When I asked my father what he thought of my first published novel, he said, "Well, I guess some of that could of happened. And don't forget to bring back the chainsaw next time you're home."
"I'd had a bad experience with the food at a Chinese restaurant. That got me thinking about death and mortality."
"I began my writing career as a playwright, which is not the best career in which to make a living (understatement of the century)."
The "chick lit" genre didn't really exist 5 years ago, but now publishers are realizing that books about single women trying to figure out their post-college decisions are doing well.
In the 50s we were told that to be a good writer you had to be a good drinker. It did a lot of people in. We thought Dylan Thomas dying at 39 was glamorous and romantic.
I find little point in giving advice that isn't crystal clear. It's hard enough to write well, without having to first divine the meaning of some perplexing Delphic utterance from Stephen K.
"I became intrigued with the idea of writing a fictional account of a scientist and poet joining forces to solve a great archaeological puzzle - locating the Garden of Eden."
A Pushcart nominee and Best American Poetry alum, Matt Lippman talks about teaching poetry to high school students, how his grandma got him a job at Columbia , and the challenge of having too much free time to write.
Derek talks with the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Poetry and the Cliffnotes for George Orwell's 1984 about writing for money, workshops and the poetic self.
I can't count the number of times I have heard accomplished writers who also teach say you can't teach creative writing. That's absurd.