian who spent more than 20 years in the newspaper business, writing for publications including the New York Times, People Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle before publishing her first book. Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California – which was eight years in the… ...

I found this story about Selden Edwards The Little Book posted on the Powell’s Books Blog amazing. He started it in 1974, and completed in in 2007. Lots of rejection along the way, and still, he continued to believe. ...

I’m so delighted this week to welcome an author-editor duo: bestselling novelist, poet, and essayist Elizabeth Rosner, and Dan Smetanka, former Executive Editor at Ballantine/Random House, whose list of award winning debut books includes Rosner’s wonderful THE SPEED OF LIGHT – a prize-winner that’s been translated into nine foreign languages and optioned by actress Gillian… ...

Since my dear, dear friend Leslie Lytle and I shared a wonderful writing group for years, it’s no surprise to me that her first book, Execution’s Doorstep, delivers stories of real-life innocents on death row with grace and wisdom. That Leslie is also a poet is apparent in every sentence of this moving and compelling… ...

I’m delighted to have one of my own favorite authors, Harriet Scott Chessman, guest posting this week. Her wonderful novels, Ohio Angels, Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper (a #1 Booksense pick), and Someone Not Really Her Mother (a Good Morning America “Read This!” book), all have a special place on my bookshelf. If you… ...

This week’s guest, Toronto-based novelist Danielle Younge-Ullman, is also a playwright and actor. Her one-act play, 7 Acts of Intercourse, debuted at the SummerWorks Festival in 2005. And Canada’s National Post calls Falling Under, her novel just out from Plume, “gutsy, emotional, sexually charged and unremittingly intense.” – Meg I wrote my first manuscript… ...

My guest this week is Sheryl Cohen Solomon, a writer of very funny and touching personal essays. She published her first essay in North Shore Magazine. The second one is coming more slowly, but she’s not giving up! – Meg “Tooth Fairy Tale” was the first and only piece I’ve ever published. I sent it… ...

No guest today. Just me, since it’s my publication week! The history of my own writing starts with a purse. Like the character of Linda in my new novel, The Wednesday Sisters, my first writing teacher—at a college extension class—dumped hers out over the table and told us to write for five minutes about anything… ...

My guest blogger today, Brenda Rickman Vantrease, is the author of the critically acclaimed The Mercy Seller, and the national bestseller, The Illuminator, which received starred reviews in both Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal, was translated into fourteen foreign languages, and was a Booksense Recommended for Book Clubs selection. She also has the dubious distinction… ...

My guest blogger this Wednesday is Julia Flynn Siler, whose bestselling House of Mondavi is a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award and for a Gerald Loeb Award. Like Margaret Mitchell, whom she writes about here, Julie is a “Girl Reporter Turned Bestselling Author.” For both, years of work underlie the “overnight” success. One… ...

I’m so pleased to kick off the guest posts on 1st Books with novelist Christina Meldrum and her debut novel, MADAPPLE. It seems I can’t go anywhere lately without coming upon praise for this beautiful and compelling book. It has garnered well-deserved stars from Booklist and from Kirkus – which named it one of the… ...