Scientific American: Novelist Ariel Djanikian talks with Celeste Ng about her vision of dystopia in The Office of Mercy.

A professor of pediatrics writes what she knows in her debut novel: a harrowing portrait of a family facing the illness of a child. A conversation with Janet Gilsdorf.

The debut author on artificial intelligence, San Francisco’s self-analysis, and the long artistic tradition of cyborgs.

A zombie wanders a big-box store, terrifying employees. A company that outsources grief. Yu serves up the human condition with a SciFi twist.

I know few writers who need another reason for another cup of coffee. But if you need more convincing, how about your health?
The reasoning isn’t yet understood, but it’s possible that coffee has health benefits beyond the mental satisfaction of finishing that chapter. This week, the New York Times Wellness blog cited researchers at the [...]

Harness the power of neuroscience to combat writer’s block.

Celeste Ng offers compelling proof that storytellers aren’t so different from scientists: both explore the same very large, very dark, very crowded room, poking and prodding and tirelessly asking, what if?

Yesterday we talked about a tool to help you analyze your writing for “flabbiness” or “fitness” based on your use of prepositions, adjective and adverbs, and so on. But could analyzing your writing tell you something about your mental fitness, too?
Researchers now believe that they may be able to detect the early signs of [...]

You know how you go into a rare books library, or maybe an old used bookstore, and you step between the shelves and take a deep breath and there it is: that incredible old-book smell. To me, it always smells like leather and caramel and dust and sunlight, all blended together.
Turns out, [...]

Not a poet? Perhaps you are. David Brooks points out that we all use metaphors in our daily speech, all the time, without even knowing it:
When talking about relationships, we often use health metaphors. A friend might be involved in a sick relationship. Another might have a healthy marriage.
When talking about argument, we use [...]