Best-selling author Kurt Vonnegut Jr., born on this day in 1922, would have turned 92 today if he had not passed away on April 11, 2007. Author of “Cat’s Cradle”, “Breakfast of Champions” and, of course, “Slaughterhouse Five”, published at … Continue reading
Today is the birthday of writer Neil Gaiman, born in Portchester, England in 1960. Gaiman began his career as a comic book writer and in 1987 penned one of the best titles when he took a failed DC Comics character … Continue reading
If I recall correctly, the first Stephen King book I read was “The Stand”, though that was actually his fourth novel. After that I HAD to go back and read his first three; “Carrie”, “Salem’s Lot” and “The Shining” but … Continue reading
From The Writer’s Almanac: Jack Kerouac’s beat classic “On the Road” was published on this date in 1957. It’s the mostly-true story of a cross-country hitchhiking trip Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassady took in the late 1940s. Legend — … Continue reading
It’s the birthday of Mary Shelley, born Mary Godwin in London on this date in 1797. Her mother — feminist advocate Mary Wollstonecraft — died of complications after giving birth to young Mary. Her father, philosopher and author William Godwin, … Continue reading
If there is anywhere in the world I’d love to be during the next 16 days, it would be the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2014 in Scotland. When we were in Scotland in 2006, we visited Edinburgh twice while there; … Continue reading
Beginning writers typically seek out advice from the masters of the craft to try and learn the secrets of writing successfully. Books like “On Writing” by Stephen King, “Zen in the Art of Writing” by Ray Bradbury and others are … Continue reading
Over at BookRiot they’ve posted a sort of point/counterpoint issue centered around the question of: what do you do when you find out an author, even one you may have previously considered a favorite of yours, is a monster? Kit … Continue reading
Today is the birthday of novelist Jack London, who was born in San Francisco in 1876. He is best known as the author of over fifty books, including “The Call of the Wild” (1903) and “White Fang” (1906). From The … Continue reading
Stephen King is a regular columnist for Entertainment Weekly magazine and in the issue cover-dated December 17, 2010, Mr. King lists the 10 best books he’s read this year, being careful to point out that this does NOT mean they … Continue reading
Lightspeed Magazine just posted a Feature Interview with Greg Bear, conducted by John Joseph Adams & David Barr Kirtley. Bear is the author of several Science Fiction novels, including his latest “Hull Zero Three” which I finished a couple of … Continue reading
Renowned science fiction author Greg Bear and Astrid Anderson Bear, his wife and daughter of another great science fiction author, Poul Anderson, have issued a statement claiming that Project Gutenberg may have infringed on the rights of some authors by … Continue reading
I’ve read many of Kevin J. Anderson’s books and enjoyed each one. This should be an educational and enlightening conference call. Thank you for subscribing to The Word Of Jeff. This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. If you … Continue reading
Over at SF Signal, they have posted an interesting piece where they ask several (mostly) writers of science fiction the question, “What Book Introduced You to Science Fiction?” It’s kind of satisfying to see that most of them began with … Continue reading
Back in June, Publisher’s Weekly announced their plans for the First Annual National Bookstore Day to be held on Saturday, November 7, 2009. Today, PW released further information about plans and participants, as well as suggested ideas to help make … Continue reading
Over at Shelfari, a social media site for booklovers, they have started a new feature on their blog where they will ask some of their (and our) favorite authors about books on their shelves. The first author they thought of … Continue reading
Reading the May/June 2009 issue of Poets & Writers (yes, I AM behind on my reading, thank you) I was surprised to see in the article about Bright Lights, Big City author Jay McInerney, that his former girlfriend and inspiration … Continue reading
A few days ago my mother-in-law and I were discussing the upcoming theatrical release of “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, a novel we both read several years back (I read it on her recommendation after she shared with me how much … Continue reading
Most people think that being a best-selling author means you never have financial worries again. Unfortunately that is just not the case for most authors. Unless you’re a big name or you have multiple best-selling books, you’re going to find … Continue reading
