Review by Ellen Zuckerman Writing Mysteries 2nd Ed. Sue Grafton, Ed. with Jan Burke and Barry Zeman Writer’s Digest Books April, 2002 [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Writing a novel is a long distance run of the imagination…Writers need all the help they can get, wherever they can get it . . . ” (George … Read more
Peter Bowerman. The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds. Fanove Publishing, 2004. For any writer interested in tailoring her freelance work to business clients, Peter Bowerman’s The Well-Fed Writer: Back for Seconds deserves prime shelf space on her desk. Packed with how-to information and tips from his personal experiences and those of other freelance professionals, Back … Read more
Review by Betty Winslow The ABCs of Writing for Children. Compiled by Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff Quill Driver Books November 2002 258 pgs. Writing-related The title of this book implies a linear, nuts-and-bolts approach to the subject of writing for children, but in reality it’s almost a stream of consciousness on the subject, collected by Koehler-Pentacoff from … Read more
Book review by Alex Shapiro The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction By Michael Seidman Writer’s Digest Books 2000 264 pages In this easy-to-follow book, experienced editor and writer Michael Seidman explains how to approach fiction editing, using his own short story as example. The author compares the writer’s job with that of a sculptor—both … Read more
Review by Lynne Mahan Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande First printing: Harcourt, Brace & Company, New York, 1934 J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Los Angeles, 1981 175 pages Some of the amazing things about Dorothea Brande’s Becoming a Writer, a writing how-to book (in addition to the fact that it was written in 1934), are the techniques … Read more
Ask the Pros: Screenwriting 101 Questions Answered by Industry Professionals Edited by Howard Meibach and Paul Duran Lone Eagle Publishing Company 2004 205 pp. Amazon.com price: $12.57 Review by Patrick Beltran Ask the Pros: Screenwriting is not your typical screenwriting book. Edited by Howard Meibach (of Hollywoodlitsales.com fame) and writer-director Paul Duran, this book does … Read more
Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done By Barbara Wallraff Review by Andrea M. Chester Barbara Wallraff’s Word Court: Wherein Verbal Virtue Is Rewarded, Crimes Against the Language Are Punished, and Poetic Justice Is Done reminds me of my favorite English professor, and her … Read more
Book Review: 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters. By Victoria Lynn Schmidt Writer’s Digest Books 298 pages 2001 Amazon.com price: $13.99 Victoria Lynn Schmidt is a screenwriter for both film and television who was once told at film school … Read more
