Vladimir Nabokov on Literature and Life: A Rare 1969 BBC Interview

You do know who Nabokov is, right?

Guy who wrote Lolita?

Lolita, yeah. And a bunch of other stuff that now would be categorized as “literary fiction” but back in the day was just “fiction.” read article

Fundamentals of Fiction

One of the web’s most thoughtful writers writes about fiction on her way cool Wordstrumpet.Com blog:

by Charlotte Rains Dixon (Wordstrumpet.Com)

Novel writing is much on my mind these days.  If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you know that my debut novel, Emma Jean’s Bad Behavior, is due out February 12.  Not only that, but next week I’ll be in Nashville to talk to a local writer’s group and give a workshop about Scene and Structure in fiction.  And, to top it all off, I will be once again offering my teleclass, Get Your Novel Written Now, in March (though early-bird registration is open).

So, yeah, novel writing is on my mind, big time.  And as I proof the final copy for Emma Jean, as well as continue to work on my next novel, I’m reminded of what it takes to actually write a novel.  Which, let it be known, is a lot.  Even though its about the most fun you can have, ever, it is a lot.  But the actual writing of every novel has a starting point. read article

LB on Dennis O’Neil, Comic Books and Romance

Unhappily for me, I don’t know Denny O’Neil, editor and writer of many of my favorite Marvel and DC comics characters, including Spider-Man and Batman. Many people, however, think we must be buddies because we’ve worked on the same projects, know many of the same people, and love and write about some very outre things.

But we’ve never worked on those projects, hung with those people, or loved and written about those outre things together. I did once get a letter from Denny, back when he was an Editor of The Amazing Spider-Man. It was a personal reply to a letter I’d sent to Marvel praising a particular ish (as Stan Lee had trained us fanboys to call them), and Denny’s response was astonishingly honest: He disagreed with me. Said he hadn’t liked the story at all. (And I think he may even have written it.)

So I, of course, have loved the guy from afar ever since. read article

Our 2 Favorite Space-Time Travelers – Together!

Well, for one brief, shining moment anyway:

Doctor Who meets Not Inspector Spacetime

Yeppers, it’s DOCTOR WHO’s Doctor and NOT INSPECTOR SPACETIME’s Not Inspector Spacetime, making each other’s acquaintance at last. read article

Love & Money Dept – TV Pilot Production Deals for 1/29/13

producer sharksLatest News About Writers Who Are Doing Better Than We Are – Because Their Pilots are Being Made

  • Robert Peacock (THE SOUL MAN) has gotten a 20 episode order from Nickelodeon for THE HAUNTED HATHAWAYS, a BRADY BUNCH meets a bunch of ghosts show for which he wrote the pilot. (Time to hit up your agents and get staffed, kids.)
  • Jon Bokenkamp (PERFECT STRANGER) is moving into production of his pilot THE BLACKLIST, a crime drama for NBC about the world’s most wanted man, who turns himself in to help the Feds…but there are certain conditions. (Uh-oh, we can’t think of anything snarky to say about this one. Does that mean it might actually, you know, work?)
  • Ryan Condal’s  THE SIXTH GUN, an adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name, is going to pilot at NBC. Think “THE LORD OF THE RINGS’, um, rings only in the old west. (Hey, Carlton Cuse will be showrunner. If he brings his A-game this could be at least as good as THE BLACKLIST.)
  • Brian Gallivan (ARE YOU THERE, CHELSEA?) has a  pilot deal for THE McCARTHYS, a CBS comedy about sports-crazed Bostonians. (Ooh, sports. Guess they’ve written off the geek audience. Oh, wait, CBS…of course they have.)
  • Lee Eisenberg & Gene Stupinsky’s comedy PULLING, about 3 30-something women being zanily contrary is going to pilot at ABC.