blog post Archives - Page 3 of 3

Incidental Research: On inequity in publishing

Researching an interview subject will invariably take me to websites, articles, or reports I wasn’t previously aware of and am happy to discover. If I think they’re interesting, chances are someone else will, too, so I thought I’d start sharing some of what I come across as I dig around for questions to ask for … Read more

When is it time to give up?

I ask because in the last two years I’ve encountered three writers at some stage of giving up: one who already had, one who was going to quit as soon as she finished the project she was working on, and another who seemed to have decided right then: done! Each of these writers, at the … Read more

Writer’s Lament: “O’, Writing!”

It’s not hard to imagine a young Dorothy Parker sitting at her Catholic school desk, an arm curled around her paper so the teacher and the girls sitting nearby can’t see what she’s writing (definitely not the assignment). Or Hunter S. Thompson at his school desk, but without an arm covering his work. Just writing … Read more

Have all the legends already been made?

There’s a prisoner at San Quentin the staff call “the bird man.” That’s what the bird man, whose real name is Mike Miller, says they call him, anyway. Ever since he arrived at San Quentin, he says in an episode of MSNBC’s “Lockup,” he’s been a bird magnet. They perch on his shoulders, sit in … Read more

Hashtag: Kill the trigger warnings

Note: This is not about American Sniper. . . . When I watched American Sniper over the weekend, I wasn’t sure how to feel through much of the movie. For the most part, I felt the way I do when watching just about any war movie: engaged. But emotionally, there wasn’t much of a reaction. … Read more

Gratitude for a shout-out

Michael Brookes, UK game developer and author of Sun Dragon, Faust 2.0, and several others (favorably reviewed by Amazon and Goodreads readers), regularly posts a “shout-out” to blogs on his website. That he’s regular about it doesn’t mean he isn’t selective, and I’m happy he selected mine to be among those he decides are worth … Read more

5 On: Rick Shefchik

In this installment of 5 On, retired journalist Rick Shefchik, author of the novels Amen Corner, Green Monster, Frozen Tundra, and Rather See You Dead, talks about the everywriter fantasy of leaving a job to write novels, shares his mystery/thriller-writing technique, and discusses his choice of genres. He also explains why he crossed from traditional … Read more

How much of art’s perceived inferiority or superiority is determined by method of release?

In the latest episode of The Flickcast, hosts Chris Ullrich and Joseph Dilworth Jr. are discussing the latest Star Wars movie when the conversation touches on the perceived value of independent art. Ullrich: I’m starting to worry that we’re going to be inundated with all these genre movies and people are going to get burned … Read more

What would you do if you heard the world was ending (and you believed it)?

Among the many things happening in The Year of Dan Palace, one is an incidental love double-helix.

Strand 1: Nina loves Dan loves April.
Strand 2: Andy loves Jenny wants Dan.

In a typical love triangle, each of the participants somehow knows the other two. In the case of Nina, Dan, April, Andy, and Jenny, this isn’t always the case.

Nina and April have never met.
Neither have Jenny and April.

Kristen Tsetsi

Kristen Tsetsi is the author of the post-Roe v. Wade novel The Age of the Child, called “scathing social commentary” and “a novel for right now.” She is also the author of the novels The Year of Dan Palace and Pretty Much True (studied in Dr. Owen W. Gilman, Jr.’s The Hell of War Comes Home: Imaginative Texts from the Conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq). Kristen’s interview series at JaneFriedman.com offers behind-the-scenes insights into all things writing and publishing.