It’s bound to happen: as you work on a story, you read or see something very similar to what you’re doing. Sometimes, so similar, you might even consider stopping. It happened to me recently, while reading The Night Circus (affiliate link). Not that I even remotely considered stopping work on A Magic Life, but I […]
Archives for January 2012
Self Promotion for Writers
Hi, my name is Christopher Gronlund and I have a confession: I am not at my best when it comes to online self promotion. In person, sure! I’ll get up and speak before a large group, approach any agent or editor, or give my time to people who have read what I’ve written. All with […]
The Book Pile: The Getaway Car
I’ve never been the biggest fan of memoirs about writing, but when I read this post on Alex George’s blog about Ann Patchett’s The Getaway Car: A Practical Memoir About Writing and Life (Kindle Single) (affiliate link), and saw that it’s less than $3, I decided to pick it up. When I read Patchett’s Bel […]
300
In honor of the 300th Juggling Writer post: I’ve still never seen the movie, 300, but this makes me laugh every time I see it. Thanks for sticking around for the first 300; here’s to many more posts! * * * Monday, it’s back to a normal update: a review of Ann Patchett’s The Getaway […]
The E-Book Book Tour
John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars (affiliate link) sits on a pile of books on the hutch over my desk. I try to read one or two YA books a year, and this will be one of them. The video below is something John made earlier this week. He’s on a book signing tour […]
A Big Thanks from the Juggling Writer
It seems like more people got a Nook than a Kindle (Affiliate Link) for the holidays — at least when looking at e-book sales of my novel and short stories. Nook sales have outpaced Kindle sales this month in a BIG way. Thank you to everyone who’s bought a copy of Hell Comes with Wood […]
The Luckiest Man Alive
There are moments in life that make you glad to be alive. I tend to be more…focused with the things I post on The Juggling Writer, but tonight I feel the need to be a bit more personal. Tonight was one of those moments; one that if I were to close my eyes and not […]
The Evolution of a Novel
No real update today, but I want to share something worth checking out. Author, Alex George, has a wonderful “story in five photos” entry on his blog, chronicling the evolution of his latest novel, A Good American (affiliate link), from a blank page, through several drafts, galleys, and the actual novel. More than that, though, it […]
What Are Your Reading Habits?
Yesterday on my personal Facebook page, I posted the video above. A very good friend replied, saying that he’s all about e-books and audio books these days, because it allows him to not be weighed down by books and lets him read/listen on the go. The Power of E-Books I love physical books, but I’m […]
The Book Pile: Habibi
I’ll just go ahead and say it: I think Craig Thompson’s Habibi is one of the best — if not the best — examples of graphic novels as a medium. It blurs the lines of time and place, it uses traditional comic book panels and many design elements to carry the story, and it ends […]
The Book Pile: The Sense of an Ending
Yesterday, I read The Sense of an Ending (affiliate link), by Julian Barnes. At 163 pages, it’s short enough that I’m tempted to read it again, to see if my feelings about it change. The Quick Version The book is about a group of school mates who go on to college and then onto their […]
What’s in a Title?
It seems fitting to begin the new year by reading a new book: Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, a book about children born at the stroke of midnight in India in August of 1947 — at the very time of the country’s independence. Reading Rushdie’s introduction to the 25th anniversary of the book, he talks about […]