On Writing

The Art of Rejection: Kathryn Stockett’s tale of never giving up

August 16, 2011

More Magazine features an essay by Kathryn Stockett, author of the wildly successful novel The Help, now a wildly successful film. It’s an old story, but worth repeating: novelist gets a zillion rejections, or 60, to be more precise, before finally landing an agent, a publisher, and a long-running spot at the top of just about every bestseller list you can imagine. Stockett’s advice for writers and anyone else who keeps hitting a brick wall? “Give in to your obsession.” Click here to get free downloads from the Guided Workbooks for Writers series. In the end, I received 60...

What writers can learn from late, great music man John Carter

August 12, 2011

By Michelle

What writers can learn from late, great music man John Carter

In July’s obit section, WORD magazine remembers John Carter, songwriter, producer, and A&R man extraordinaire, who “was instrumental in the careers of and a passionate supporter of Bob Seger, The Motels, Sammy Hagar, Melissa Etheridge, Tori Amos, David and David, and … Tina Turner.” WORD quotes an interview for industry website Taxi, in which Carter said that “the one thing he had learned was that over 70 percent of hit records have titles containing nouns.” All kinds of songs become successful, and therefore can be held up as examples to encourage someone that what they’re doing is right, but...

and all the ships at sea

July 3, 2011

By Michelle

I wanted to share an interesting email I received last week from a reader: I’m a Marine stationed over at Camp Pendleton in California. While I was on deployment, I found The Year Of Fog in the small ship library…I was a part of an expeditionary unit sitting off the coast of Burma last year after their country was ravaged by a natural disaster. I mean this in the greatest sincerity when I say that reading and finishing your story was truly all I looked forward to the 2 months I spent sitting on a ship, counting the days...

The Untimely Death of Manning Marable

April 3, 2011

By Michelle

What if you spent 20 years writing your magnum opus, only to pass away the day before its publication? That’s what happened to Columbia professor Manning Marable, remembered here in the New York Times. “For two decades, the Columbia University professor Manning Marable focused on the task he considered his life’s work: redefining the legacy of Malcolm X. Last fall he completed “Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention,” a 594-page biography described by the few scholars who have seen it as full of new and startling information and insights.” It is tragic that Marable will never get the chance...

Joshilyn Jackson, in the carpool lane

June 1, 2010

By Michelle

Roxanne Ravenel over at All Things Girl conducted a wonderful two-part interview with Joshilyn Jackson, whose new novel, Backseat Saints, will surely satisfy her fans and earn her many new ones. Joshilyn talks about her love-hate relationship with the South (“I am truly happy nowhere else, and yet I am angry with it, so I don’t imagine I am finished writing about it”), what she reads, and why she thinks writing groups are a good idea, among other things. My favorite bit of the interview involves Joshilyn’s writing process (or lack thereof). This pretty much sums my process up,...

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On Writing

The Art of Rejection: Kathryn Stockett’s tale of never giving up

What writers can learn from late, great music man John Carter

and all the ships at sea

The Untimely Death of Manning Marable

Joshilyn Jackson, in the carpool lane

Creative Writing Workbooks

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The Girl in the Fall-Away Dress

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