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Calling all introverts, or half-introverts! (I’d guess one of those phrases accurately describes a majority of the thoughtful, book-wormish readers of The Writer , not to mention its contributors and editors.) Your bible has finally arrived, and...
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If you are having trouble finishing a writing project—or getting one started—the May 2012 issue of The Writer magazine , on newsstands now, is an issue you won’t want to miss. In it, you’ll find articles that provide practical...
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Chances are, serious fans of biography keep on eye on the writer who is one of the greatest practitioners in that genre, Robert Caro. The fourth volume of Caro’s biography of Lyndon Johnson, The Passage of Power , has just come out--38 years after...
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When a friend asked if I wanted to hear James McMurtry perform at Shank Hall in Milwaukee last week, I figured what the heck. Being quite snug in my usual musical orbit of jazz/blues/R&B/classical, I thought the change would do me good, broaden my...
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In addition to presenting “Top Ten Things to Know About Getting Published Today” at the San Francisco Writers Conference , I had the opportunity to visit other sessions by top-notch presenters, such as Constance Hale, author of Sin and Syntax...
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At The Writer we just put the June issue to bed, and the ridiculously balmy (by Wisconsin standards) March weather made it easy for us to connect with one of the articles: a roundup of “25 great beach reads” for the summer. We deliberately...
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Michael Larsen , who with Elizabeth Pomada directs the San Francisco Writers Conference , is a great believer in using writing as a tool for change. At this year’s conference he moderated the inspiring panel discussion “Being a Change Agent...
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Last week senior editor Ron Kovach and I ( pictured above ) headed to Chicago for the annual AWP conference. Thanks to everyone, especially our readers and contributors, who stopped by The Writer’ s booth to say hello. Maybe you didn’t make...
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At a staff lunch and company-wide sendoff over the last few weeks, we fondly bid adieu to The Writer ’s publisher and former editor, Elfrieda Abbe, who retired. (That's her in the photo at left.) Naturally, we harbor a special affection for...
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My colleague Sarah Lange and I are off on the Amtrak Hiawatha on Wednesday morning to the big AWP writing conference in Chicago, where we’ll join about 9,000 other attendees, including representatives of more than 550 publishers. (AWP, by the way...
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If you're a fan of the book (1960) or film version (1962) of To Kill a Mockingbird , I can highly recommend the recent documentary Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird , by Mary McDonagh Murphy . I caught up to it on Netflix streaming...
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Chris Pavone has been getting a lot of early buzz for his first novel, The Expats , and it’s no wonder: The spy thriller has earned starred reviews in Publishers Weekly , Kirkus Reviews , Library Journal and Booklist , as well as other raves. And...
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In a cover interview in the February issue of Keyboard magazine, the brilliant jazz pianist Keith Jarrett drops an arresting line in one of his answers. Never one to mince words, he laments “this stupid world we live in” in the context of...
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We’re told that to create an engaging story we need to know what motivates our characters. What do they want? What do they long for? What’s at stake ? “Motivation, based on a character’s beliefs, family, and environmental and cultural...
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I just completed the five full seasons of HBO’s The Wire and am suffering withdrawal pangs. I’m not sure why, but this show and I failed to connect when it was first shown. Fortunately, two of my current magazine colleagues, one former colleague...
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Copyright © 2010 Kalmbach Publishing Co.
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