featured posts

Dec. 16, 2009

Dickens vs. the Snarks

To a reader, Dickens absorbs, the web distracts.

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Oct. 14, 2009

Inside “The Strangler”: Angiulo, Barboza and fictionalizing the Mob

Two notorious Boston crime figures, Gerry Angiulo and Joe Barboza, are reanimated in The Strangler.

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Aug. 21, 2009

Why authors should (and shouldn’t) blog

Blogging will probably never help me sell books, but to me it’s worth doing anyway.

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Aug. 10, 2009

Remembering Updike the Father

John Updike’s son writes a eulogy for his father

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Aug. 1, 2009

Makers vs. Managers

All writers are both makers and managers. The trick is to keep the two roles separate.

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Jul. 27, 2009

“Free” and the Future of Publishing

An internet entrepreneur suggests book publishers take a lesson from web start-ups.

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Jul. 16, 2009

Best Boston Movie Ever: “The Friends of Eddie Coyle”

A forgotten classic from 1973 is the best movie about Boston ever.

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Jul. 8, 2009

How Writers Write: Graham Greene

Graham Greene’s remarkable writing method.

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Jun. 29, 2009

On Moving to a New Publisher in the UK

Being dropped by one English publisher is humbling, being picked up by another is inspiring.

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Jun. 22, 2009

Writers as Performers

Malcolm Gladwell, like Dickens and Twain before him, knows that while his books can easily be reproduced, the author’s genuine presence cannot.

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