'Lazy and sloppy': historical novelist Philippa Gregory's bizarre take on genre writing

In an interview that raised many hackles, Gregory dismissed erotica as ‘pornography’ and crime novel villains as ‘blindingly obvious’ – despite her own novels occupying a distinct genre themselvesIn a bizarre miscalculation, the historical novelist Philippa Gregory took a sideswipe at the authors of genre novels in an interview with the New York Times yesterday. “Choosing to write a genre novel is like fencing the universe because you are afraid of space,” said Gregory, loftily. “Why does anyone write lazy, sloppy genre novels? The typing alone is so exhausting — surely if you’re going to undertake 150,000 words, you might as well have something interesting to say?”Quite apart from the fact that every piece of writing falls into one genre or another, the comment is bizarre first because of who Gregory is. The author of The Other Boleyn Girl, The Taming of the Queen, and most recently The Last Tudor, Gregory writes historical fiction – and is indisputably a genre novelist herself. You know what you’re going to get when you pick up a Philippa Gregory novel – and I write that as someone who has read a fair few of them. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #philippa gregory #genre novels #boleyn girl

Other Publishing stories related to: ''Lazy and sloppy': historical novelist Philippa Gregory's bizarre take on genre writing'


'Lazy and sloppy': historical novelist Philippa Gregory's bizarre take on genre writing

In an interview that raised many hackles, Gregory dismissed erotica as ‘pornography’ and crime novel villains as ‘blindingly obvious’ – despite her own novels occupying a distinct genre themselvesIn a bizarre miscalculation, the historical novelist Philippa Gregory took a sideswipe at the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2017-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #philippa gregory #genre novels #boleyn girl


Philippa Gregory to write YA

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Thu, 15/09/2011 - 08:30 The Red Queen author Philippa Gregory is turning her hand to young adult fiction for the first time, after signing a deal with Simon & Schuster. Ingrid Selberg, director of children's publishing at S&S UK, and Jon... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-09-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #ss children #philippa gregory #write ya #simon schuster #ingrid selberg #ss uk #executive vice-president #venetia gosling


‘There is joy, and there is rage’: the new generation of novelists writing about motherhood

From the shock and awe of labour to domestic isolation, a wave of recent novels captures the transformative nature of being a motherThey say nothing prepares you. Before having my baby, I approached the literature of motherhood as though I were about to sit an exam. If my studies tempered the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2024-01-20 11:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shirley jackson #adrienne rich #toni morrison #margaret atwood #angela carter #early 2000s #present day #novelists


Novelist Celeste Ng: ‘There was a period when I thought I’d never write again’

The award-winning author on how Trump, Covid and anti-Asian rhetoric inspired her latest novel, digging her way out of ‘post-book fatigue’, and learning to touch type using UlyssesCeleste Ng, 42, is the award-winning author of three novels, including Little Fires Everywhere, which was made into... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-04-22 17:00:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #reese witherspoon #missing hearts #dark times #anti-asian violence #book tour #award-winning author


Writing the Historical Mystery Novel: Jane Smiley Explains Her Process

Jane Smiley is a master of plot, with multiple awards for her novels, including the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle award for A Thousand Acres (King Lear as set on an Iowa farm circa 1979). She’s also distilled her years of teaching and cultural criticism into a superb writing... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-12-06 09:53:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jane smiley #cultural criticism #pulitzer prize


Mix It Up: 20 Must-Read, Genre-Blending Historical Fiction Books

Twist and shout: Get ready to treat yourself and mix it up with these 20 must-read genre-blending historical fiction books, including Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin! Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2022-05-12 10:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #historical fiction


Historical Novelists and Fantasy Writers Should Be Friends

Author Christopher M. Cevasco says there's a surprising lack of crossover between the two. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2022-04-29 16:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fantasy writers #novelists


Novelists are writing for TV more than ever. How it's changing the industry

Over the past 20 years, industry shifts have funneled more novelists into TV rooms than ever. It's salutary in many ways — beginning with health insurance. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-02-11 15:00:05 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #novelists


Crime novelists dish on writing about cops in a moment of reckoning

Writers Rachel Howzell Hall, Attica Locke and Ivy Pochoda talked with Times reporter James Queally for a 2020 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books event. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-10-24 16:06:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #attica locke #novelists


Poets and novelists have been writing about life under COVID-19 for more than a century

From 'islands of pain' to the 'peril of exposure,' writers have captured the fear, emptiness and despair that characterize life during the current pandemic, writes a poet and English scholar. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2020-08-17 12:24:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #current pandemic #novelists


A Historical Novelist’s Decorating Scheme: ‘Books and Dog Hair’

For the best-selling author Beatriz Williams, home is a 200-year-old house in Lyme, Conn., with lots of bookshelves and antique furniture. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-06-09 13:00:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #historical novelist #antique furniture #best-selling author


Philippa Gregory reimagines young fiction title for HarperCollins

HarperCollins Children’s Books will republish a young fiction novel by Philippa Gregory about a princess called Florizella, this November. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-07-24 14:49:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #harpercollins children #young fiction #philippa gregory #harpercollins


A romance novelist struggled with Asperger’s. Now she writes about love on the spectrum.

Helen Hoang has published two hits, “The Kiss Quotient” and “The Bride Test,” with more on the way. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-07-19 14:08:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #helen hoang


Philippa Gregory's New Novel Heads South

In 'Tidelands,' the master of English historical fiction. moves from her typical milieu of royal courts to offer a portrait of a normal woman in the marshy landscape of the South of England. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-06-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #philippa gregory #royal courts


BookExpo 2019: Philippa Gregory Introduces a Bewitching Series

After years of writing bestselling novels based on historical figures, Philippa Gregory ('Tidelands', Atria, Aug.) turns her attention to a completely fictional one, Alinor, in the first book in the Fairmile series, set in the mid-1600s, about one family’s complex trajectory to success. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-05-30 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #historical figures #philippa gregory


Creative writing graduates will 'never make a living as novelists', says Self

Will Self has declared literature to be "morphing into a giant quilting exercise", suggesting that no current creative writing graduates will make a living from literary fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #literary fiction


The rise of robot authors: is the writing on the wall for human novelists?

Artificial intelligence can now write fiction and journalism. But does it measure up to George Orwell – and can it report on Brexit?Will androids write novels about electric sheep? The dream, or nightmare, of totally machine-generated prose seemed to have come one step closer with the recent... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-03-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big thing #statistical analysis #web pages


Bartering with the Facts: How a Novelist Solves a Historical Problem

Samantha Harvey's novel 'The Western Wind' is set in 1491 in England. She needed for there to be a private confession box; her plot hinged on it. One problem: private confession boxes didn't exist. Here's how she solved the puzzle. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #samantha harvey


HarperCollins buys full audio rights for nine Philippa Gregory backlist books

HarperCollins has closed a deal with historical novelist Philippa Gregory for full audio rights for nine of her backlist titles. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2018-03-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #backlist titles