Flavorwire offers a recommended books list with a twist. “The Internet (this site not the least bit exempt) is fond of telling you which books you should read. Particularly, it…Continue readingBooks you should NOT read in your 20s
1) On style: “Omit needless words. Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should have no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should…Continue readingTwo micro lessons in writing
This one, for example: “Hold Still”, by Nina LaCour: This novel follows Caitlin, a teenager trying to come to terms with the suicide of her best friend, Ingrid. Accompanying Caitlin…Continue readingYA Novels That Should Be Movies
“So many fictional heroines seem to lack a great support base in female best friends. I’ve read about the Tomboy, the Lone Wolf, the Only Girl in the Clubhouse, et…Continue readingThe Importance of Womance
When I wrote the novel “Spellspam“, the second in my Worldweavers YA series, I was sure that the playful term which I invented – to describe spam which brought real…Continue readingInvented any words lately?
Donal Ryan’s debut novel was plucked out of the slush pile by an intern working at Lilliput Press in Dublin who raved about it to the publisher. The novel, which…Continue readingThey still read slush piles?
Often the latest slang is rather ancient. Calvin told Hobbes that “verbing weirds language” and I suspect he might be appalled at the use of ‘friend’ as a verb. But…Continue reading‘Verbing weirds language’
“Remember, writing is almost as much fun as sex!“ Ray Bradbury’s book inscription to Alec McCabe in 1989 —– “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story.…Continue readingAs much fun as sex, almost