Suspend Your Disbelief

Shop Talk

Snacks of Great Writers

by Celeste Ng

I think deep down, every writer believes that there’s some magic formula for inspiration. Get the right time of day, the right location, the right kind of pen, even the right sitting or lying position, and bing! Writing Happens. But for some writers, food is part of the magic formula. One of my writing teachers used to swear by Cherry Coke—and wouldn’t drink it unless she was writing, for fear of using up the magic. For me? Red candy: Swedish fish are best, but Twizzlers will do in a pinch. To that end, artist Wendy MacNaughton provides this illustrated guide […]


How to write more: Blackmail yourself?

by Celeste Ng

Perhaps, like many of us, you’re the kind of person who won’t do anything without a (proverbial) gun to your head. But it’s hard to type while holding a gun to your own head, no? Leave it to technology to solve this problem: enter Aherk!, which describes itself as a free “goal-oriented self-blackmailing service.” Now in beta testing, Aherk! has three basic steps: Define a goal. Tell us what it is that you want to achieve and set a deadline. Put your ass on the line. Upload a compromising picture that will be posted to Facebook in case you fail […]


A Public Service Annoucement About Book Suicide

by Celeste Ng

So we know how books are born, how they fall in love, and what they’re up to after the bookstore closes for the night. But did you know that books sometimes think about ending it all? It’s sad but true. What drives them to despair? This display I spotted in Porter Square Books has the answer: The Origami Poems project suggests a poem as a cure—but perhaps you’d better add a short story too, just to be on the safe side? Further Reading: Jersey Shore a la Oscar Wilde Lit and TV have a clandestine affair at the brilliant Slaughterhouse […]


#summerreading

by The Editors

A quick reminder that we’re joining in the New York Times summer reading conversation on Twitter today. You can join us by adding the hashtag #summerreading to your tweets. Remember, the Library of Congress is saving all of this. Let’s give posterity a list to consider on their own hot summer days.


Pubslush your way out of the slushpile

by Lee Thomas

via Mashable. There’s a new route to publishing your book: find the audience first. You’ve heard of Kickstarter, yes? Well, take that model, apply it to your unpublished manuscript, add in a dash of philanthropic good-will you’ve got a potentially game-changing new company: Pubslush. Been trying to find an agent, publisher, anyone to take your manuscript seriously? Perhaps it’s time to take it to the people: The process is simple. First, authors submit ten pages and a summary of their book. Then, we let you browse the submissions based on your preferences. You read a brief overview, and if it […]


Book of the Week: The Green Shore, by Natalie Bakopoulos

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

This week’s feature is Contributing Editor Natalie Bakopoulos‘s debut novel, The Green Shore (Simon & Schuster), which releases today. Set in Athens and Paris during the military dictatorship of Greece (1967-1974), the book traces one family’s experience of love and resistance as they negotiate the rule of the Colonels and the fallout from the junta. Bakopoulos holds an MFA in Fiction from the University of Michigan, where she now teaches. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Ninth Letter, Salon, The New York Times, and Granta Online, and received a 2010 O. Henry Award, a Hopwood Award, and a Platsis […]


Book-of-the-Week Winners: Living Arrangements

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Last week we featured Laura Maylene Walter’s debut collection Living Arrangements, and we’re pleased to announce the winners: Valerie Dawn (@VeeDawn) Willa A. Cmiel (@WillaACmiel) Carol Corbett (@corb21) 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!


A Moveable… Writer's Workshop

by Celeste Ng

Lots of people read on the subway. But how about writing on the subway? The NY Writers Coalition recently offered many the chance to do just that–by transforming a subway car into a free writing workshop! With pens and paper in hand, a group of writers on the #7 train wrote from Times Square to Flushing, reports the New York Times: After leaving Manhattan, the train emerged from its tunnel and rose along elevated tracks into the bright sunlight in western Queens. It was an unconventional writer’s space, with the train rumbling into a new station every few minutes and […]


Summer Reading!

by The Editors

What are you reading this summer? The New York Times wants to know… Actually, the Times’ Learning Network has asked bookish organizations to join in a tweet-fest (#summerreading) on June 7th, and we’ll be participating. Tune in to our Twitter feed (@fictionwriters) all day Thursday to learn what our editors will be reading this summer, and other summer reading tips, anecdotes, and ephemera. Join us! Here are some topics the Times suggests you might tweet about: What you want to read — or have to read — this summer. Wonderful, or awful, memories of summer reading Quotes about summer reading, […]


Connecting the Dots: International Lit and Collaboration in Bulgaria

by Steven Wingate

In 2009 I attended the second annual Sozopol Fiction Seminars, sponsored by the Elizabeth Kostova Foundation and held each May on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. I lost my sunglasses in the sea, which the Bulgarians told me meant I had to return. This year I did go back, and most things have remained the same. There are still five English-speaking fellows and five Bulgarians, and the bus ride from the capital city of Sofia cross-country to Sozopol is both long and beautiful. Elizabeth Kostova, whom one might assume has too big of a name to share her work […]


The Flyleaf

by Tom Toro

Editor’s Note: A delightful new feature on the blog: cartoons! A regular fixture on the pages of The New Yorker, Tom Toro kicks off “The Flyleaf” with a toon to send you off on a merry weekend. We’re honored to have his work appear on FWR. Keep an eye on this space for more literate laughs.




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