On Being All That You Can Be
In addition to being ubiquitous, Ellery Queen was fictitious. Gumshoe Who Wore Pince-Nez
Freud: Still Messin’ With Us After All These Years
Did Freud destroy the art of creating characters? If so, you’ve got to hand it to the guy. Very few of us have the power to change the course of a single profession. Freud managed to re-engineer at least two. It seems character development was arrested by the introduction of ids and ego and superegos. No great characters have been written since. Much as we were fascinated by this theory, we couldn’t buy into the argument. Maybe because it implies that the entire postwar writing profession fell lockstep into Freudian analysis. We were lost when this statement struck us as
Be Careful What You Ask For
While we’ve been fighting the Mad Beast of Sinus (new Tylenol product: Severe, written in friendly, easy-to-read-through-the-agony yellow letters), others have been thinking. Normally, we don’t encourage this sort of behavior, but that’s only because we know what sort of trouble ensues. When you throw something out into the collective unconscious, you may eventually be required to do something about it. Mark Sarvas tempts fate by offering his top ten things he would do to resuscitate the Los Angeles Times Book Review. While we’d focus more on important things like dress code and making sure the coffee is always fresh
On The Death of A Favorite Thing
Now, it could be that I’m overreacting. Maybe the fact that two intelligent and capable writers — in a major book, on an important topic, published by one of the country’s top presses — end up sounding like Alanis Morrissette is not as worrisome as it seems. Isn’t It Ironic?
Mixed Feelings
We’ve been hearing stories about Transita for the past couple of months — a whisper here, a question there. Always with the underlying “they’re looking for stories about/by older women”. Followed by “what does that mean?” Yeah, well, what does that mean? Fiction has traditionally celebrated the younger woman (and man, let’s be fair). The rite of passage makes for the basics of literature. There is nothing more interesting than the transition from callow youth to responsible adult. Unless, of course, you’re a responsible adult. Then you begin to realize that life has more to offer than a mortgage. Also,
Reading, Writing, No ‘Rithmetic
It was recently brought to our attention that we, unlike some, do not aspire to be Tolstoy. For a lot of reasons, we took this as a compliment. Not that we don’t adore Russian literary giants — we do. But remember, too much Tolstoy causes the gout. When our poor, put-upon bookclub encountered our first choice — The Brothers Karamazov — there were groans (possibly because there are only so many wines that go with Russian literature). They never got our excitement; possibly we shouldn’t attempt to do the Grand Inquisitor voice. They never got that Dostoevsky was funny. Really
Fulfilling Reader Expectations
We received a complaint about our content: apparently some of our subject matter is too obscure. Books and publishers and writing. . .all of this seems a little foreign to at least one reader. Because we take constructive criticism seriously, we are going to strive for more accessible subject matter. We are going to start discussing maps. Everyone likes maps. Randy Cohen has decided to map literary New York (didn’t someone just do this in Los Angeles as well?). Not where authors of note have lived, but the places their characters spend time. He admits he needs help (see the
AgentSpeak: Intellectualism For The Trade Reader
Most authors would be happy to get their agents on the phone. We know one person who’d be happy to get an email response that makes sense. Having your agent take on the government? Heck, that’s like a dream come true. This may be why so many people want The Strothman Agency behind them. Wendy Strothman and Dan O’Connell combine editorial experience with marketing expertise. Though their agency has a strong background in academic work, they’re also seeking work that has staying power. They represent a wide range of works and are highly selective about the fiction they represent. Quality
More Ways To Waste Time While Increasing Productivity
Are you tagging yet? It’s all the rage, so if you aren’t now, you will be soon. The good news is that tagging can be done from the privacy of your home. Nobody needs to know what you’re doing, unless you choose to share. Tagging, basically, is a method for adding keywords to photos, links, or information. You can then share your tagged information (Flickr is a good example of this) or use tags to manage bookmarks you’re saving for research purposes (our favorite thing). For all of us who have bookmarked something only to wonder “what’s that?” the next
Super Friend
The hallmark of a good friend is her ability to intuit, across thousands of miles and a couple of time zones, that you’re going to wake up with a nasty sinus headache. She then takes it upon herself to post something on your blog in your stead. We thank Jill for picking up our slack this morning. She has earned her Mindreader badge. She says she has more to say this week (and while we shouldn’t encourage avoidance, we do), so will be posting a few more items. As always, she’s nice, we’re cranky.