How to Keep Writing (Even If You Have a Day Job): 5 Tips from Novelist Jennifer Close
Readers know Jennifer Close as the author of several novels, including one of our staff-favorite summer reads, The Hopefuls — the juicy and entertaining story of a friendship between two couples with political ambitions. Her students and fellow academics, however, know her as their creative writing professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC. So we thought she’d be the perfect person to answer a question we hear often from aspiring writers at author discussions: In a world of distractions and day-jobs, how do you get a book written? Read the rest of this entry »
14 Books to Keep Young Readers Happily Busy (For at Least a Few Days)
If you’ve got voracious young readers in your house, you may already be looking to refresh their stack of summer reads. And if you have not-so-voracious readers? Well, maybe they just haven’t met the right book yet. Either way, now’s the perfect time to look into the latest favorites from our kid-lit specialists. Here are a few — and we’d love for you to stop by so we can show you more! Read the rest of this entry »
Fathers’ Day Gifts Recommended by Our Work-Dad
Some people have a work-spouse. We have a work-dad. Read the rest of this entry »
Books We Love So Much, We’re Reading Them in Our Off-Time
Want to know what the bookworms of Parnassus are reading and loving in their spare time? We’ll open up our book-bags and show you — right here: Read the rest of this entry »
Notes from Ann: Maile
I met Maile Meloy around the time Miley Cyrus was going into the first grade, a point I make only because their first names are pronounced the same way and now you’ll always remember. I knew Maile before she’d published her first book, before she’d had her first story in The New Yorker, and the thing that has always struck me is how good she is at anything she puts her mind to. She was on the U.S. Women’s Kayak Polo team and traveled to other countries with a small boat. She can ride a horse, install door hardware, speak Spanish, fly on a trapeze, solve IT problems, edit a manuscript (I have greatly benefited from her talent in this category), and teach a kid to read. She’s the person everyone wants to sit next to at a dinner party. She’s also a magnificent friend. She could have done anything she wanted to do with her life, and the fact that she decided to be a writer is our good fortune. Read the rest of this entry »
Coming Soon to a School Near You: The Authors and Illustrators Behind Your Favorite Kids’ Books
Attention, please! Could we all take a moment to shower thanks and praise upon teachers and school librarians who bring the love of reading into young people’s lives? Read the rest of this entry »
“At Once Spectacular and Familiar” – Daniel Wallace and Grant Ginder on Creating Characters We Root For
Don’t you love eavesdropping? We do. That’s why we connected authors Daniel Wallace and Grant Ginder and invited them to chat with each other over email and let us follow along. After all, who better to interview the writers of two fun summer reads — Extraordinary Adventures and The People We Hate at the Wedding — than the writers themselves? (We also love getting other people to do our work for us.) Read the rest of this entry »
