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Jonathan Lyons has an interesting post about fresh and original ideas over at his blog. He makes some worthwhile points that all aspiring authors should remember. “I read hundreds of published books a year, hundreds of manuscripts, hundreds of partials, and thousands of queries,” Lyons writes. “I also read numerous book reviews and have conversations with [...]

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Bookninja points to an article about Canadian author winning the literary lottery. Perhaps more interesting than this tale of a first-time novelist getting a $1.25 million advance is the rundown of bigtime advanaces at the end of the article.

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Here’s an interesting article on self-publishingby the San Jose Mercury News. Unfortunately, they got the fact about John Grisham and A Time to Kill wrong. As Grisham explained to me in 2006, A Time to Kill was published by Wynwood Press. The company went out of business and he purchased the remaining copies. He then sold [...]

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Galleycat pointed out that Leo Babauta recently launched a new blog about writing called Write to Done. It’s a neat site with good advice in the few entries already posted. Leo plans to update the site with new articles twice weekly so the helpful writing hints will surely keep coming. Check it out often.

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Author Russell Banks is profiled by Reuters. “I thought I was going to be an artist, a painter, not a writer,” Banks tells the news service. “I didn’t have much of a literary bent but I did for painting because I had a visible talent. It’s like music. If you are talented it shows early on [...]

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  One of the most anticipated fiction debuts of the year hits New York City tonight as Mark Sarvas reads from his forthcoming novel, Harry, Revised as part of the Boxcar Class of 2008 reading series at 8pm. The event is at the Boxcar Lounge, 168 Avenue B in New York. You probably already know [...]

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  Over at Beatrice, I posted a note about Joe McGinniss’ The Delivery Man: A Novel. For some reason, the post isn’t appearing yet, but keep chekcing. It’ll show up soon. And keep your eyes on this space for more about McGinniss and his debut novel. It’s an engrossing book and a must-read if you’re [...]

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There’s an interesting discussion about what to do with Vladimir Nabokov’s unpublished novel over at The Guardian. How do you respect someone’s last wishes while also respecting literary history and scholarship? “If your father said he wanted his diaries to be destroyed after his death, chances are you’d carry out his wishes and have a bonfire [...]

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There was a good profile of British author Pat Barker in The Los Angeles Time yesterday. “It really is just about the writing,” Barker told William Georgiades during their interview. “There is this deadly competence that I’m aware of in my own work — I’m writing and everything is jogging along, but there’s no spark. And [...]

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Peter Pan’s home is for sale. Or, more specifically, the home of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie could be yours for slightly more than $13.2 million. While living in the semi-detached home ”Barrie met five boys who inspired his creation, the children of Arthur and Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, in Kensington Gardens,” according to published reports. “He wrote [...]

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I believe I first noticed it while watching the film The Departed. A friend leaned over to me and said, “This whole movie would be impossible without that gadget.” I really started to notice it in Entourage. And now, it’s starting to creep into literature. Cellphones, of course. They’re everywhere today. I’m convinced that people [...]

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Or, at least survivals. The great Bookninja points to a particular letter to the editor that argues not all independent bookstores are dying. In fact, the owner of Seattle’s Mystery Bookshop wants the media to pay more attention to how small shops can indeed thrive. “Reacting to the closing of one bookshop by saying it is another [...]

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