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At this year's American Library Association conference, held June 27 to July 2 in Chicago, novelist Ann Patchett, whose most recent book is State of Wonder (Harper, 2011), talked about her "profoundly uninteresting" life as a reader and opening an independent bookstore, Parnassus Books, in Nashville.
It’s easy for writers to fall in love with their own characters. We created them, after all; they are part of us. But remember that characters are human beings and all human beings have flaws—sometimes terrible ones. Insecurity, loneliness, addiction, violence, and even pure evil are not easy to write about. However, flaws can also be the most compelling characteristics of our characters. Flaws create conflict, tension, and drama as our characters slug their way through challenges and heartache. In many ways, weakness can be a character’s greatest literary strength.
Richard from AbeBooks.com offers ten reasons why George Orwell's dystopian novel still resonates seven decades after its initial publication by Secker and Warburg in London.
Audible, Inc., and the New York City–based Center for Fiction have teamed up to create a new literary prize. The Christopher Doheny Award, given for an unpublished book of fiction or nonfiction on the topic of serious illness, will include a $10,000 prize, publication, and promotion of the winning book in print and audio editions.
The award was established in memory of Christopher Doheny, a long-time Audible employee who died of cystic fibrosis in February at the age of thirty-one.
“Supporting writers and literature is the most fitting tribute to Chris, a writer himself who loved reading, discussing, and working with good books,” said Beth Anderson, EVP and publisher of Audible.
“We are pleased to be able to honor Chris, while helping to support some excellent writers working on promising manuscripts,” added Center for Fiction executive director Noreen Tomassi.
Writers who have previously published work in literary journals or magazines, or who have published a book with an independent or traditional publisher, are eligible to enter. Both adult and young adult manuscripts are eligible. Writers may submit a completed manuscript and synopsis or two sample chapters of a work in progress and a book proposal, along with a bibliography, a brief bio, and contact information by July 31. Visit the website for complete submission guidelines.
Manuscripts will be judged by a panel of three distinguished writers chosen by the Center for Fiction and a representative of Audible. Writers are encouraged to contact dohenyaward@audible.com for more information.
“We hope that this prize will help talented writers who may be battling chronic or fatal disease tell their important stories,” said Dana Doheny, Chris’s mother.
A subsidiary of Amazon, Audible, Inc., provides audiobooks for a host of digital and mobile platforms. The Center for Fiction, the only nonprofit literary organization in the United States devoted solely to fiction, offers writing classes, an expansive library, and a variety of events, awards, and fellowships for writers in New York City. The Center is also accepting monetary donations to the Chris Doheny Award; visit the website to find out how to contribute.
In honor of Independence Day, take another look at the great document that was signed by Jefferson, Adams, Franklin and the others on July 4, 1776. Reread that most famous sentence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Use it—or rewrite it—in a short story that takes place at dusk on July 4, 2076. Happy Tricentennial?
The author of thirteen books of essays, short stories, and nonfiction—winner of the National Book Award, the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and numerous other honors—talks about the landscape of his home in western Oregon and the art of storytelling in this video from Open Road Media.
Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy's debut screenplay, The Counselor is the story of a lawyer who gets in over his head when he gets into the drug-trafficking business. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, and Penélope Cruz, The Counselor is scheduled to open in theaters October 25.
Read exclusive excerpts from the novels and story collections of debut fiction writers NoViolet Bulawayo, Bushra Rehman, Bill Cheng, Anton DiSclafani, and Chinelo Okparanta.
Cover subject Neil Gaiman recently visited the Daily Beast to speak about his new novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, published by William Morrow. Pick up the current issue, on newsstands now, to read Michele Filgate's interview with the best-selling author.
The debut author, who is interviewed by Nathan Englander as part of "First Fiction 2013" in the current issue, reads from his first novel, Southern Cross the Dog, which was published in May by Ecco. Read an excerpt from the novel in our 2013 First Fiction Sampler.
