It’s News Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done. This week: My British Bestie Becomes a Grandma! Continue reading “A Milestone For My Bestie”
Articles, Notes & Squibs
When James Patterson Is Your Co-Author
It’s News Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done. This week: Lunch with Andrew Gross, author of The One Man (no, it’s not about James Patterson.)
As bestselling author, Andrew Gross tells it, he was sitting in his den, after double-digit rejections of his first novel by agents and publishers, and wondering “what cliff to drive our SUV off” when his phone rang and the voice on the other end asked him if he would take a call from James Patterson. Continue reading “When James Patterson Is Your Co-Author”
Using Google To Walk the Mean Streets
It’s News Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done. This week: British Author Watched YouTube to Study Queens (New York) Accent
Today’s Squib continues a topic I started a couple of weeks ago as a Behind the Scenes segment for authors who are researching locations for their novels. I wrote that like bestselling author James Patterson, I am all in favor of researching a location on foot. Nowadays, however, an author does not have to stir very far from his/her laptop or keyboard. Continue reading “Using Google To Walk the Mean Streets”
A Novel Workshop in the Sun (Behind the Scenes #7)
It’s News Squib Saturday, but I am combining today’s Squib with my website feature, Behind the Scenes/Book3 to tell you all about a great author experience I enjoyed in St. Augustine, Florida this week: I Discover the Algonkian Author-Mentor Novel Workshop.
There were nine of us: authors from the two Beaches, Pebble and Palm, and all points in between. Two men, seven women (until the second day when one of the women writers dropped out.) More to the point, the faculty we met on the first day, Michael Neff, author and founder/director of the Algonkian Writer Conferences, and Paula Munier, author and agent were joined over the next couple of days by a Pulitzer prize-winning author (Robert Olen Butler) , a bestselling suspense novelist (Hallie Ephron), and executive editors from two of the top five traditional publishing houses (Brendan Deneen of MacMillan Entertainment, and Lyssa Keusch of William Morrow/Harper Collins.)
Eight authors, six mentors. Yep! We all got the individual attention we were craving! Continue reading “A Novel Workshop in the Sun (Behind the Scenes #7)”
Location! Location! Location! (Behind the Scenes#6)
It’s News Squib Saturday, but I’m going Behind the Scenes today because Book3 is very much on my mind. Thank goodness, I am getting back on track after a few disconcerting weeks which I wrote about a couple of Saturdays ago. Looking over some photos I took last year when I was researching locations reminded me of the work I’ve already done on the book.
It also helped to have a bit of a nudge from bestselling author James Patterson. He delivers a MasterClass (a series of 22 instructional videos) which any aspiring author or even a well-established author can download for a mere $90. The class looks at all aspects of writing a bestseller including how to find ideas, how to plot, write outlines and so on.
One of the tutorials focuses on researching locations like I did one day last Summer on the North Fork of Long Island. Part of Book3 takes place on the North Fork which is more secluded and remote (so far) and more rugged than the South Fork (better known as the Hamptons.) As Patterson says, ” It’s really useful to walk around a location and make notes about whatever catches your eye.” Continue reading “Location! Location! Location! (Behind the Scenes#6)”