I like the concept of the 10,000 Hour Rule, made famous by Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers. Boiled down to its essence, it states that 10,000 hours of practice leads to expertise or mastery of a skill. The Rule is overly simplistic and not universally applicable, but it highlights the importance of hard work as a […]
Category > Reading
“Read as widely as possible”
A few years ago, I bought a day pass to my first World Con. The highlight of the day was meeting SF writer and long distance life mentor William Shunn at a kaffeeklatsch. Bill is a fellow ex-Mormon and a wonderful human being. His podcast and correspondence helped me ease out of my former religion […]
Writers Need Readers: Lessons from my Book Club
When my mom attends a book signing, book fair or convention with me, people will often ask her if she’s a writer too. She smiles and says, “Oh no. I’m just a reader. But you need us.†It always gets a big laugh and the other person, usually a writer, enthusiastically agrees.  Sometimes I hang […]
what are you reading?
(Because one of my favorite things to find out about a person is what they are reading.) Here’s a quick sampling of what we have either recently read, are currently reading, or have sitting on our bedside tables waiting for us to dig into: Adam Israel: Recently read: A MEMORY OF LIGHT, by Brandon Sanderson […]
Summertime, summertime
So … summertime. I love it. As a kid, I spent summers reading. As in nonstop, around the clock reading–one wonderful summer I counted reading 125 books in two weeks. These days, I still feel like I should spend most of my summer catching up on my reading list. But I don’t dig into the […]
eReaders & You
If there’s one question that burns at the heart of the publishing industry today, surely it must be, “How do people read their books now?†eReaders are here to stay and being adopted not just by the tech savvy but hardcore readers everywhere. What’s that? You’re thinking of getting one yourself? Well then, you’re in […]
On Readings, or Oh My God I Made a Fan
So, readings. If you write and share your written work with others in some form, you will eventually be asked to read aloud. Whether this is to promote a published work, or simply to practice in front of your (hopefully supportive) writing group or mom, you will find yourself before an audience in a coffee […]
Critical reading means criticizing your reading
Today we are lucky enough to have a guest post by Robert Jackson Bennett, the Shirley Jackson award-winning author of MR. SHIVERS. His second novel, THE COMPANY MAN, is out now, as is his first published short story, “A Drink for Teddy Ford” in the BROKEN TIME BLUES anthology. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, […]
Awards Season, or Reader’s Guilt
It’s that season again. The season where I need to read all the things becomes I have to read all the things, or I am not worthy to nominate!!!!!. The season where I, once again, face up to the frankly over-developed Reader’s Guilt monster and try to reassess my obligation as a reader. If you’re […]