How’s This for Determination?

There is a fantastic quote in the January 2007 issue of Playboy that reveals the determination of a young aspiring author. In the On the Scene section of the magazine, the quote reads, “As things stand now,” a 21-year-old Hunter S. Thompson wrote in June 1959, “I am going to be a writer. I’m not…

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An Amazing Collection

The Washington Post reports: “Working entirely on her own, spending her librarian’s salary and later her Social Security checks, Mayme Clayton amassed one of the finest collections of African American history in the world — and stored it in her garage.” This amazing article explains, “By the time she died in October, at age 83…

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Don’t Act Like You’re Best Pals

I recently had lunch with an agent from one of the major Hollywood agencies. I’ll leave it up to you to guess. Which agency was involved? A) Creative Artists Agency B) International Creative Management C) William Morris Agency You can also determine, keep your eyes on your own paper now, the circumstances that lead to my lunch meeting. What…

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Miss Snark on Writing Hooks

  Miss Snark offers advice on writing hooks in query letters.

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Hannah on Noir

  Mississippi author Barry Hannah, the nightwatchman, writes about noir and teaching the genrein the new issue of The Oxford American. “In noir, doom rules the mood. It is perhaps the one consistent noun of the literature, running wild over both the good and the shady. The apt weather is one of destruction, with characters…

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