Love and Its Representations in Literature
In my very first college English lit class, the teacher asked us to write a poem on sexuality, and I wrote a limerick about a turtle. It was the only thing I could think of that rhymed with fertile. Of…
Category: Books
An Interview with Alexander Chee, Author of The Queen of the Night
Alexander Chee’s second novel, The Queen of the Night, has topped nearly every “2016 must-read” list that flooded the Internet in January, and the response to each was ecstatic. Chee is not only a writer’s writer, but a great friend…
Friday Feast: Lessons from One-Star Reviews, Mid-Career Author Advice, Slut Shaming in Romance, Spreading the Book Love, and Bookish Street Art
I told myself I wouldn’t write about winter weather so much this year. But here we are on the verge of another snowstorm. Instead of bemoaning the bitter cold, I’m trying to focus on the benefits: lots of time to…
YA Wednesday: Winter Wonderland
Although here in Boston winter took a long time coming, the temperature has finally plummeted and there’s actual snow on the ground. No more of that 40-degree pseudo-winter! Being a true New Englander, I always embraced winter with downhill skiing,…
Friday Feast: Book Sales, Writer Gestation, Unreliable Narrators, Unrealistic Tropes, and the Importance of Writing Carefree Blackness™
This week, I’m indulging in a feast of cold meds and Advil PM thanks to an awesome cold that’s making its way around Boston, which makes it hard to muster any energy to revise the many first drafts hanging around…
Hearing Voices
I’m sure you’ve all heard the advice to put your manuscript in a drawer for a few months before tackling the next revision. Getting some distance allows you to see things you otherwise can’t because you’re too close to it….