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  The Book Standard is reporting that Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria is joining the ever-increasing list of celebrity authors. A number of other outlets also picked up this report. She plans to pen an erotic novel because, “They offered a huge deal and I like the idea of seeing my book on a shelf,” Longoria said. [...]

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CNN must have just hired a Literature PhD candidate to bolster their travel coverage. Earlier this week, they featured articles on traveling to Robert E. Howard’s Cross Plains, TX and Ernest Hemingway’s Ketchum, ID. Today, CNN’s fellow travelers turn their attention to Walt Whitman’s Camden, NY. “A tour offered this summer called ‘Walt Whitman & His Invincible City’ celebrates [...]

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The movies get it all wrong. You don’t just spew out some Latin, crank up Judas Priest, draw a pentagram on your notebook during study hall, and summon the devil. As serious necromancers know, conjuring a demon is a grim business, full of risk and threat. And it’s far from being an exact science. The denziens of the netherworld [...]

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I intended to mention earlier in the week that Pat Walsh, former editor at MacAdam/Cage and author of the best damn book on getting published period, is the guest blogger at Powell’s. Walsh’s most recent book is How to Win the World Series of Poker (Or Not) but he put down the playing cards and [...]

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Ed got the drop on me. I’m busted. He wilted under the harsh spotlights, billy clubs, and genitally-placed electrodes of John Freeman’s Amazon link expose and he ratted us all out. Now, the grifters of the Lit Blog Cartel are all on the run, hiding in the shadows and safe houses of the book world. Trust me, the [...]

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  Steve Yarbrough, author of The Oxygen Man, Mississippi History: Stories, and others returns to Square Books in Oxford, MS today to sign his new novel. The End of California focuses on Pete Barrington, a successful physician who flees California and returns to the small Delta town where he grew up. Whatever the plot, you [...]

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CNN is at it again. This time, they examine tourism in Hemingway’s Ketchum, Idaho.

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  CNN has a nice article about a festival honoring Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian. It’s an interesting glimpse into the man’s life in a small Texas town. “Cross Plains hasn’t always embraced its most famous native son, sometimes called ‘crazy’ for his wild tales, talking to himself and sometimes pretending [...]

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I just noticed this… and maybe it’s because I got far too little sleep last night… but does anyone other than me think it’s odd that the the Guiness World Records: 2006 is listed on the Paperback Advice best sellers list by the folks at the New York Times? Advice? Really?

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Motoko Rich writes Product Placement Deals Make Leap From Film to Books in today’s New York Times. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing brand names in movies and on television shows, but now, it seems the trend is moving to literature. As I sit here, casually enjoying the fine caffeinated rush of my Mt. Dew, typing on [...]

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Peter Selgin edits Alimentum: The Literature of Food and, like most editors, he has a few bones to pick with the folks who fill up his mailbox. His article, The X Files: Confessions of a Cranky Lit-Mag Editor appears in the May/June 2006 issue of Poets & Writers. In the piece, Selgin offers some worthwhile advice [...]

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The free copy of White Shadow was claimed almost immediately after the post went up. Sorry I haven’t been able to post an update earlier this afternoon. But thanks to everyone who emailed me and tried to get it. Have a great weekend!

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I mentioned my review of Ace Atkins’ new novel, White Shadow, earlier today. In addition to my review, if you want to learn more about Ace’s work, check out his website. Ace is actually in France right now, appearing at the Festival International du Roman Noir. Then, he goes back out on the road for tour [...]

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  You know how on Cops, the spouses always seem to take up for the abusive husband? They call the police, but by the time the cruiser arrives, they’ve reconciled and are crying and holding hands as the officer leads the dude, who invariably has no shirt on, away. I guess this is the literary [...]

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