SlushPile.net

I have to admit that on certain websites, I don’t really pay much attention. I scan the articles that I usually scan and don’t spend a lot of time focusing on whatever gimmick they’ve trotted out this particular week. But I did notice the incredibly cool SI Vault on Sports Illustrated’s website. And the thing that [...]

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The New York Times ran a detailed piece on film director Kimberly Pierce recently. She helmed the critically acclaimed Boys Don’t Cry in 1999. Her next movie, Stop Loss hits theaters on Friday. What I found most interesting is that one of my favorite teachers, Mark Richard, wrote the script. The Times article includes several [...]

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So is the addition of “mis” before a word now an admission you’ve been caught doing something you regret? Is “mis” the new must-have tactic whenever facing a news conference? First, embattled baseball star Roger Clemens told Congress that former team mate Andy Petite “misremembered” a conversation about human growth hormone. Now, presidential candidate is saying [...]

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Tom Sykes writes about how his publisher went over his memoir “with a fine-tooth comb.” I especially love how Sykes has to send out his memoir to the people involved for their confirmation. His drug dealer doesn’t mind all the dope peddling but complains about some poor grammar. [via Book Ninja]

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Here’s an interesting article about the lengths Roberto Saviano has to go to for safety after his book, Gomorrah, was published.

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Admit it. You’ve done it. We all have at one time or another. As kids in our bedrooms. As drunken adults at a wedding reception. You might have done it in the car on the way to work today. Play air guitar, that is. But some people take air guitar beyond just a simple, spontaneous [...]

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I’m jealous of my old colleagues at Square Books in Oxford, MS since Richard Price is appearing there today. Price will be signing his new novel, Lush Life, at from 5pm to 6pm. Call 1-800-648-4001 for more details. Although I wasn’t quite enthralled by Clockers and some of his crime work, I absolutely adore his [...]

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People often ask me how to get a freelancer writing career (any writing career for that matter) off the ground. And one of the simplest yet most effective strategies is to simply do your job. I’m editing a project and one writer is habitually late and always at least doubles the word count he is assigned. [...]

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone. Be sure to read some of your favorite Irish literature prior before heading into the night to swill green beer. I’ll propbably curl up with some Patrick McCabe and James Joyce. What are your St. Paddie’s day reading choices?

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Sorry for the lack of posting this week. It’s been incredibly hectic. Hopefully I’ll be back on a normal posting schedule tomorrow. But in the meantime, does anyone want to take bets on how long before a book deal with Eliot Spitzer is announced? I’m guessing it might take a few months because he needs [...]

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Charles Frazier examines Barry Hannah’s Airships for Paste. “Hannah’s language is audacious, bracing and insistent, often at the ragged brink of control,” Frazier writes. “Words flash in ways no one had thought of before. Not ever.”

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Meanwhile, Bob Thompson of The Washington Post pounds his chest and brags about the heroic virtues of newspaper fact-checking in “True or False: Book Publishers Can Avoid the Agony of Deceit”. “We can, however, offer up a hoary newsroom phrase the publishing industry might find useful,” Thompson writes. “‘Too good to check!’ we say gleefully [...]

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