This interview was originally published on the now-absent website Indie Bookworm, hosted/written by Cathy Murray. It’s short. Enjoy! P.S. If you’re interested in receiving a copy of The Year of Dan Palace for review or interview purposes, let me know! – Kristen ∞ Why did you write The Year of Dan Palace? When we … Read more
A few years ago my 48 year-old husband got the job he’d always wanted at one of the best companies he could work for. I’m happy he achieved his dream, but I also feel bad for him. I feel bad for most people who realize their Big Dream and still have 30 or more years … Read more
Years ago, on a now-abandoned WordPress site, I made A book’s stages of growth: in pictures after having written my first novel, Homefront (Homefront later became Pretty Much True, which became Pretty Much True by Chris Jane, and yes it’s all the same story. Regerts, I have a few). Now that The Age of the Child … Read more
Note: This post was originally published at my old website location, but my opinions haven’t changed, so I moved it here. I don’t know whether Edan Lepucki’s opinions have changed.- K In “Kill the First Novel? Are You Insane?” I responded to author Edan Lepucki’s decision to semi-permanently put away her first novel after it … Read more
Once upon a time, when Pretty Much True was Homefront and published under my own name, I was talking with the guys on GI Radio and was reminded of one of the awkward – and difficult, really – aspects of sitting at home while someone you love is deployed. In your mind, you’re comparing hardships. … Read more
One day, when Ian and I still lived near Nashville, he needed a sudden favor that involved my taking an impromptu trip to Fort Campbell, KY, about a 45-minute drive. I had an early copy of Pretty Much True I wanted to bring to the Clarksville cabstand dispatcher, known in the book as “Shellie.” (Her … Read more
__________________ * __________________ “No ideas?” “Oh,” he thumbed his mug handle, “I have ideas.” “Well, then. There you go. Write them.” “Can’t.” “Why not?” “Because. What’s the point?” “What do you mean?” “I mean,” he said, “what’s the point? I start writing a paragraph, or I imagine a scene, and I just stop. I think, … Read more
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
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
Leora Skolkin-Smith, author of Edges and Hystera and contributing editor to readysteadybook.com, answers five questions about writing and five questions about publishing at JaneFriedman.com. . What is failure? That it sells only a few copies and doesn’t get review coverage? . . . Kristen TsetsiKristen Tsetsi is the author of the post-Roe v. Wade novel … Read more
