Suspend Your Disbelief

Shop Talk

Book-of-the-Week Winners: Monkeybicycle

Last week we featured Monkeybicycle as our Journal of the Week, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Lynne Perednia (@Perednia ) Lynne Barrett (@LynneBarrett ) Kelly Luce (@lucekel) Congrats! 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! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!


On Writing Blind

I just finished teaching for the term, and this past class was a bit unusual: I had two legally blind students. All of my students were phenomenal, but I was particularly floored by the dedication of those two—one of whom did the class reading by listening to his computer read the stories aloud. This all got me thinking about the many things I take for granted, including the ability to stare at a blank page waiting for inspiration to strike. Voice recognition software has come a long way, but it’s still not the smoothest tool for writers, as novelist Justine […]


Maybe just one more cup…

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 National Cancer Institute who have found a correlation between increased coffee intake and decreased risk of colon cancer.  LiveScience also wrote this week about the possibility that drinking coffee could “reduce the risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer.” […]


Richard Ford on the Colbert Report

Why don’t we have more writers on talk shows? (Except when they’re begging Oprah’s forgiveness?) Stephen Colbert tackles this issue, and many others, with writer Richard Ford. Watch below to learn why fiction isn’t the same thing as lying, why Ford’s latest novel is called Canada,, and why he keeps his manuscripts in the freezer (hint: it keeps the ideas fresher). The Colbert Report Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c Richard Ford www.colbertnation.com Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive Further Reading: Also rocking the Colbert Report: Ann Patchett Oh, AND Maurice Sendak. You know, given […]


Book-of-the-Week Winners: Signs and Wonders

Last week we featured Alix Ohlin’s new story collection Signs and Wonders, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Monica Mansfield (@MonicaMansfield ) Diane Dunning (@diane_dunning) Katherine Howe (@katherinebhowe) Congrats! To claim your free copy, 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! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!


"When you start out on a career in the arts you have no idea what you are doing. This is great."

This has been making the rounds for a little while now, but it’s so inspiring that if you haven’t seen it yet, you really should. In a commencement address at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Neil Gaiman offers reflections and advice on writing, freelancing, and the artistic life—“everything I wish I’d known starting out… and the best piece of advice I ever got, which I completely failed to follow” You can also read the transcript at the University of the Arts website, but there’s something about hearing in English accent that makes all this sound so encouraging and […]


Cozy Classics

Perhaps you’ve heard of “fuzzy math”—now there’s fuzzy literature, as well. Literally. A new series of picture books illustrates works like Moby Dick with adorable felted figures. Brothers Jack and Holman Wang have teamed up to create “Cozy Classics,” explains Tandem Magazine: Holman made wool figures of Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Bingley for Pride and Prejudice as well as figures of Captain Ahab, Moby Dick, and the Pequod for Moby Dick. […] Each image is accompanied by one of the twelve words, previously selected by Dr. Wang, that make up each book of the Cozy Classics […]


Book of the Week: Signs and Wonders, by Alix Ohlin

Our new feature is Alix Ohlin‘s most recent collection, Signs and Wonders (Vintage), which was simultaneously published last month with her new novel, Inside (Knopf). Additionally, she is the author of the novel The Missing Person (Knopf, 2005) and the collection Babylon and Other Stories (Knopf, 2006). Her work has been anthologized in Best American Short Stories and Best New American Voices, and has also appeared on public radio’s Selected Shorts. Born and raised in Montreal, she currently lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, and teaches at Lafayette College. She is also on the faculty of the Warren Wilson MFA Program for […]


Book-of-the-Week Winners: Aerogrammes, by Tania James

For the last two weeks we’ve been featuring Tania James’s new story collection Aerogrammes, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Tiffany Alexander (@alexandervision) Stacey Joy Netzel (@StaceyJoyNetzel) Kay Glass (@kglass112406) Congrats! To claim your free copy, 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! Thanks to all of you who are fans. We appreciate your support. Let us know your favorite new books out there!