Suspend Your Disbelief

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A writing space too beautiful to write in

by Celeste Ng

Okay, this might be the writer’s cabin to end all writer’s cabins. In fact, I’m not sure you can even call this amazing flip-down, glass-walled writing retreat with 360-degree views a “cabin.” Says dornob.com: At 500 square feet, it is not a huge retreat but it serves its purpose perfectly: fold-up sides keep it secure when not in use, while doubling as privacy screens, light blocks and thermal barriers as desired. Essentially a glass house on the inside, folding down three of the four exterior walls gives the occupant a nearly 360-degree connection to the surrounding context. With a writing […]


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Bookish Gift Idea #2: Sense and sensibility Cuff

by Celeste Ng

This wide brass cuff is pretty on its own—but when you add the text of Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, it’s elevated to a fitting gift for a bookworm. The designer, Jezebel Charms on etsy, describes itself as “literary jewelry with a steampunk edge” and makes versions with quotes from other Austen novels, Shakespeare, Dickens, the Brontes, and more. Or, for the gents, how about a pair of Dracula cufflinks—complete with drops of blood? Available from Jezebel Charms on etsy. And check back every day in December for another bookish gift idea from FWR!


Shop Talk |

Bookish Gift Idea #1: Penguin Books iPhone Case

by Celeste Ng

Gift-giving season is upon us–and this year, Fiction Writers Review comes to the rescue, offering a bookish gift (that’s not a book) every day in December. Protect and beautify your iPhone—and show your love of books—with this Penguin Books iPhone case. I love the slightly faded, antique look of the covers—such a contrast from the sleek, futuristic iPhone beneath. Available from society6.com. And check back every day in December for another bookish gift idea from FWR!


Essays |

The 2011 Sozopol Fiction Seminar: Part II

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Step two: engage. Sozopol coverage continues with Molly Antopol’s conversation with Bulgarian author Miroslav Penkov and Lee Kaplan Romer’s meditation on writing as an act of defiance and grace.


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Why to give up on your novel–or not start at all

by Celeste Ng

Everywhere you look, there are reasons not to write. If you believe in omens–as I do–you may start to wonder if the universe is trying to tell you something. You may feel like you shouldn’t even start writing. Recently, the Huffington Post offered 10 reasons not to write your novel. And some of them are pretty damn good. For instance: 2. Someone has already written your novel, and better than you ever could. Certainly you’ve visited a bookstore, picked up a new release novel the plot summary of which filled you with loathing. “That’s the idea I had,” you mutter. […]


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Book of the Week: East of the West, by Miroslav Penkov

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

This week’s feature is Miroslav Penkov’s debut collection, East of the West, published this year by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Penkov was born in 1982 in Bulgaria and came to the U.S. to study in 2001. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Psychology followed by an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas, and now teaches creative writing at the University of North Texas, where he is a fiction editor for the American Literary Review. His stories have won The Southern Review’s Eudora Welty Prize and have appeared in or are forthcoming from A Public Space, One-Story, Orion, […]


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Book-of-the-Week Winners: Quarantine

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Quarantine, by Rahul Mehta, as our Book-of-the-Week title, and we’re pleased to announce the winners. Congratulations to: Leonard Nash (@LeonardNash) Jennie Coughlin (@jenniecoughlin) N. Hao Ching (@hao) To claim your free subscription, please email us at the following address: winners [at] fictionwritersreview.com If you’d like to be eligible for future giveaways, please visit our Twitter Page and “follow” us!


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eBooks? Not in this crib.

by Celeste Ng

News flash: eBooks are growing more popular by the year–wait, make that the minute. But there’s one market where paper books are still king: babies. The New York Times reports that even eBook-reading parents prefer paper books for their tots. This is the case even with parents who themselves are die-hard downloaders of books onto Kindles, iPads, laptops and phones. They freely acknowledge their digital double standard, saying they want their children to be surrounded by print books, to experience turning physical pages as they learn about shapes, colors and animals. Parents also say they like cuddling up with their […]


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"Work" writing and "really" writing

by Celeste Ng

Like many writers, I tend to think of job-related writing–like copywriting, or editing, or ghostwriting memos–as Not Really Writing. In the Huffington Post, though, Holly Robinson expresses a very different point of view: “Doesn’t it bug you to write other people’s books when you could be working on your own?” another writer asked me recently. Not a bit. In fact, I love telling other people’s stories. What other job would allow me to walk in another person’s shoes so completely that I’d feel their blisters? Working as a book doctor or ghost writer, I have the opportunity to immerse myself […]


Essays |

The 2011 Sozopol Fiction Seminar: Part I

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Step One: Leave home. Three fellows from the Sozopol Fiction Seminar consider questions of travel, culture, and translation. Part I: John Struloeff on international diplomacy and collaboration, Jane E. Martin on finding home abroad, and Michael Hinken on how we rediscover home by leaving it. Later this week: Molly Antopol and Lee Romer Kaplan.




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