The Deep End
April 20, 2022
I’m proud to say you can now buy my book, The Deep End: The Literary Scene in the Great Depression and Today.
I’ve worked on this project for the last ten years, exploring the different ways writers survived the Great Depression. You can read more about my project at Why is this interesting?, Jewish Book Council, or LitHub.
Here’s more from the OR Books catalog:
“It’s tough being an author these days, and it’s getting harder. A recent Authors Guild survey showed that the median income for all published authors in 2017, based solely on book-related activities, was just over $3,000, down more than 20% from eight years previously.”
Continue ReadingThe Ravens Revisited
April 19, 2020
Throughout the Great Depression, the Raven Poetry Circle sold poems in Washington Square Park and hosted readings in their apartments.
In honor of that band of scrappy poets, we’ve put together a virtual reading with writers from around the country.
You can watch the first installment below, and you can sign up for the next reading on Sunday, May 17, 2020, from 5-7 PM Pacific (8-10 Eastern).
Continue ReadingArtificial Intelligence & Writing
January 2, 2020
Can you imagine was it like to hear a synthesizer for the first time? To be one of the first musicians to make music with this technology that has changed the way we think about composition and sound?
Writers have a similar opportunity right now — to be among the first to experiment with remarkable advances in text generation and artificial intelligence.
I’ve been reporting on how you can use these new tools in your own writing. Here are some recent posts to check out…
Continue ReadingPublishers Weekly Stories
August 10, 2019
I am the West Coast correspondent for Publishers Weekly, and I like to share my stories on this page…
Formerly Self-Published Italian Author Lands Netflix Series
27-year-old Antonio Dikele Distefano is the child of Angolan immigrants, and his formerly self-published novels explore the lives the children of immigrants. “I show Italian kids that there is not only one way of being black and that our reality is different from what is shown in TV … Second-generation children born in Italy to African parents who moved to Italy are isolated and considered suspicious by the Italian kids.”
The Netflix Literary Connection
The streaming service is on a book-buying spree as it seeks more content for its ever-growing global subscriber base. I interviewed a few executives at Netflix about how adaptation works at the company.
Community Writing Sites Draw Hollywood Attention
In their search for material, producers are forging new relationships with online platforms. From the Writing Prompts subreddit to Wattpad to CryptTV, I spoke with the people leading the best community writing platforms.
Steven Rowley Tackles Jackie O’s Book Biz Years In His New Novel
Steven Rowley’s The Editor tells the story of a struggling writer whose novel is acquired by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I profiled Rowley on the book’s release, exploring a couple literary sites in Los Angeles at the same time.
Free Born Reading Newsletter
March 23, 2019
In Born Reading: Bringing Up Bookworms in a Digital Age, I share hundreds of books and apps that parents can use with kids. Now that the book is published, I still find great new apps and books every week.
To keep parents and kids informed, I launched a free newsletter for parents. Follow the link below to subscribe for free book, eBook, app and craft recommendations every issue.