Being a crime writer doesn’t mean I condone murder. Do I even have to say it? | Garry Disher

Every now and then I encounter people who can’t suspend disbelief. They ask how I can write about ‘such terrible things’Feeling unappreciated is your lot as a writer. Few readers; no readers. Scathing reviews; no reviews. Publishers saying, “Don’t call us, we’ll call you” or not taking a punt on your second book because the first sold poorly. The fat American and English imports on display at the front of many bookshops, a tiny Australian section in the back corner. Beverley Farmer finding her short-story collection Milk shelved with books on nursing mothers; me finding my novel The Stencil Man shelved in Art and Craft.Most of these indignities occur while you’re still at your desk. They multiply once you appear in public. Elizabeth Jolley, signing books at a department store in Perth, was scrutinised by a beady-eyed woman who eventually approached and asked, “How much is the table?” A bookseller stuck the first page of a US thriller under my nose and said, “Once you can learn to write as good as this …” Related: Harold Bloom’s defence of western greats blinded him to other cultures | Kenan Malik If I say, 'Worse things happen in real life than I invent, just read a newspaper,' I learn they don’t read newspapers Related: Peter Handke's Nobel prize that dishonours the victims of genocide | Ed Vuilliamy Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2019-11-03 17:00:27 UTC ]
News tagged with: #department store #real life #peter handke #nobel prize #bookseller

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Being a crime writer doesn’t mean I condone murder. Do I even have to say it? | Garry Disher'


Self-published crime for TFP

The Friday Project has signed up a self-published crime writer who sets her novels among London... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #friday project


Stylist and Faber pick crime winner

Faber and Stylist magazine have picked a winner in their crime fiction competition, with the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Yazbek wins PEN/Pinter International Writer of Courage Award

Syrian writer Samar Yazbek, author of A Woman in the Crossfire (Haus Publishing), has been chosen... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


Junot Diaz and other writers are awarded MacArthur genius grants

Pulitzer Prize-winner Junot Diaz, reporter David Finkel, and writer Dinaw Mengestu were honored by the MacArthur Foundation, each receiving a $500,000 grant. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #junot diaz


Booksellers turn writers for Icon

Booksellers have become book writers for a popular science project from Icon Books. Icon’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #icon books #book writers


Crime duo for A&B

Allison & Busby has acquired two crime writers for this November. Publishing director Susie... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #allison busby #crime writers


Hamish Hamilton signs Granta-tipped writer

  Hamish Hamilton has signed up a novel from South American writer Daniel Galera, a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hamish hamilton


Gore Vidal appreciation: Writer served as canary in a coal mine

To him, the world was both subject and spectacle. Yet he remained, always, an author difficult to categorize.Gore Vidal, who died Tuesday night at age 86, was a fixture on the American cultural landscape for so long that it seems hard to imagine our literature without him. From 1946, when his... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #coal mine #social critic


Denise Mina wins Crime Novel of the Year

Glaswegian writer Denise Mina has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peculier crime


Sphere opens online Crime Vault

Sphere is setting up an online hub for crime, thriller and mystery ebooks, commissioning new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #online hub


American Writers Museum gets a concept plan

The foundation behind a proposed museum honoring American authors has published a plan for the building. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


S&S launches online crime community

Simon & Schuster has launched new microsite The Dark Pages, intended to be an online crime... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #simon schuster


Book review: 'People Who Eat Darkness' is a masterful true crime tale

British journalist Richard Lloyd Parry skillfully goes beyond the headlines in the 2000 disappearance of fellow Brit Lucie Blackman in Tokyo. It is a dark, unforgettable ride.People Who Eat Darkness Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review


New Stephen King novel for Hard Case Crime

A new novel by Stephen King, Joyland, is to be published by Titan Books imprint Hard Case Crime... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #stephen king


How fast can they write? E-books push writer productivity

A dozen books a year? Some writers are accelerating the pace in this brave new world of ebooks. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dozen books


PayPal, You've Met Your Match: Erotica Writers

Mark Coker of Smashwords became the leader of indie ebook writers--including some with dirty minds--in a fight against censorship and PayPal. He also has strong feelings about the DOJ's ebook pricing lawsuit.Mark Coker is the CEO of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform.... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2012-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #swimming pool #jeff bezos #steve jobs #pricing model #golden age #david zax


Guardian and Hot Keys launch young writers prize

Hot Keys Books has partnered with the Guardian to launch a new young person’s writing prize... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young person #writing prize


Figment lets young writers share and critique work

Figment is a website that gives teenagers and young adults a forum for posting their work and giving advice to others. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-04-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young adults #giving advice


Levenson to be bookshop 'writer in residence'

The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green, London, is to have its own "writer in residence... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #wood green