Category Archives: Writing

Writing (and reading) Sex Scenes: Good, Bad, & Ugly

Posted On: April 26, 2013

I tried to think of a, um, sexier title for this post, but they all sounded, um, icky, and the last thing I want when I’m writing about sex is an ick factor. Writing about icky sex: terrific. Writing icky about sex: terrible.

When my first novel released, Pia Lindstrom, an interviewer from Sirius Radio, shocked me out of my I-can-handle-any-question mood when she asked something to the effect of:

So, I was surprised by how much sex is in your book. You did it so well. People say it’s hard to write about sex. How did you do it?  

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Are Writers Pushing Too Hard?

Posted On: April 15, 2013

When I was a reader, I spoke as a reader, I understood as a reader.

When I became a writer, I read as a writer, I understood as a writer.

I just finished “Readers Don’t Owe Authors S**t” on the online site Book Riot.  The credo of the post is basically this: writers and independent bookstores shouldn’t nag readers (into shopping Indie, posting reviews, asking for shout-outs, etc.). Much of it resonated in me. I’ve been asked to spread the word many times—and though most of the time I’m happy to help, I don’t like to feel I’ll be ostracized for non-compliance.  

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Debut Books by Writers Over 40

Posted On: April 10, 2013

Time for a 2013 update!

Originally, I tried to resist writing this—especially after my plea against categorizing authors.  Plus, so many of us hide our age in this world of never-get-old, unearthing this information, even in our Googlized world, was difficult.

But when , along with the plethora of lists of writers under 40, I was faced with the declaration that, as headlined in a Guardian UK article about writers, ‘Let’s Face It, After 40 You’re Past It.”  

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Friendly Fire? Writers Caught in Conflict & Trying to be Switzerland.

Posted On: April 3, 2013

Who remembers shaking in bed while Mom and Dad fought?

“Damn it, Harriet, we can’t go on like this! You’re spending money like a drunken sailor, but I’m not seeing a dime!”

“For goodness sake, Ozzie. Spending money where? Tell me! Where?”

“Fine! How about those fancy dresses you wear to work? How much do you pay those designers, huh? Everyone but me seems to get the benefit.”

“Don’t you want me to look good?”  

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Are Writer Wars Good For Readers?

Posted On: February 27, 2013

(updated from the Word Love re-run collection, originally published in 2010)

About when I turned ten I began crafting my library checkouts, hoping I’d look smart. I’d balance my Nancy Drew with a biography of Abraham Lincoln so the librarian thought well of me. (It seems my self-esteem problem enacted early.)

Jodi Picoult, following the NYT doubled coverage of Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, recently weighed in on the Times overwhelming coverage of white male authors. Men telling domestic stories are writing art, while women covering similar ground are crafting women’s fiction. Jennifer Weiner agreed and twitterized the issue with the hashtag #franzenfreude.

Weiner’s directness started a new frenzy, and the issue veered from Picoult’s premise to the age-old battle of literary fiction being weighed against  

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7 Ways 2 Anxious Writers Are Making Lemonade From Lemons

Posted On: February 7, 2013

 By Randy Susan Meyers & M.J. Rose

FACT: We are both releasing books on Feb 12 (yes, next Tuesday) (The Comfort of Lies and The Book of Lost Fragrances) from Atria Books/Simon & Schuster

FACT: Barnes & Noble is the largest chain of bookstores in the United States. (705 bookstores; 636 college bookstores.)

FACT: Our books will be in very few Barnes & Noble stores on release day, due to unresolved negotiations between Simon & Schuster and B&N.

FACT: This made us shudder, shake, swear, and take an Ativan (Randy) and Rescue Remedy (M.J.).

FACT: According to the ABA, there are about 2500 independent bookstores in the US.  

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Also posted in Books, promotion, The Comfort of Lies | 3 Comments

The COMFORT OF LIES Begets THE COMFORT OF FOOD: Free with Pre-order

Posted On: December 31, 2012


When I was newly married (19!) my then-husband and I moved to a farm located between Binghamton and Ithaca, New York. His job was being a farm hand. Mine was reading, watching the one television station available (for a limited number of hours), and gaining weight as quickly as possible. The cookies below helped wildly in that last endeavor.  

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Also posted in Family, Launching a Book | 3 Comments

My Amazing Jewish Book Fair Ride

Posted On: November 11, 2012

(Rerun in honor of Jewish Book Month)

 “Don’t forget; Jewish people read an enormous amount,” my lovely (and Jewish) literary agent said before my book launch. “We really love books.”

I nodded. Yes, I knew that—at least I knew it inasmuch as I was Jewish and I read—as did my mother, my sister, and my daughters, but could I raise that sample to the status of landslide? Discerning what was true in my culture was fraught with difficulty. I grew up with a slight case of anomie, surrounded by a cultural belief that all-things-Jewish=equals families-pushing-one-towards-great-achievement, while, among other family oddities, my grandmother taught me to shoplift.  

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Guest Post: Literary vs. Plot-Driven at War?

Posted On: October 10, 2012

By Chris Abouzied

A friend of mine recently said she hoped readers would view her latest novel as literary, not “plotty.”  By that, I think she meant she hoped no one would discount the artistry in her work just because it served up a sexy story.

Hearing plot being pitted against artistry always rubs me the wrong way, but I had to admit she had a point.  No one was going to say, “The son sleeps with his dead father’s mistress?!  A literary star is born!”  Plot, for whatever reason, seems to be on a par with skeletons in the physiology of literature—  

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What To Do Before Your Book Launch: A Guidebook

Posted On: October 1, 2012

What to expect when you’re expecting your book? What’s going to happen first, and second, and third?  For me, as I waited for the launch of my debut novel, I was overwhelmed with how much I had to learn, had never learned, and perhaps could/would/should have learned—were there an eight-day week into which I could tap.  

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