In 1914, astronomer and naturalist William Pickering peered at Mars from a secluded observatory and devised a theory: the planet was a watery, living world. He believed Mars was covered in a network of canals and marshes, continually moistened by storms and squalls. As Sarah Stewart Johnson writes in The Sirens of Mars : as […]
Cormac McCarthy in 2014.Credit…Beowulf Sheehan The death of the novelist Cormac McCarthy on Tuesday prompted an outpouring from readers, who shared favorite passages, memories of reading his books — and occasionally, encounters with the reclusive writer. Here is a selection of those comments, reflecting the many ways McCarthy’s writing — often described as haunting and […]
WHAT AN OWL KNOWS: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds , by Jennifer Ackerman While reading “What an Owl Knows,” by the science writer Jennifer Ackerman, I was reminded that my daughter once received a gift of a winter jacket festooned with colorful owls. At the time I thought of the coat […]
“It fucks you up,” one of my writing students said to me. They meant all the no’s from agents and editors in response to their submitted work. And it can. Zero question. Still, I had to remind them that you can’t personalize it. Rejection in the writing business is inevitable; but I qualified with, “or […]
Music had a hold of Gloria Estefan early on. “My mom couldn’t get a diaper on me unless she was singing to me,” Estefan tells American Songwriter . Videos by American Songwriter Kevin Griffin From Better Than Ezra Advice On Songwriting Growing up listening to everything from country music, Johnny Mathis, and some of the […]
The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: * Javier Fuentes ( Countries of Origin ) Derek Owusu ( That Reminds Me ) Helen Schulman ( Lucky Dogs ) Keziah Weir ( The Mythmakers ) Jenny Xie ( Holding Pattern […]
On June 9, 2023, a beloved member of The Mary Sue community passed away. Brittany Knupper was a contributing writer and frequent temporary weekend editor from 2019 until earlier this year. Brittany was an exceptionally talented playwright and storyteller, and she approached pop culture and political commentary and criticism with humor, wisdom, and a cutting […]
Ali Hazelwood Author Spotlight | BookTrib. Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood When Ali Hazelwood’s debut The Love Hypothesis ( Berkley ) was released in 2021, romance fans were enamored with the story about two scientists finding themselves in a hate-to-fake-dating relationship. This debut put Hazelwood’s name in the map, and she has become one of […]
I AM HOMELESS IF THIS IS NOT MY HOME , by Lorrie Moore There’s a well-known bit of literary advice, often misattributed to Vladimir Nabokov, that goes like this: The writer’s job is to get the main character up a tree, and then, once he’s up there, throw rocks at him. This maxim is sound, […]
Photo by Didssph via Unsplash There’s something viscerally appealing about nesting dolls. The same holds true, I’d argue, for nesting narratives. Each new layer to the story can either reveal or obscure the capital-t Truth at its center. Sometimes both! As a magazine writer and editor, I’m particularly aware of the difficulties intrinsic to writing […]
