The Start-Up of Your Novel

Rolling my eyes is my instantaneous, often involuntary, response to things that are irritating, tedious, or patently ridiculous. And the things that make my roll my eyes so hard that I may need hospitalization are self-help books and LinkedIn. So…

No Cred

Here’s my book jacket bio: Susan Donovan Bernhard does not have an MFA. In the 1900s, she had two articles in Southern Bride—one on picking jewelry to match a white dress and another on theme weddings. She has had two…

Live Links: Chuck Sambuchino’s Guide to Literary Agents

Writing under the Writers’ Digest banner, Chuck Sambuchino, offers almost daily (and sometimes more often) entries about literary agents and agencies, the craft of writing (both in general and in different genres), the submission process, publishing and marketing, and more…

To Be in the Sixties or Not To Be in the Sixties

Don Draper did so many despicable things during the past season of Mad Men, that not even all the glimpses of his troubled childhood could get me to sympathize. But while watching the last scene of the season finale, in…

Six Reasons Why Novelists Should Read A Lot

It’s a commonplace that novelists—especially aspiring novelists—should read a lot, and, more specifically, read lots of novels. It goes hand-in-glove, right? A certain number of people who love reading stories will eventually decide, wisely or not, to try their hand…