Writing news

"Most Lovable" Chinese Writer, Wei Wei, Passes Away at Age 88

Julie-Ann — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:28:00 +0000

Known for the 1950 coverage of the Korean War, the self-taught Chinese writer is best known for "Who is the Most Lovable". A eulogy of those involved in the Korean War, he writes of heroism and the revolutionary spirit of the Chinese People's Volunteer. Influencing generations of Chinese people, the phrase from the book, "The Most Lovable", is used to address all Chinese soldiers.

Passing away from liver cancer, Wei Wei was born in 1920—becoming a member of the Communist Party of China in 1938. Born to a poor family in Zhengzhou, he joined the Eighth Route Army at the outbreak of the War of Resistance which was against Japan in 1937.

Award-Winning Author, Jacqueline Wilson, Amends Latest Book

Julie-Ann — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:07:19 +0000

Author Jacqueline Wilson is considered a prominent name in the world of children's books, with her latest book "My Sister Jodie" " gaining national attention because of the letter "a". Apparently, three individuals who have purchased the book found an error referring the work "twit" as "twat", with Random House now amending all future editions of the new book. Over 150,000 books have been sold in comparison to those three customers, so apparently the outrage is not a public one, but the change in the book was made anyway.

An English writer, Jacqueline Wilson's first novel was written when she was nine-years-old. Winning numerous awards, over 7,000 of her books have been sold in the UK alone with her book "Double Act" voted 10^th in the Nation's Favorite Children's Book. In June of 2002, she was given an OBE for services to literacy in schools.

Sean Connery's Memoir, "Being A Scott", Makes Public Appearance

Julie-Ann — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:59:00 +0000

One of the 800 authors at Scotland's 2008 Edinburgh Book Festival, high-profile Scottish nationalist Sean Connery will launch his written personal memoirs titled "Being a Scott". The festival is the first time the 78-year old Scottish actor will have allowed anyone to observe his memoirs, after going through many ghostwriters, co-writers, and publishers—finally settling on Murray Grigor-- Scottish filmmaker, writer, and exhibition designer, who won the UK/US Bicentennial Fellowship in the Arts for his research film on Frank Lloyd Wright.

Not the usual biography garbage full of sex, lies and affairs, this memoir was written about Scottish culture and its life, the gothic tendency in Scots literature, architecture and sports. A vocal supporter of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, Sean Connery lives in the Bahamas and vows he will stay there until Scotland gains independence from the United Kingdom.

The Edinburgh festival will also celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the James Bond creator, Ian Fleming, in addition to being Britain's leading literary gathering. Held every August in the capital of Scotland, other events are jazz, comedy, and performing arts festivals. This year will also see Salman Rushdie, Louis de Bernieres, and Margaret Atwood.

Librarian Turned Author Finds There Is No Such Thing As Free Speech

Julie-Ann — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:57:14 +0000

A recent write-up regarding a new book by librarian Sally Stern-Hamilton of a Lake Michigan resort community, under the pen name Ann Miketa, may help her obtain fame a whole little quicker than with most budding authors. Her new book. "Denialville"--changed to "The Library Diaries"-- starts out with the introduction, " ...I have encountered strains and variations of crazy I didn't know existed in such significant portions of our population." Well, obviously that population became offended at who they thought the "fiction" book was about when they learned the author's identity--first suspending her as a library assistant and then firing her 10 days later.

The description under the online catalog of Publish America states, ""Open this book and you'll meet the naked patron, the greedy, unenlightened patrons, destination hell, the masturbator, horny old men, Mr. Three Hats, and a menagerie of other characters you never dreamt were housed at your public library." Right there we may have a best seller, regarding issues most people do not talk about or choose to veil yet will read about it lavishly within the privacy of their homes--written within one of the top pillars of free speech--the local library.

Controversial French Sex Author, Catherine Millet, Releases New Book of Suffering

Julie-Ann — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Suffering has taken on a new look for French sex author, Catherine Millet, who became famous when her 2001 book "The Sexual Life of Catherine M.", sold over a million copies in 11 different languages, telling about her rather early sexual awakening. Written in an extremely graphic manner of her sexual escapades, many hailed her book as nothing more than "stylized" pornography while others patted her on the back as a feminist hero. Either way, she moved on with her new book, "Jour de Souffrance" or "Day of Suffering" which will be released next week in France.

With this second book also about sex, the author has instead chosen to write of her straying husband which threw her into a "paranoid psychological "hell", forcing her to fall into the trap of jealousy and emotional vulnerability--regardless of the sexual empowerment she had boasted of in her first book. Not only an author, Millet is also the editor of Art Press, considered a rather high-brow Parisian cultural journal that she launched in 1972.

Traffic Expert Turns Author With Highly-Researched Book

Julie-Ann — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0000

Tom Vanderbilt is a traffic expert who has turned to freelance writing with his recently published book from Knopf, "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" . A lot of the reason he feels the book is necessary is due to today's society and the 43,000 people who die every year from unnecessary traffic fatalities.

Vanderbilt's 402-page well-researched, closely-examined book is how mankind and vehicles interact, both speeding down the roadway 60 mph, or sitting for hours in the city rush hours. Vanderbilt's book shows us exactly how dangerous driving is, while meanwhile a Canadian survey shows us that 50% of commercial ads show unsafe driving practices.

The interesting fact is that statistics show us that more people get into crashes when alone than with someone. This is because a lot of people driving alone at night may go to sleep, while with another person along that second set of eyes come in pretty handy to save a life.

New Orlean Writer, Loehfelm, Wins Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Julie-Ann — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 21:49:00 +0000

Author Bill Loehfelm of New Orleans has recently won the first Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award with his book, "Fresh Kill", placing among over 5,000 entrants from 20 countries. Rejected 25 times before winning the Amazon award, Loehfelm's book was named after the massive garbage dump in Staten Island where the author grew up. Written in New Orleans after Katrina, the book is a testament to friends and community, the power of loyalty and forgiveness.

The new author associates his writing in post-Katrina to Harlem Renaissance, Paris after World War I, and the San Francisco of the Beat generation in the 1950s--hours spent writing in the back of New Orlean's Rue de la Course coffee house which simply would allow smokers. A first book that took him five or six years to develop from its first step to finished product, it is reviewed as a "tough-minded" book--written as a mystery but is more or less considered a character study of a murdered abusive father, with the son who wanted him dead given the responsibility of finding the culprit.

Writers Found for Upcoming Tolkien Hobbit Movies

Julie-Ann — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:30:09 +0000

For those who have enjoyed the J.R.R. Tolkien "The Annotated Hobbit" and the magic of the ancient Middle Earth, they will be ecstatic to know that the filmmaker of ""Lord of the Rings trilogy" and executive producer of the "Hobbit" will adapt Tolkien's "The Hobbit" book to a series of upcoming movies. They will be even more happy to find that after ending an eight-month search for an appropriate writer to bring this literary classic to the big screen, they have chosen a team of highly appropriate individuals already versed in the world of Middle Earth to collaborate on the script--director Guillermo del Toro, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Fran Walsh are now working to write the screenplays for the two new movies--the first to be out December of 2011 and its sequel to be out in 2012.

This partnership was at kind of a standstill because of the suit filed against New Line and its subside Katja Motion Pictures by Jackson and wife, Fran Walsh, and the Tolken estate saying they had failed to properly calculate revenue in a number of categories, including homevideo, merchandising and videogames, for 2001's "Fellowship." Once this was over, the writing team began their work. Meanwhile, for those who want to follow the movie blog, go to "The Hobbit: The Official Movie Blog" and stay in touch. The rest of us will wait until December of 2011, and read Tolkien in the meanwhile!

Banker, Christoper Reich, Turns Writer

Julie-Ann — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:17:18 +0000

Not everyone enjoys being at work eight hours a day, locked into something that allows very little creativity or flexibility. And Switzerland investment banker Christoper Reich was one of those people, walking away from a high level banking position ten years ago to become one of the the top thriller authors of today. His new book, "Rules of Deception" is now in the 3rd position of the New York Times best seller list and climbing.

Not only a best selling book, Reich has had Paramount contact him for purchasing the book's movie rights, with Brad Pitt talking of playing the leading role. Taking two years to write his first book, "Numbered Account" --when the author first began writing he said he owed it all to writer James Patterson. Apparently this notable author liked it so well he had his own agent take Christoper Reich on as a client. Of course, the rest is history.

Late Author Enid Blyton Voted UK's Best-Loved Writer

Julie-Ann — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:17:18 +0000

Good writing does not disappear once the sometimes fickle trend for the author leaves, maintaining its test of quality over a good many years. Such is UK's most-beloved late writer, Enid Blyton, who still provides children with a safe world where "good means good" and "bad means bad", saying that any critic over the age of 12 had no opinion that meant anything to her. Selling more than 500 million books, she is known for her Famous Five Series and the Noddy books.

Winning at the top of the list of 50 for the UK's most beloved writers, Blyton was followed behind with Ronald Dahl in second and JK Rowling in third, Jane Austen fourth, Shakespeare fifth, Charles Dickens sixth, with Tolkien, Agatha Christie, Stephen King, and Beatrix Potter finishing the top 10 in the survey for the Costa Book Awards of 2,000 writers.