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Word Count
You Can't Fix a Blank Page
April 30, 2006
Eileen Wilks is one busy author. In the past ten years, she's written twenty nine novels. Her world? Romance, the most popular genre in America. And not only here: Eileen's books have been translated into twelve languages. She recently emailed us about how the Visual Thesaurus helps her work.
"The Visual Thesaurus isn't just a fun way to avoid writing, or other productive work. (Though it is that, at times.) Yesterday I used it to come up with a title for my current book-in-progress. My editor emailed me that she'd be cover-conferencing the book next week, and did I have a title yet? Well, no. I had some ideas, all bad. I took a few key words and started plugging them into the Visual Thesaurus, following one link or another, backtracking, and eventually -- boing! I hit pay dirt. Thank you for a wonderful tool. I wouldn't have arrived at 'Blood Lines' without it."
You're most welcome, Eileen.
Eileen also gave us an idea: We wanted to find out how she does it -- what are her secrets for being so productive a writer? And what advice does she have for those of us struggling to write, whether it's our first book or first marketing brochure? So we called Eileen at home in Midland, Texas, to find out. We hit pay dirt, too:
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Word Count
Young Readers. Grown Up Writing.
May 30, 2006
When Jennifer Holm started writing books she didn't expect to be writing "kid lit." But nine books and Newbery Honor, Parents Choice Silver and Publisher's Weekly Best Book -- and more -- awards later, she's found her niche.
"I didn't write my first novel as a children's book. I just wrote it," Jennifer says. But her agent thought it would be great for younger readers. Jennifer was surprised. "I thought it was too racy -- there's some violence and death in it." She realized a lot had changed in children's literature since she was a kid. "I was kind of behind the times."
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Word Count
Writing on Location
May 14, 2006
Let's get the first question out of the way: Yes, it's her real name.
Sparkle Hayter is a writer now finishing her sixth -- and final, she says -- installment of her popular "Robin Hudson" mystery novels. Originally from Canada, Sparkle now lives in Paris. She likes to write in cafes, just like Hemingway did. She also reported for the Toronto Star as a war correspondent. Just like Hemingway did. (She, in Afghanistan. He, of course, in Spain.) "People keep finding the parallels," she says. "But he was humorless and macho. That's a big difference."
Sparkle's latest novel is set in her new hometown. It's full of humor and Robin's cool not macho. Sparkle moved to Paris five years ago after living in New York City. It was more than just a change of scenery -- it changed the way she wrote. We caught up with her in Paris:
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Word Count
Coming Attractions for Books. At a Computer Near You.
June 20, 2006
"The need to tell stories" inspired author, director and entrepreneur Liz Dubelman to create something called Vidlits. What are VidLits? Think "movie trailer for books." They're creative, short animations of stories and book excerpts that you play on the web. Publishers have started using VidLits to showcase their authors. In the past year, Liz and her partner, award-winning sound designer Paca Thomas, have created entertaining online shows for Warner, Penguin, Harper Collins, Little, Brown & Company, Rodale and other major imprints. Liz tells us more about her unique kind of storytelling - and why she thinks they're important for books.
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Language Lounge
Sounds About Right
December 31, 2004
"Reading the dictionary" sounds like a punishment
to most people, or an activity undertaken only by the hopelessly bored or
academically inclined. It is, however, an activity that word lovers indulge in
unashamedly from time to time.
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Language Lounge
Old Europe
January 31, 2005
Monologue and soliloquy mean about the same thing but you wouldn't know it by looking at the words, and you might not even guess that they had anything to do with speech. It's all because English has always been a compulsive borrower. That's the topic we explore this month in the Language Lounge.
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Language Lounge
Girls, Girls, Girls
February 28, 2005
March is Women's History Month. In homage, we will clear a
space on the davenport for all things female in the Language Lounge. English is
a particularly apt place to study women's history, because it has fossilized
many concepts and attitudes about women that are undergoing reappraisal today.
Word associations in English reflect, to a very large degree, a historical
rather than a contemporary take on woman; the Visual Thesaurus gives us a place
to study these connections.
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Language Lounge
Pieces of April
March 31, 2005
Can a word's inner life be revealed by the company it keeps? We set off this
month to find out just that, examining April through the prism of the Visual
Thesaurus and some other word investigation tools we keep in that big
sideboard over against the wall of the Language Lounge.
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Language Lounge
Allegro non troppo, buster
April 30, 2005
We're dusting off the piano in the Language Lounge this month and exploring
the world of musical directions. No matter if your keyboard skills are not
up to par: for this interlude the only keyboard you need to use is the QWERTY
one connected to your computer, and the Visual Thesaurus.
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Language Lounge
Food for Thought
May 31, 2005
If you've been wondering what that archway in the north wall of the Language Lounge leads to, now's the time to find out. It's the Language Larder, and this month we're going to hang in there for a while, sampling the lexical delicacies available via the Visual Thesaurus.
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