“The trouble with fiction is that it makes too much sense, whereas reality never makes sense.”
~ ALDOUS HUXLEY
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Isaac Bashevis Singer: “Three keys to successful fiction…”
16 Jan
Three characteristics a work of fiction must possess in order to be successful:
1. It must have a precise and suspenseful plot.
2. The author must feel a passionate urge to write it.
3. He must have the conviction, or at least the illusion, that he is the only one who can handle this particular theme.
~ ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
J.K. Rowling: “Be ruthless about protecting your writing days.”
15 Jan
“Be ruthless about protecting your writing days. Although writing has been my actual job for several years now, I still seem to have to fight for time in which to do it. Some people do not seem to grasp that I still have to sit down in peace and write the books, apparently believing that they pop up like mushrooms without my connivance. I must therefore guard the time allotted to writing as a Hungarian Horntail guards its firstborn egg.”
~ J.K. ROWLING
Colin Greenland: “Plotting is like sex.”
14 Jan
“Plotting is like sex. Plotting is about desire and satisfaction, anticipation and release. You have to arouse your reader’s desire to know what happens, to unravel the mystery, to see good triumph. You have to sustain it, keep it warm, feed it, just a little bit, not too much at a time, as your story goes on. That’s called suspense. It can bring desire to a frenzy, in which case you are in a good position to bring off a wonderful climax.”
~ COLIN GREENLAND
Jane Austen: “It’s only a novel.”
13 Jan
“Oh it is only a novel . . . . In short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language.”
~ JANE AUSTEN
January 12th birthday: Jack London
12 Jan
“You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.”
~ Jack London, b. 12 January 1876
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Colin Nissan: “Treat your demons with respect.”
11 Jan
“A writer’s brain is full of little gifts, like a piñata at a birthday party. It’s also full of demons, like a piñata at a birthday party in a mental hospital. The truth is, it’s demons that keep a tortured writer’s spirit alive, not Tootsie Rolls. Sure they’ll give you a tiny burst of energy, but they won’t do squat for your writing. So treat your demons with the respect they deserve, and with enough prescriptions to keep you wearing pants.”
~ COLIN NISSAN
Joseph Campbell: “Get thee to an incubatorium.”
10 Jan
“You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day, where you don’t know what was in the newspapers that morning, you don’t know who your friends are, you don’t know what you owe anybody, you don’t know what anybody owes to you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”
~ JOSEPH CAMPBELL
BookTalk Nation
9 Jan
Booktalk Nation returns from its holiday hiatus with a full slate of nationwide dial-in events. This week, former CNN anchor Kitty Pilgrim discusses her latest thriller and Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher talk about collaborating on their acclaimed YA novel, The Future of Us. Next week, Lois Lowry will discuss the concluding book in her Newbery winning series that began with The Giver, and Emma Straub will talk about her widely praised debut novel about Hollywood’s golden age.
Later this month, Pulitzer Prize winners Richard Russo and Robert K. Massie will be discussing their latest books, and PEN/Robert Bingham Prize winner Vanessa Veselka will talk about her debut novel, Zazen.
Here’s this month’s Booktalk Nation events (all start 7:00 Eastern/4:00 Pacific):
Wed, Jan 9: Kitty Pilgrim talks with journalist Peter Tedeschi about The Stolen Chalice.
Thurs, Jan 10: Carolyn Mackler and Jay Asher discuss their collaboration on The Future of Us with Karen Holt.
Mon, Jan 14: Author Lauren Groff interviews Emma Straub about her debut novel, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures.
Tues, Jan 15: Newbery Medal winner Lois Lowry talks about her latest novel, Son, with fellow children’s author Tanya Lee Stone.
Tues, Jan 22: PEN/Robert Bingham Prize winner Vanessa Veselka discusses her novel, Zazen, with Pauls Toutonghi.
Thurs, Jan 24: Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Richard Russo discusses his most personal book, Elsewhere: A Memoir, with author Nick Taylor.
Tues, Jan 29: Pulitzer Prize winner Robert K. Massie talks about his latest biography, Catherine the Great, Portrait of a Woman with biographer David Michaelis.
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About Booktalk Nation
Booktalk Nation’s nationwide phone-in events are intended to supplement book tours and other efforts promoting new books. Booktalknation.com provides an e-commerce platform in conjunction with its events, allowing readers to order books that authors will personally sign at host bookstores. Proceeds from these sales are divided between the host store and any affiliate brick-and-mortar bookstores that bring book buyers to the site. For the next few months, Booktalk Nation will be hosting up to three events per week. The number of events are expected to increase as more bookstores sign on as hosts.
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Saul Bellow: “Writing isn’t an occult operation.”
8 Jan
“Every writer’s assumption is that he is as other human beings are, and that they are more or less as he is. There’s a principle of psychic unity. Writing wasn’t meant to be an occult operation; it wasn’t meant to be an esoteric secret.”
~ SAUL BELLOW
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