Writing
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Blogiversary Week – The Ecstasy of an Object
Okay! It’s One-Year Anniversary Week here at the Jacke Blog, and we’re counting down the most and least popular posts of the year, as voted upon by you the readers (via your page views these past twelve months). This morning we started things off with a wayward post about renaming the ebook. I concluded that I should… Continue reading
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Blogiversary Week – The Agony of A Bad Headline
It’s anniversary week here on the Jacke blog! That’s right, one whole year of bringing you writers laughing, objects, small-press shoutouts, and whatever the heck else I’ve been up to in these 300 or so posts. So how to celebrate? I thought I’d run through the archives and feature the five most popular posts of… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Leo Tolstoy
Okay, so it’s not the barbaric yawp of a Seamus Heaney, or the dazzling beauty of Zora Neale Hurston, or the transformative shot of Flannery O’Connor taking in the Amana Colonies. But this is Leo Tolstoy! Born in 1828! We’re lucky to have what we have. And it is mesmerizing. The laughter – you’ll need… Continue reading
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Today’s Comment of the Week: About Those Vampires…
Yesterday I posted about the Magic of Storytelling. Yes, I got a full head of steam going on that one (it happens!), and we definitely achieved liftoff. Fortunately, Wonderful Reader Rain, Rain was there to keep the post anchored in the comments. To make one of my points, I asked readers to fill in the blanks… Continue reading
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The Magic of Storytelling
Any writer who heads out into the marketplace soon realizes that the marketplace is carved up into sections, organized by genre. Is your book science fiction? Fantasy? Steampunk? Women’s fiction? Literary fiction? Romance? Creative nonfiction? Biography? Historical fiction? Roughly you can think of this as “Where would you look for this in the bookstore?” This… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Ray Bradbury
Okay, we’ll start with the one I like the most. Ray Bradbury, sci-fi legend, just looking like a classic fifties dad. Full of warmth, full of mirth. Fast forward a couple of decades. The hair’s longer, the face a little older. But it’s still the same laugh. You get the sense he laughed like this… Continue reading
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Amazon v. Hachette (or Whatever v. Whatever)
By “whatever v. whatever” I don’t mean to imply indifference. I know people care passionately about this. And they’re right to! It’s their livelihood, their passion, their art that’s at stake. No, by “whatever v. whatever” I mean “traditional v. indie” or “print v. ebook” or “established v. new” or however else you view the… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Anita Desai and Kiran Desai
Has there been a more successful mother-daughter writing duo than the Desais? I can’t think of one! And here they are, laughing together! Look, this photo is just extraordinary. Quick quiz. Which of the following relationships is most likely to be fraught with tension? A. Father-daughter B. Mother-son C. Father-son D. Mother-daughter Second quiz. Which… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Pablo Neruda
Some big projects in the works, people. But in the meantime, let’s enjoy the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Laughing. As anyone would, if a bird should happen to land on your head: And this one. Handsome, gallant, brilliant poet…what a great man. And of course, he’s one of the patron saints of the writers… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Georges Simenon
Simenon! The creator of Maigret! (How I love those little books.) And…perhaps the most dedicated pipe-smoker of all time. Here’s the problem with pipe smoking for the Writers Laughing series. There are millions of pictures of Simenon posing for the camera thoughtfully with his pipe. And even when the pose is natural, it tends to be… Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 