Connecting Readers and Writers
Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986) was one of the most important English writers of his generation. His novels Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin inspired the play I Am a Camera and the musical Cabaret, and he also wrote memoirs, biography and books on Hindu philosophy.
Continue reading Writers You Should Know: Christopher Isherwood
Few writers are as quotable as Hunter S. Thompson, and few of his lines are as widely borrowed as this one. Five words that sum up his whole philosophy: if you choose an adventure, you accept everything that comes with it.
Continue reading Hunter S. Thompson Quote: Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
James Bond's first adventure does not open with a gunfight or a car chase. It opens in a casino at three in the morning. Fleming's first line, "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning," tells you at once that this is a book about gambling, and about the man who sits down at the table when everyone else has gone to bed.
Continue reading Casino Royale: Ian Fleming, Baccarat and the Birth of Bond
Mark Twain opened each chapter of Pudd'nhead Wilson with a maxim from "Pudd'nhead Wilson's Calendar." This one, at the head of chapter 13, is among his most quoted lines, and it is funnier still when you know how much money Twain lost.
Talented young musician Paige Plant is on a quest to create the perfect album: twelve songs that will save the world, make people cry and make her famous. She has everything in place except a big break.
With more than 20 million members by 2014, and many times that today, Goodreads is the most popular website for book lovers. For major publishers, promotion on Goodreads has become a must. But how can self-published authors use the "Facebook of books"? Here are the three most important steps.
Continue reading Promoting Your Book on Goodreads: 3 Steps Every Author Should Take
Few novels have a better origin story than The Gambler. In October 1866 Fyodor Dostoevsky had less than a month to deliver a complete novel he had not yet started. If he missed the deadline, a publisher would own the rights to his work for years. He hired a stenographer, dictated the book in about 26 days, and drew on the one subject he knew better than almost anyone: losing money at roulette.
Continue reading Dostoevsky's The Gambler: Roulette, Debt and a 26-Day Deadline