Ello Novel Launched by Writer of First Twitter Novel In April of 2008, I began an experiment to write the first Twitter novel, “Small Places.” Now I’m fusing technology and literature in the first Ello novel, “So Long,” illustrated by New York artist Siyi Chen. I’m actually now in PHASE […]
Transmedia: Who Invited the Lobsters Anyway?
This is a screed (Google it you lazy so and so). This is not a glass half empty, whine from the nether regions. This is a glass done been drained empty by slant drilling moisture pirates manifesto. This is me warming up in the bullpen for a series of missives about missed opportunities and what […]
En Route To Fiction Writing
ADVERTISING, WHERE I COME FROM, is fast-paced, challenging and stimulating. Ad people tend to be infectious, out-there types with quick, fertile minds and eclectic interests. Everyone is constantly in motion, juggling multiple projects that involve different industries, target audiences and media, and is racing to meet the next tight deadline. Success depends on knowing and […]
Caroline Leavitt: Why I Write Fiction
WHY DO I WRITE FICTION? Because I’d go mad if I didn’t. Fiction helps me understand the un-understandable. It helps me forgive the unforgivable. I get to be lost in a whole other world and as I learn the language and figure out the terrain, I heal the things that haunt and obsess me. And […]
Reading Aloud For Meaning
READING ALOUD HELPS catch those pesky typos and shifts in verb tense. That’s obvious. What if there’s a deeper meaning to crooning your fiction across the dining room table? I thought I would dig a little deeper and explain why I like to read my drafts aloud. The word “writing” for me regarding fiction often […]
Why Comedy Tweets Are Good For Writers
HADN’T REALIZED I’D TWEETED forty or so times about talking to my novel. Sure it’s a far cry from the 935 tweets that make up Small Places (Twitter novel I tweeted between 2008-2010. Read some on The Nervous Breakdown). Me: You like being a second draft? Novel: I don’t feel as crazy-eyed. Now what? Me: […]
What Does It Mean To Writers When An Indie Bookstore Closes?
RUSSO’S BOOKS, perhaps the only independent bookstore left in California’s Central Valley, is closing in a little more than a week. Some people say it sucks. Others have an “oh well” attitude. But what does the indie bookstore’s impending doom mean to writers? It’s a little premature to say the Bakersfield bookstore is going away. […]