Suspend Your Disbelief

Shop Talk

Where to Write? Anywhere.

by Celeste Ng

I admit I’m a bit of a prima donna when it comes to writing: I like particular spaces and particular environments. Being at my desk, with everything I need just where I want it, helps me focus. And I’m clearly not alone. But there are benefits to being more flexible, and this essay by Jessica Francis Kane on The Millions points out some of the best reasons to make do when it comes to workspaces: I began to suspect I was too susceptible to the idea of the “writer’s desk” and decided it might be better to do without one. […]


LWC } NYC

by Lee Thomas

Big thanks to Anne for alerting me to what looks like a great conference in New York on November 12 – 13. The Literary Writers Conference bills itself as: A two-day conference for fiction, poetry, and creative-nonfiction writers learning how to maneuver in the marketplace. Meet writers, editors, agents, publicists and publishers from Publishers Weekly, Oxford University Press, Scribner, Hachette Book Group, Graywolf, the Poetry Society of America, Bloomsbury, Knopf, the Academy of American Poets and more. The lineup of editors, publicists, bookstores and lit mags – not to mention writers – looks stellar. The dozen programs include a Working […]


Book of the Week Giveaway: The Unknown Knowns, by Jeffrey Rotter

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

At the end of August, Fiction Writers Review launched a Fan Page on Facebook. The goal is threefold: to introduce new readers to FWR, to create an informal place for conversations about writing, and also to give away lots of free books. Each week we’ll give away several free copies of a featured novel or story collection as part of our Book-of-the-Week program. All you have to do to be eligible for our weekly drawing is to be a fan of our Facebook page. No catch, no gimmicks. And once you’re a fan, you’ll be automatically entered in each subsequent […]


Lit map your city

by Lee Thomas

The hip folks over at The Rumpus recently posted a map of San Francisco drawn by Rumpus contributor Ian Huebert comprised entirely of literary quotes. The powerful triumvirate of map + literary quotes + very cool handwriting has me sold. According to The Rumpus, you can get your hands on the map through Electric Works Gallery. While I can think of a half-dozen books set in San Francisco off the top of my head, I wonder if this project could be turned toward your hometown? How about a literary map of Charlotte, North Carolina or Lincoln, Nebraska? The fictional locale […]


NaNo___Mo

by Celeste Ng

For those of you keeping count, there are 2 more weeks until the start of NaNoWriMo. But why stop at just writing a novel in November? Writer Ian Healy has some ideas for other NaNo-type events that—as he puts it—might just save the publishing industry. Here’s one of them: NaNoBuyMo Acquiring editors for publishers don’t get let off easy. They have to acquire ten books between November 1 and November 30. That means they don’t have a lot of time to think things through. If they kind of like something, better to take a chance on it. Sure, maybe they […]


Recently on FWR…

by Anne Stameshkin

This fall has been an exciting one for Fiction Writers Review. Shortly before Labor Day, we launched our Facebook page and began our ongoing Book of the Week promotions. Each week we’re giving away several free copies of a featured book we love. No catch, no gimmicks. To be eligible for this and all future drawings, just become a fan of our Facebook page. This week we’re excited to give away signed copies of Michelle Hoover’s debut novel, The Quickening; to learn more about the book, read T.L. Crum’s July review on FWR. Here’s a quick look at some recent […]


Graywolf Press night at BookCourt

by Lee Thomas

The very fine indie bookstore BookCourt in Brooklyn hosts a “Small Press Night” once a month (this is their second). This month they’re featuring Graywolf Press, a nonprofit publisher who I’ve heard takes very good care of their authors. Benjamin Percy, whose latest novel The Wilding was featured recently on FWR’s Book of the Week Giveaway, will be there to read. Jessica Francis Kane will read from her debut novel The Report, a re-imagining of a World War II civilian disaster that has been getting very good reviews. If you didn’t win one of the Benjamin Percy-signed books, and happen […]


New-Old Dr. Seuss Manuscript

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

Maryann Yin reports in GalleyCat that a long lost Dr. Seuss manuscript is currently being auctioned at Nate D. Sanders. She writes: The manuscript began almost forty years ago. The rhyme master wrote the first seven pages of the 19-page manuscript and an assistant completed the job. You can see Seuss’ corrections throughout the remainder of the manuscript. The story focuses on athletics: “All Sorts of Sports. Shall I play checkers? golf? croquet? There are so many games there are to play.” The manuscript comes with a typed letter signed “Ted” (his full name is Theodor Seuss Geisel). Dated July […]


The Universal Activity

by Celeste Ng

You may not know photographer Steve McCurry by name, but you probably know his famous photo “Afghan Girl.” (In fact, McCurry is so respected in the photography world that he was given the very last roll of Kodachrome ever produced.) On his blog, McCurry offers a photo essay of readers from around the world, from shoe sellers to Buddhist monks: Everywhere I go in the world, I see young and old, rich and poor, reading books. Whether readers are engaged in the sacred or the secular, they are, for a time, transported to another world. It’s not clear from the […]


The dangers of book recommendations

by Celeste Ng

Since I’m a writer, friends often ask me for book recommendations. It’s incredibly difficult to predict what people will like based on other things they’ve liked. Netflix offered a million dollars, literally, to anyone who could improve their predictions on what viewers would enjoy based on other movies they’d enjoyed. It’s marginally easier to make predictions if you know the person—but it’s infinitely more risky. Suddenly your knowledge of literature AND your knowledge of your friend are tested. Ross loved Miranda July’s No One Belongs Here More Than You, so would he like Aimee Bender? David Foster Wallace? Wells Tower? […]


Book of the Week Giveaway: The Quickening, by Michelle Hoover

by Jeremiah Chamberlin

At the end of August, Fiction Writers Review launched a Fan Page on Facebook. The goal is threefold: to introduce new readers to FWR, to create an informal place for conversations about writing, and also to give away lots of free books. Each week we’ll give away several free copies of a featured novel or story collection as part of our Book-of-the-Week program. All you have to do to be eligible for our weekly drawing is to be a fan of our Facebook page. No catch, no gimmicks. And once you’re a fan, you’ll be automatically entered in each subsequent […]


Make Your Own Hardback Books

by Celeste Ng

Got old paperbacks? Prefer hardcovers? Feeling crafty? Home design site Ohdeedoh provides this quick tutorial on how to turn paperbacks into custom hardcover books, using just an inkjet printer, cardboard, fabric, and a gluestick. This might be a great way to breathe new life into those tattered softcovers you’ve been hoarding.




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