Hi. I’m Jill and I’m an editor. I enable writers. I mainline books like a junkie. I free base text into prose. I’m always jonesing for a good story. Yes, I’m hooked on grammar. I get a tremendous high when one of my writer’s books gets a starred review in Kirkus, featured in the New York Times or pops up as a question on Jeopardy…. [Read More]
Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate by Carolyn Porter, is the incredible story of her search to uncover the mystery of one man’s fate during WWII. Skyhorse Publishing will release it this June. Today is the last day to enter a Goodreads Giveaway for a free copy. Recently, I interviewed Carolyn about the backstory to writing her new book. Jill… [Read More]
It can be intimidating to think about writing your life story. Relax. Memoir isn’t your entire life story. It’s a slice of life, not birth to death. Don’t confuse memoir with autobiography. Today the only autobiographies which find publishers are those written by presidential candidates, retired statesmen, and superstars. And typically written by authors who don’t trust biographers to paint their portrait in a flattering… [Read More]
A new book festival brings Sherman Alexie and Margaret Atwood to the Packer’s Title Town the end of this month. Untitled Town Book and Author Festival is the first event of its kind for the greater Green Bay area and plans to unite readers, writers, podcasters, storytellers, publishers, books, and Packer fans. Alexie and Atwood are not the only big name authors who are featured… [Read More]
As more people come to value the natural world and venture into wildlife areas, a reference guide to help identify the animals who call these places home has never been more useful. A Field Guide to Tracking Mammals in the Northeast will be released July 4, 2017, from Countryman Press (W. W. Norton). I recently interviewed author Linda J. Spielman about how she came to… [Read More]
April is National Poetry Month. Do people hate poetry? According to novelist and poet Ben Lerner, yes. His new book, The Hatred of Poetry, argues we are always looking for our humanity in poetry and find mere poems instead. There are three reasons why I haven’t picked up an epic poem for decades. 1. The Epic of Gilgamesh. 2. The Illiad. 3. The Odyssey. My… [Read More]
Across the nation there are community reading programs that ask everyone to read and discuss the same book. For almost 20 years the American Library Association has developed resources for librarians to build community–wide reading programs. People who share a common reading experience come together to discuss the book. “The idea is that the city that opens the same book closes it in greater harmony,”… [Read More]
If you watch a lot of movies, then you’ve likely seen continuity errors. In Jurassic Park, there is a scene where programmer-turned-thief Dennis Nedry converses live with an accomplice on his computer but the workstation clearly shows he’s speaking to a pre-recorded video instead. Plot hole. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays an action hero in Commando where he badly damages his Porsche giving chase and in the… [Read More]
What’s bookcamp? Think boot-camp for your book. Spend six days in an intensive program to help you finish a manuscript worthy of publication and figure out how to pitch it to win a successful publishing deal. Dave Rank, past president of the Wisconsin Writers Association, is the host and director of Bookcamp which he established four years ago to attract and encourage emerging novelists. Last… [Read More]
Let me introduce my guestblogger today, Ira Rabois. Rowman & Littlefield released his new book, Compassionate Critical Thinking, in late October 2016. I invited Ira to write a meditation for today because we all need compassionate critical thinking to write well. “How do you write well? Probably thousands have written about this. On the surface, it seems writing is about language, which to a large… [Read More]
