Bucks County Writers Workshop

The famed photojournalist, whose subjects ranged from Marilyn Monroe to Malcolm X, was born in Philadelphia. A leading light in the golden age of news photography, Eve Arnold died in London at the age of 99. Don Swaim interviewed her twice:

On the occasion of her book In America, 12/23/83: LISTEN

On Marilyn Monroe: An Appreciation, 10/14/87: LISTEN

RUSSELL HOBAN 1925-2011

Hoban was known for his innovative sci-fi novel Riddley Walker and for his children's books, such as the "Frances" series. Although he lived in London, Hoban was born in Lansdale, PA. Don Swaim interviewed him in 1988: LISTEN. For the unedited interview from Wired for Books listen here

THE SLUSH READER'S ADVICE. Sarah E. Olson reads incoming manuscripts for Apex Magazine. Here, she explains to hopeful writers what they must do to get published.

CLICHÉ FINDER. Worried that you might have written a cliché but aren't sure? Or perhaps you actually want to use a cliché. If either applies, type in a key word and this site will produce all the clichés associated with that word!

TOM WICKER 1926-2011

Journalist and novelist Tom Wicker, author of twenty books, was a political cluminist for The New York Times for twenty-five years. Don Swaim interviewed him in 1984: LISTEN. For the unedited interview from Wired for Books listen here

ANNE McCAFFREY 1926-2011

As a science-fiction writer, the Hugo and Nebula award-winner Anne McCaffrey was best known for her series of young-adult novels, "Dragonriders of Pern." Don Swaim interviewed her in 1988: LISTEN. For the unedited interview from Wired for Books listen here

NEW BIO OF KURT VONNEGUT

And So It Goes -- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life by Charles J. Shields is the first major biography of this popular writer. Even though Vonnegut's family withheld permission to quote directly from Vonnegut's letters, Shields' bio is more than 500 pages.

Don Swaim's 1981 interview with Vonnegut: LISTEN

NOTE: This is a poor interview from the perspective of the interviewer, whose ham-handed, awkward questions first produced only grudging responses by a curmudgeonly Vonnegut. By the second half, however, the interview takes off, with illuminating responses by Vonnegut.

R.I.P.

BANNED BOOKS WEEK. Sep. 24-Oct. 1, 2011. As writers, we're obligated to celebrate the freedom to read and to fight those who would censor our work. Intellectual freedom--the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular--provides the foundation for Banned Books Week.

FIVE STEPHEN KING QUOTES EVERY WRITER SHOULD HEED. "Prolific horror author Stephen King once called himself the 'literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries,' but these Stephen King quotes prove the author of Carrie and The Shining is no hack." By Karen Murdock at ScreenJunkies.com.

Frightening... frightening...

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Incredible book art by Isaac Salazar of Artesia, NM. Day job: accountant.
Isaac says he never took an art class in his life.
More of his work HERE

WHEN QUOTING VERSE, ONE MUST BE TERSE. With the copyright laws, how much can you get away with in quoting, without permission, someone else's verse or song lyrics in your work? David Orr addresses this question in The New York Times.

A BOOK ABOUT FONTS...

...which we take for granted on our computers, no matter how flamboyant they can be -- thanks to Apple's Steve Jobs, who was so fascinated by calligraphy that he made exotic fonts a mainstay of the Macintosh computer, later widely imitated. This according to Simon Garfield, whose new book, Just My Type, explores the history and subtle powers of type, beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts. In both print and ebook at: Amazon.com

JOSEPH HELLER
Catch-22's 50th Anniversary

Joseph Heller graced the world with his satirical anti-war, anti-bureaucratic novel -- and gave the English Language a new word. Fifty years after the book was first published, comes a trade paperback anniversary edition, a first biography, and a memoir by Heller's daughter.

Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition by Joseph Heller. Introduction by Christopher Buckley with accompanying essays. Simon & Schuster
Just One Catch: A Biography of Joseph Heller by Tracy Daugherty. St. Martin's Press
Yossarian Slept Here: When Joseph Heller Was Dad, the Apthorp Was Home, and Life Was a Catch-22 by Erica Heller. Simon & Schuster

The BCWW's Don Swaim recorded two multi-part broadcasts with Heller plus a special report on Catch-22's 25th anniversary:

God Knows10/8/84. listen
No Laughing Matter (with Speed Vogle) 3/24/86. listen
25th anniversary report on Catch-22 (1986) listen
Also

Swaim's uncut CBS interview with Heller, 1984 (length: 33:43): here

Swaim's uncut CBS interview with Heller & Speed Vogle, 1986 (length: 23:43): here

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2011 BULWER-LYTTON FICTION CONTEST RESULTS. Dedicated to the man who wrote, "It was a dark and stormy night." Sue Fondrie of Oshkosh, WI, had the 26-word winning entry: "Cheryl's mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories." Click above for the other winners and runners-up.

FAKE NAME GENERATOR. Tired of searching the phone book (do they still make phone books?) for a name for your character? This site's random algorithms create literally billions of different and unique names. Check it out.

HOW TO WRITE WITH STYLE. By Kurt Vonnegut. An eight-point tipsheet on creative writing, some points of which are pithy: "Have guts to cut."

THE PRICE OF TYPOS. "...the vigilance of even the great houses has flagged, and typos are everywhere. Curious readers now get regular glimpses of raw and frank and interesting mistakes that give us access to unedited minds." By Virginia Heffernan at The New York Times.

SEVEN THINGS YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER LIED TO YOU ABOUT. "Rules that your English teacher grafted onto your very soul. Rules that, as a novelist, you can and should break." By Megg Jenson at WordPress.com.

HOW TO STYLE NUMBERS. When you write a number, do you use figures or spell it out? Here's what to do. (Incidentally, numbers are always spelled out in dialogue.)

SIX KILLER WRITING TIPS. From homophones to apostrophes, these tips will help you write with more accuracy.

WHO OR WHOM? Even some grammatical experts get confused. Here's a simple trick to determine when to use each word.

THE BORDERS ARE CLOSING. WE'RE STUCK HERE. "Once a book was something you took with you to the bathroom to keep from getting bored during the process of elimination. We don't even do that any more. Now you take your smartphone instead -- as 39 percent of us admit." By Alexandra Petri, Washington Post.

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Steinbeck, Holicong, PA

JOHN STEINBECK IN
BUCKS COUNTY
by Don Swaim

"...somewhere in Pennsylvania..." was the way Steinbeck put it as he decamped in the rural Bucks County home of famed playright George S. Kaufman in 1937. How Steinbeck and Kaufman crafted the award-winning theatrical version of Of Mice and Men at Barley Sheaf Farm is detailed here

exclusive photos of Steinbeck only on the BCWW site

THE ART & CRAFT OF LETTERPRESS PRINTING ON AN IPAD!

If you love old books and great vintage printing you can set type, virtually, on this $6 iPad app that replicates an actual hand printing press -- with period wood type faces, galley trays, inks, papers. Educational, entertaining -- really prints! Go to LetterMpress

SPAM E-BOOKS PLAGUE AMAZON'S KINDLE STORE. The scammers either use an already published e-book, change the title, author and cover, and pass it off as a completely different book -- or they use software that packages public domain content, equips it with a cover and title, and submits it for sale.

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THE DEATH OF NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALISM. "We are losing a peculiar culture and an ethic. This loss is impoverishing our civil discourse and leaving us less and less connected to the city, the nation and the world around us. The death of newsprint represents the end of an era. And news gathering will not be replaced by the Internet." By Chris Hedges at OpEdNews.

THE CASE—PLEASE HEAR ME OUT—AGAINST THE EM DASH. "Modern prose doesn't need any more interruptions—seriously." By Noreen Malone in Slate.

PHILIP ROTH WINS MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE. The $100,000 prize adds another accolade to Roth's five-decade career that includes a Pulitzer Prize. Could the Nobel be next?

"THE RISE OF LOGICAL PUNCTUATION". For at least two centuries, it has been standard practice in the United States to place commas and periods inside of quotation marks. But for how long? By Ben Yagoda at Slate.

WHAT EDITORS WANT: A MUST READ FOR SUBMITTING TO LITERARY MAGAZINES This excellent article describes the nuts and bolts of magazine submission. By Lynne Barrett, editor of The Florida Book Review, in The Review Review.

HOW DO YOU AUTOGRAPH (OR GET AUTOGRAPHED) AN EBOOK? Incredibly, in this digital world they've found a way! By Stephanie Rosenbloom in The New York Times.

Swaim, Kaler

BCWW's DON SWAIM WINS PEARL S. BUCK NATIONAL FICTION AWARD

Dr. Anne Kaler made the presentations under a portrait of Pearl S. Buck at the historic Buck house on April 10, 2011. Three others won prizes in the youth division. Don's winning story, "Dearest Friend, Annie," which focuses on the relationship between Walt Whitman and Anne Gilchrist, was vetted by the Bucks County Writers Workshop. Buck, author of The Good Earth, won the Nobel Prize for literature, and her Perkasie, Pennsylvania, home is a National Historic Landmark. She is buried on the grounds. Pearl S. Buck International

COLLEGEVILLE, PA: J.D. SALINGER SLEPT HERE. Just don't tell anyone. By Michael Winerip in The New York Times.

WHY DO WRITERS ABANDON NOVELS? Success, despair, and getting lost in the words are some of the reasons. By Dan Kois in The New York Times.

RETINITIS WORDEMA. Defined by the BCWW's Alan Shils as: "Inflammation of the retinas due to the overload of useless words projected upon them. (Similar to pulmonary, or any other edema, characterized by excess of fluid accumulation.) The only remedy for retinitis wordema is extensive editing; namely, to perform surgery on the writing, not the eyes."

EDWIN MARKHAM: THE MAN WHO IRKED BIERCE (and wrote about zombies)