Thank a Writer: A Few Seconds Can Make All the Difference
Last week I wrote a special thank you on the blog to the author who has the biggest impact on me, Roald Dahl. A few days later, I received a truly touching mini-essay from reader and frequent long-form commenter Katie about an author that had an unexpectedly large impact on her, and I’d like to [...]
Thank a Writer: My Favorite Author
Yesterday I was reading the best blog on writing and publishing (check out Nathan Bransford’s blog here), and I noticed that he had an interesting premise for his daily post. He devoted a blog entry to simply thanking an author that had a huge impact on him–in this case, the author was Bill Watterson, author [...]
The Best Reading Experience of My Life
I am in the midst of the best reading experience of my life. Remember back in the day, when Dickens released his novels one chapter at a time on a velum scroll in the town proper (at least part of that sentence is historically accurate)? Remember what that did to you as you stood there [...]
Why I Love Dystopian Fiction
Today I was talking to a friend and editor over at Blank Slate Press about why we enjoy dystopian fiction so much. The conversation started when I e-mailed Amira to ask her for her top 5 reasons why she likes dystopian fiction. The question stemmed from more than just curiosity; I’m currently revising my YA dystopian [...]
My Favorite Books of 2012
2012 was a very, very good year for books. I had less time to read than in previous years because I spent two months writing a novel (Wrinkle, in revisions now) and all other months designing a board game and running a Kickstarter campaign for that game (Viticulture), so I was perhaps a little more [...]
Best of 2012: Readers’ Choices
A few weeks ago, I asked you to fill out a brief survey indicating your favorite books, movies, songs, and blog posts of 2012. Before I launch into my personal best-of-2012 lists this week, I thought I’d give the reader responses center stage. These are listed in no particular order except that if one of [...]
Tolkien Was Born in Middle Earth and Other Misconceptions
In 3 days, I will start to receive beta reader feedback about my YA dystopian novel, Wrinkle (although one beta reader got back to me a week ago, which was unexpected and fantastic). I’m thrilled but scared, curious but anxious. It is quite possible these readers will tell me that my novel sucks. And that’s [...]
Are Books Better Than Movies?
With my publishing company’s latest book coming out next week, I’m supposed to be excited about books. And I am excited about that book. It’s beautifully written, endlessly entertaining, and it will move you in a way that few books can. If you’re in St. Louis and want to attend the debut book signing next [...]
My Favorite Books of 2011
2011 was an interesting year for reading for me. My publishing company published its first two novels, The Samaritan and Dancing with Gravity, so I’ve learned a lot by being on the flip side of the publishing world. This fall I’ve spent quite a bit of time helping a few authors who didn’t quite get [...]
Completing a Trilogy
Last Sunday, I finished reading the newly released third book of David Anthony Durham’s Acacia Trilogy. I wrote about the first two books in this post earlier in the summer. I can’t really talk about the book without spoiling it, but I will say that this is a rare case where a a trilogy is [...]
What’s Your Replay?
I just finished the first book in a long time that I simply could not put down: Replay, by Ken Grimwood. Seriously, I’ve stayed up way too late the last few nights reading this book, and I just finished it. I’ll tell you what happens in the first 30 pages of the book so this [...]
Click: An Online Love Story: A Man’s Perspective
A few months ago, I was asked to review a recently published novel called Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker. Given the myriad of experiences I’ve had on Match.com this past year, I thought the book was a good fit for me to review. It also helps that I love (and am thus [...]
What’s Your Favorite Summer Read?
Two years ago, I read a review in Entertainment Weekly of the first book in a new trilogy by an author named David Anthony Durham. I had never heard of him, but the glowing review of Acacia: The War with the Mein hooked me, and I read the book soon after. I was hooked. Sometimes [...]
The Future of Bookstores
I’m hesitant to admit this, but I’ll just say it: Until recently, it had been a long time since I had been in a bookstore. There are two reasons for this, and they both rhyme with blamazon.com: I do all of my book shopping on Amazon.com If I really want a book NOW, I buy [...]
Valentine’s Day: Twilight Special
For having lived together for just over a month, my roommate and I have talked about Twilight surprisingly often. Even more surprising is that I’ve never read the Twilight books, nor do I plan to. But they make excellent conversation fodder. Jess (roommate) revealed to me that after making fun of Twilight for a while, [...]
The Giver: A Play Review
When I was younger, I loved Lois Lowry’s book The Giver. It was actually read to me–and the rest of my class–by my 6th grade English teacher, and then I read it again on my own (words take a different shape when you see them on the page with your own eyes). And then I [...]
My Favorite Books of 2010
Just like movies in 2010, there are five books that received the coveted 5-Star Stegmaier rating. It’s actually been a really good year for books. There were two huge disappointments (Frederick Reiken’s Day for Night and Suzanne Collins’ Mockingjay), but aside from those two, I loved pretty much all of the 14 books I read. [...]
Tired of Love Triangles
I’m getting a little tired of love triangles in fiction. I don’t mean to offend anyone. I probably have dozens of love triangles in my own stories and I don’t even realize it. My concern is that they seem to be everywhere now, not because they’re realistic or even make for good fiction, but simply [...]
Guest Post: Harley Is Numb
Hi everybody. My name is Harley May. I’m a wife, mother, and aspiring writer. This isn’t my first time on Jamey’s blog and he reluctantly let me write a guest post after I bribed him with kitten pictures thankful he let me come back. I asked Jamey if I could do a guest spot because [...]
My Four Favorite Books of 2009
Last year I posted a list of all of the books I read that year, highlighting my favorite book of 2008, In the Middle of the Night. I finished 13 books in 2008, a count that I doubled in 2009 thanks to numerous road trips and an invigorated book club. Four books received the coveted [...]
You, the Innovator
Through a series of fortuitous events, I have been given a book deal. Kind of. I’ve been asked to be the contributing author to a book about innovation, particularly innovation in tough times. This is the real deal. This is a real book that has a top-five publisher and a cover and an ISBN. It [...]
What Will Books of the Future Look Like?
See my thoughts and post your thoughts on my TypeTribe blog entry on the topic.
Yes, I Read The Lost Symbol
Yes, I recently read the popular fiction novel follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. I’ll be honest–although the writing in TDVD was less than stellar, it showed me how to structure an intelligent thriller. For the most part, The Lost Symbol follows in the same footsteps. A recent blogger (sorry, I can’t remember who) noted [...]
The Coolest Magazine Ad Ever
Entertainment Weekly, a magazine to which I subscribe and greatly enjoy, announced today that a fall edition of the magazine will contain a 2×2-inch, paper-thin video ad. That’s right. A tiny video screen embedded into a page of the magazine. It’s even rechargeable so you can watch the ad again if you want. Very cool. [...]
