What makes a book a good read?
On Tuesdays I write about the top voted question on Ask Berkun (see the lovely archive). This week’s question came via email…
Latest Blog Posts
Which is more dangerous: writing badly or reading poorly?
On Tuesdays I generally write about the top voted question on Ask Berkun (see the lovely archive). This week I turned the…
5 Things I Learned From My Amtrak Writer’s Residency
Last month I took a long train ride from Atlanta to Seattle over six days for my Amtrak Writer’s…
Help me plan my Amtrak Writers Residency
I’m honored to be one of the winners of the Amtrak Writer’s Residency. All 24 winners were announced last…
The Four Lies of Storytelling
Recently on The Gist podcast novelist and storytelling coach Matthew Dicks offered his four useful lies of telling true stories. He believes…
Irreverent Roundup of Writing Advice (Q&A)
[Every Tuesday I write about the top voted question on Ask Berkun. This week it’s a roundup of unanswered…
How To Write A Memoir
The Ghost of My Father has received some of the best reviews of all six of my books. I’m grateful…
28 (Better) Things No One Tells You About Publishing
The recent Buzzfeed post by Curtis Sittenfeld called 24 Things No One Tells You about Publishing was fun to read. I’ve…
Live Q&A: How To Write a Memoir
[Update: The writeup and video from this event can be read/watched here] Interesting in writing a memoir? or did you…
My Writing Process: A summary of writing on writing
Each week I take the top voted question from readers and answer it (submit one here). There were three questions about…
The Distraction-Free Life?
Maybe the challenge of modern life isn’t external distractions, but our lack of practice with concentration? I learned to…
Questions for a bad question
I regularly take the the top voted question from readers and answer it in a post. With 85 votes, today’s winner was:…
Why I Love Bukowski (and my favorite quotes)
It was my friend Rich Grudman who first told me to read Bukowski. He gave me Post Office, about…
Copyeditor wanted: for The Ghost of My Father (memoir)
[This position has been filled. Thanks] My 6th book, The Ghost of My Father, is on the home stretch.…
Results: What do readers want from author kickstarter projects
Thanks to everyone who voted last week about my upcoming book, The Ghost of My Father (background here). Here are…
Lessons from working on the 3rd draft (The Ghost of My Father)
The book in progress, The Ghost of My Father, is a memoir and it’s no surprise the process of…
The Three Writing Mindsets
I write nearly every day and I have the hypothesis that there are three writing mindsets. Put simply: Raw.…
Have we reached the death of the author? (Publishing and Poverty)
I’m a fan of Melville house, a young, savvy publishing company founded in 2001 in Brooklyn, NYC. They have…
The Goal of My Life Explained (tattoo included)
The photo below explains my ambition: I’m working to fill this shelf with books I’ve written. I want an…
How I Decide What To Read
This month I’m posting every day, taking the top voted question from readers and answering it. With 37 votes, today’s…