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To encourage and inform emerging writers, support books and authors we love, dialogue with peers in the publishing biz, and reflect on a life and living made of books.
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Boxing the Octopus: all content copyright 2008 Colleen Thompson and Joni Rodgers all rights reserved.
Originally from Virginia, Kathryn Paterson just completed her Ph.D. in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston, where she has worked with such writers as Chitra Divakaruni, Alex Parsons, Edward Albee, and Dan Stern. A recepient of the UH Barthelme fellowship in fiction writing, she is currently revising her dissertation, which is a gothic realist novel tentatively titled A Perfect Room for Sleeping.
A former writer-in-residence for Writers in the Schools, Kathryn now teaches writing, research and literature courses at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. She also freelances for business and government publications, and serves as teacher and mentor to students in a Texas state prison. She lives with her husband and two cats in an old house in a small town.
Grief and Acceptance - Part XII
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When grieving the loss of a thing (e.g., jewelry, job, limb), exploring how much the lost thing mattered may be healing. Why? Assessing how much the lost ite...
One Tale, Many Tales
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Tell a tale to twenty listeners and it becomes twenty different stories.
Each listener brings to it his own aspirations, prejudices, fears, hopes,
hang-ups...
Oscar Winning Composer Inspired by Silent Film
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*Crossposted from Haaretz*
Three days before he won an Oscar for the soundtrack he composed for the
movie “The Artist,” Ludovic Bource sat in his studio ...
Wm to H'ry, April 12, 1887. Age: 45
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Update on *Principles of Psychology:*
*
*
"That immortal work is now more than two-thirds done. To you, who throw
off two vols. a year, I must seem despica...
An Aotearoa Affair #1: Crossings
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Germany and New Zealand. Seen geographically, these two countries are about
as far apart as they could possibly be. But across oceans and timezones,
peopl...
Ashamed to not know
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Society changes when we change what we're embarrassed about. In just fifty years, we've made it shameful to be publicly racist. In just ten years, someone wh...
Once more with feeling
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By PD Martin
In my post on Australia’s National Year of Reading, I spoke about my early
love of reading and how I read to be transported into other world...
Papa Don't Preach (Or; Show Don't Tell....Again.)
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*By Jay Stringer.*
*
*
*Apologies for my absence last week. It seems getting ill is my bodies
favourite new thing lately. The post I had in mind was a good ...
The Dark Side of YA - and free Kindle books!
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I have YA on the brain.
I did an event in Long Beach this weekend that was very YA-centric. I'm
also excited that RWA has asked me to do a Screenwriting Tr...
No Heroes Here
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*by Holly Hughes*
As the last Thanksgiving holiday came and went, the social media sites
were busy reminding us all that we have much to be thankful f...
The Fruits of our Labors
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[The following is a slightly-tweaked-and-updated version of one of Writing
Wednesdays' most popular posts.] I have a recurring dream. In the dream I’m
invi...
FACT CHECKING GRAHAM GREENE
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Apropos l'affaire D'Agata, I came across this amusing and illuminating bit
in John McPhee's paean to fact checkers, Checkpoints, collected in the
superb Si...
Building a library: guest post by Shannon Anderson
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Part 6 of a growing series on Blog of Green Gables, When Writers Read Kids’
Books. Writer, curator and editor, Shannon Anderson, tells us how she goes
abou...
Waiting for the Bat
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I am waiting for the bat.
In July, when we moved in, he was here.
He roosted in a corner of our screened attic window, wadded tightly, a
velvet sock roll...
I LOVE THE SMELL OF RADIO IN THE MORNING
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Smell is the most evocative sense. If the eyes are the windows of the soul,
the nose is the catflap of the imagination.
If I could show you a photograph...
Hush, don’t tell.
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Emily was at home when Shannon came over to confess she was pregnant. The
girls were best friends, barely 17, and had just started their senior year
of h...
Lotsa Winners Announced
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First off, let’s pick a winner of Ellen Meister‘s awesome book, THE OTHER
LIFE. By random drawing, the winner is… JackieW Jackie, please email your
mailing...
Final Thoughts
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by Dennis Abrams I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you who
have been following Project D this year, who have been reading Dostoevsky
along ...
Tricky Virtue
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Well folks, I was going to write about the latest issue of Poets and
Writers called “MFA Nation”, but Jon beat me to it! (In a way, with the
anti-MFA Miss...
I Love a Parade
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Today two of my favorite parents in the world gave their son, Diego, a
parade. That's what he wanted for his fourth birthday, and that's what he
got. We al...
No Sterling Sale for Now
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After a lengthy process of soliciting offers to purchase Sterling
Publishing, run by investment bank Broadwater & Associates, the targeted
completion date ...
JOHN CARTER Expected to Tank
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You’ve undoubtedly seen a trailer or two for John Carter, Disney’s $250
million 3-D sci-fi epic, opening on March 9. Not that the heavy promotion
matters; ...
Alberta Sings the Blues
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I never really got the Blues, though I have certainly gotten the blues.
Maybe that’s why, until recently, I had never heard of Alberta Hunter and
why her r...
Do Readers Care Where Books Come From
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My guest today is Norah Wilson, author of sexy contemporary romances, a
vampire romance series, and the Dix Dodd Mysteries.
Norah is a 3 times RWA Golden H...
Go to VossandEdwards.com
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It’s been a crazy crazy crazy crazy year. And while I intend to return to
this site at some point, I have decided to mothball it for a while. In the
meant...
2 months ago
BLBH now on Kindle!
"Thoroughly enjoyable, idiosyncratic and funny... an uplifting celebration of life." London Daily Mail
Colleen's epic fantasy now on Kindle!
A wayward lady in waiting, a mysterious highland count, magic, mayhem and one last chance for a desperate people.
Rich People: More Likely to Cheat? [Sociology]
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[image: Click here to read Rich People: More Likely to Cheat?]
Are the rich really different from the rest of us? A new research paper
suggests the answe...
People Roundup, March 2012
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PEOPLE Open Road announced that Tina Pohlman, Vice President,
Publisher, Three Rivers Press and Broadway Paperbacks/Crown Publishing,
will be its new Publi...
Book display
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Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘book display,’ this artwork was
photographed by Lustik who saw it in the window of a Harvey Nichols store
in Manchester, ...
2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award Submission List
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UPDATE Tom pointed out to me that it is of course six books on the
shortlist! So I've added one more.You know you're in the middle of awards
season when th...
Scribble At Large: Roar
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We're on a late call at the office. It's a good call, although we're all
here past our bed times. As such, I've drawn a dinosaur. I was out for work
unti...
Dynamic Views: Update #3 - Gadgets!
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*Hi Bloggers.
Have you been contemplating a new design for your blog? Are you ready to
spruce up your pages with a fresh, modern, and new look? Then you ...
ARE EDITORS BUYING BOOKS ANY MORE?
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I know. It seems like the only thing writers and agents are getting is
rejection slips. The stakes are high--indeed. What's the favorite phrase of
agents...
What you need to include in your email signature
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As a book publicist, I often correspond with journalists and bloggers, via
email as likely as not, these days. If I’m reaching out to someone with an
unsol...
Hiatus
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As you may have noticed, lords and ladies, I haven't quite been bringing my
"A" game the past couple of months. Between increased responsibilities at
work ...
The Value of Experimentation
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I've recently come to know and appreciate Brad King's work, both as an
innovative media professional, as well as a university professor.
So I've been ke...
Think Like a Journalist
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One of the best things you can do, when promoting your book, is to think
like a journalist. You have a beat to cover and that beat is you and your
writing....
Editing An Anthology
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by Sarah Cortez Thanks for asking me to write about the process of editing
an anthology of crime fiction. So far, I’ve edited three, one for Akashic
Books ...
What You Can Do To Further Your Publicity Campaign
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I think everyone can agree that no two books and no two authors are alike.
In the same way that no two books are alike, no two book publicity
campaigns a...
Silent Artists at MOMA
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[image: show-people.jpg]
Americans look longingly to France for aesthetic refinement; the French
look to America for unleashed energy. In “The Artist,” t...
In the News: Fewer Big Books, More Little Libraries
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The *London Review of Books* publishes a newly discovered short
story/Jeremy Lin pun by Charlotte Brontë.
“It’s hard today to invoke a sustained passion...
T.C. McCarthy: On Screenplays
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I’m reading an email; Orbit wants me to write screenplays – four of them –
and my reaction is to write back “not just yes, but HELL yes.” Then I hit
send...
Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed in the Gaza Strip
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In a chapter from Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience,
Caroline Abu-Sada recounts and analyzes some of the complications Doctors
Without...
Say hello to our little friend...
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Hearing about an exciting new novel is up there with hearing that your favourite band have got a new tour coming up, or that Mad Men have finally got a new s...
A Field Guide to the Flora and Fauna of BookExpo
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The 2011 edition of BookExpo America, or as we call it inthe trade “BEA,”
has just concluded—the industry’s annual hoedown wherebooksellers, authors,
agen...
My First App
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*I have a dilemma regarding ebook publishing. I am a seasoned graphic
designer/illustrator trying to break into the kidlit industry with an
author/illust...
An Agent's Acknowledgment
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I think on a number of agent blogs you've read how much an acknowledgment
or a dedication to an agent in a client's book can mean to an agent. I
never get ...
Contest now open!
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COUNTDOWN WEBSITE
Questions? Here are some answers to questions we've gotten so far.
(If you have other questions, post them in the comment section of th...
#221
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To _______________: Dear QueryShark:
Vuto loses her third child mere days after birth - and she's only 17 years
old.
Unless Vuto left her child on the t...
Special Guest Post: Meg Clark on Jonathan Franzen
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I laughed when I saw it: surely this was some kind of hilarious *New Yorker*meta-joke, an
article by Jonathan Franzen, a writer with whom I struggle entir...
Meet Editor Makini Brice
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Let me introduce myself. My name is Makini Brice, and I am a new
acquisitions editor at Ampichellis, specializing in general fiction and
romance. I am f...
Video posted for the "We're No Angels" NYCC panel!
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For those of you who weren't able to join us at New York ComicCon yesterday
to meet all the extraordinary women writers on the We're No Angels: Leading
Lad...
A Saturday Night with Lindsay Lohan on SNL Tease
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Just when you thought you were safe, actress Lindsay Lohan takes over your
television set. Don’t panic. She might actually make you laugh. The
embattled yo...
The Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas
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I am new to Chris Ewan’s mystery series, but if THE GOOD THIEF’S GUIDE TO
VEGAS is any indication, I’m sure to enjoy the other books as well. (For
the reco...
Two Reviews
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Coming off my recent back-and-forth with Jennifer Howard about Henry Adams‘
Democracy, it was fun to think about Thomas Mallon‘s new novel, Watergate,
whic...
Texas Pages to be reincarnated
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In the very near future, the books blog you are reading will cease to exist. But books blogging is not going away -- you'll find it on a new fine arts-relate...
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