Writer Unboxed

When we heard about entrepreneur Mark Levin’s book, The Fine Print of Self Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies Analyzed Ranked & Exposed, we were immediately intrigued. We don’t know a lot about self-publishing, to be honest, but we know the idea of it appeals to many of you, including our own […]

Today’s guest post is by cozy mystery writer Gayle Trent. Her novel Murder Takes the Cake is a delicious confection of characters, humor, cake decorating, and of course murder.  Trent’s novel is the first in her planned Daphne Martin mystery series.  We were pleased when Gayle agreed to guest blog with us because it allows […]

There are so many of us in the world. I sometimes think about this as a plane flies over neighborhoods in some city I have not yet met. There are those tidy streets, the trees, the circle where children play, where teenagers fall in love. There is the mall, the swimming pool, the […]

I’m still in the end-game of my editing process, when I’m reading my work aloud and making final tweaks. At this point, where my eyes may have failed me, my ear does not; hearing the phrases helps me catch things in the text — places where things could be better worded.
I think having an […]

Another of the great ones is gone.
Tony Hillerman, beloved for elegant western mysteries, has passed away.
Like many gifted writers, he was a mentor and teacher of the craft.  HERE’s a lovely tribute to Hillerman by one of his students.  A passage that struck me:
At the time, he was just beginning his Joe Leaphorn novels. I was struck by […]

A few weeks ago I blogged about whether readers are born or made. I also wonder if writers are also born or made.
I’ve spoken to so many writers who say as soon as they could read, they’ve never known a time when they didn’t want to write stories (except Therese!) They […]

If you missed part 1 of my interview with debut novelist and Backspace co-founder Karen Dionne, click HERE, then come back. Today, Karen and I chat a little more about her process and challenges while writing her novel, Freezing Point–an environmental thriller. We’ll also discuss her unboxed publicity efforts and her other baby, Backspace.
Enjoy!
Part 2: […]

Psst, WU readers! Allison Winn Scotch’s new release, Time of My Life, has just gone into its second printing! Her novel has not only made People Magazine, it’s made the Today Show’s list of “10 can’t miss fall reads!” (See this list HERE.) Is it possible Allison will make the NYT best-seller list this weekend? […]

Every so often, Therese and I get interesting alerts in our WU e-mail account that we should pass on to WU readers, so many that I thought I should start a feature called “From the Mailbox.”  The moniker isn’t going to get chisled on the Parthenon anytime soon, but it gets the job done.
Kelly Sonora let […]

To you they are wax, but to me, their creator, they live and breathe.
— Crane Wilbur, House of Wax
Recently, I had to take a break from writing for health reasons. (Ug, surgery. Be gone, headaches!) Though I’ll still be working on the final edit of Unbounded for another few weeks, this short break allowed […]

Chris Eldin from Book Roast emailed us recently to say that their new slate of authors will be fully cooked and ready for slicing begining today. Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday, Oct 21: Tish Cohen “Inside Out Girl”
Wednesday, Oct 22: Karen Dionne “Freezing Point” [NOTE: This week, Karen is WU’s featured author. We’ll post part 2 of […]

Last Tuesday I blogged about recent critiques regarding Anita Silvey’s article Has Newbery Lost It’s Way. Silvey wondered why children’s librarians and booksellers were unhappy about reader’s lack of interest in the recent spate of Newbery medal honorees, and the contention that the Newbery committee was sacrificing readability for literary quality. Predictably, there […]