Smorgasbord: A Disturbing Glimpse Into The Psyche Of A Novelist
Note to self: Don’t eat in the dark. The remote control for the soundbar to my television is NOT a chocolate bar, no matter how much it may feel like […]
Note to self: Don’t eat in the dark. The remote control for the soundbar to my television is NOT a chocolate bar, no matter how much it may feel like […]
Rules For Writing A Novel: Best Advice About Writing A Novel: Possibly Useful Suggestions For Masochists Who Still Want To Write A Novel, Though If I Were You I Wouldn’t […]
Spiders with body hair. Alarm clocks. February in Iowa. Grapefruit. Poets that go out of their way to be incomprehensible. Laugh tracks in old movies and sitcoms. Rubbery shrimp. Reality […]
First off, Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series is not for everyone. Twenty novels long, it is relentlessly convoluted and wildly idiosyncratic. (He was working on the twenty-first installment when he keeled […]
As a novelist, the three main questions I get asked are: Let’s tackle these one at a time. What’s your writing process? When I first start a novel, I […]
I’ve been studying French for seven years. I’ve rarely worked as hard at anything in my life. I’ve taken private lessons from two gifted and patient French teachers; I practice […]
Sure, a romp in bed with a lover or two can be fun, but give me a heaping bowl of cassoulet any day of the week. Foreplay is lovely, but […]
I’m a swimmer. A really slow, inept, flapping-around-like-a-fish-on-dry-land kind of a swimmer, but a swimmer nonetheless. I love being in water; I love the repetitious mindlessness of laps; I love […]
I have no idea what I am doing. I’m a classic introvert. Whenever someone asks me questions about my life I never know how to respond; I usually just stare […]