Add an animal to your novel

Posted on 03/06/2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Animals aren’t just for children’s books. Writer’s Digest editor Moriah Richard says that as long as the four-legged friend serves...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer's Digest

Fussy’s favorites: Week of March 1, 2021

Posted on 03/06/2021 at 08:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

It’s easy to miss the occasional post or two online, so we’ve rounded up some of the highlights from our...

Categories: Favorites

Tagged As: Just for fun

Give just enough backstory in your novel's beginning

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You’ve heard the reasons to limit how much back story opens your novel, but as Susan DeFreitas once heard it...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Plot / narrative

Bret Easton Ellis movies, from best to worst

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 02:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We suspect few bookworms wish to mark an author’s birthday by watching film adaptations of said author’s books. That said,...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Literary Hub, Movie adaptation

Read an excerpt from "Infinite Country"

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 12:20 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

March has been a big month so far for author Patricia Engel. Her novel Infinite Country was released and also...

Tagged As: Excerpt, The New York Times

11 ways to rephrase a cliché

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 11:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We love seeing the tongue-in-cheek writing advice to avoid clichés like the plague. And we also empathize with the struggle...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Writing advice

Woman asks for, receives permission to be buried near Sylvia Plath

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We’re not terribly familiar with the logistics of burials in the United States, where we live, let alone those of...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Literary Hub, Poetry

New York Times bestsellers: Week ending February 27, 2021

Posted on 03/05/2021 at 08:10 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The New York Times’s bestseller list for combined print and ebook fiction is out for the week ending February 27,...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: Bestsellers, Book lists, The New York Times

The five stages of editing (and why each is important)

Posted on 03/04/2021 at 02:36 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Readers may still pick up your book and even forgive it if it has an odd cover or underwhelming blurb....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: David Gaughran, Editing

Brooklyn Public Library's Tibetan story time shines online

Posted on 03/04/2021 at 02:18 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Many of us have found ourselves thinking back to this time a full year ago, when it became apparent that...

Categories: Today in Books

Tagged As: coronavirus / COVID-19, Libraries, NPR