A collection of personal writing exercises and commentary from some of today's best novelists, short story writers, and writing teachers, including Jill McCorkle, Amy Bloom, Robert Olen Butler, Steve Almond, Jayne Anne Phillips, Virgil Suarez, Margot Livesay, and more. What's the secret behind the successful and prolific careers of critically acclaimed novelists and short story writers Amy Bloom, Steve Almond, Jayne Anne Phillips, Alison Lurie, and others? Divine assistance? Otherworldly talent? An unsettlingly close relationship with the Muse? While the rest of us are staring at blank sheets of paper, struggling to come up with a first sentence, these writers are busy polishing off story after story and novel after novel. Despite producing work that may seem effortless, all of them have a simple technique for fending off writer's block: the writing exercise. In Now Write!, Sherry Ellis collects the personal writing exercises of today's best writers and lays bare the secret to their success. - In "The Photograph," Jill McCorkle divulges one of her tactics for handling material that takes plots in a million different directions; - National Book Award-nominee Amy Bloom offers "Water Buddies," an exercise for writers practicing their craft in workshops; - Steve Almond, author of My Life in Heavy Metal and Candyfreak, provides a way to avoiding purple prose in "The Five-Second Shortcut to Writing in the Lyric Register"; - and eighty-three more of the country's top writers disclose their strategies for creating memorable prose. Complemented by brief commentary from the authors themselves, the exercises in Now Write! are practical and hands-on. By encouraging writers to shamelessly steal proven techniques that have yielded books which have won National Book Awards, Pulitzers, and Guggenheim grants, Now Write! inspires the aspiring writer to write now.

A collection of fifteen short stories in which writers including Avi, Jay Bennett, Gordon Korman, Joan Lowery Nixon, and Suzanne Fisher Staples draw upon their own childhood experiences.

“A novella compresses the world with a short story’s focus, but it explores that smaller space with a novel’s generosity.”—Josh Weil, author of The New Valley: Novellas While the novella has existed as a distinct literary form for over four hundred years, Writing the Novella is the first craft book dedicated to creating this intermediate-length fiction. Innovative, integrated journal prompts inspire and sustain the creative process, and classic novellas serve as examples throughout. Part 1 defines the novella form and steers early decision-making on situation, character, plot, and point of view. Part 2 provides detailed directions for writing the scenic plot points that support a strong but flexible narrative arc. Appendix materials include a list of recommended novellas, publishing opportunities, and blank templates for the story map, graphs, and charts used throughout the book. By turns instructive and inspirational, Writing the Novella will be a welcome resource for new and experienced writers alike.

"Reflections" is a compilation of non-fiction short stories and other non-fiction scribbled reflections of my life.When one picks up a non-fiction book there are certain expectations, the truth is paramount, but the truth is as difficult to grasp as a puff of smoke that wends itself in and out and can never be held; it changes the moment it is released. Although we may sit side by side and experience the same event at the same time, hear the same things, smell the same smells, even feel the same things - in the retelling of the event, your truth and my truth will not be the same except in a general way. Therefore, as an author, I have an obligation to you, my audience, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth - according to my point of view.

"These stories are full of surprises, jolts, and lightning strikes of recognition. Do yourself a favor and read Ron Carlson." —Stephen King Ron Carlson's stories, sometimes wicked or bittersweet, often zany, are rich with a hard-earned hopefulness frequently absent in contemporary fiction. In this generous gathering from collections no longer available, longtime fans and new readers alike can savor the development of a master of idiosyncrasy. Properly celebrated for his range, Carlson offers us a rural sheriff who's wary of UFOs ("Phenomena"), a lawyer on a mission in remote Alaska ("Blazo"), a baseball player turned killer-by-accident ("Zanduce at Second"), and a nineteen-year-old who experiences an unsettling sexual awakening during an Arizona summer ("Oxygen"). Here also is a man accusing Bigfoot of stealing his wife, followed by Bigfoot's incomparable response. Not least of the treasures is "The H Street Sledding Record," a story perfect for family holiday reading, in which a young father creates the magic of Santa by throwing manure on his roof on Christmas Eve. This book proves Carlson's axiom that "a short story is not a single thing done a single way," and it offers us—finally—a full view of his remarkable talents.

With lively style, good humor and insight, Robin Hemley helps you turn all that you experience into fresh and powerful fiction. By learning to "reimagine", you'll focus on translating real-world people and events into characters and scenes that happen on paper for the first time. You'll think "what if" instead of "what is" in order to take control of your material and cut loose the inhibitions of real life. In these pages, you'll learn how to hone your observation skills and fill your journal with rich and vivid details. (Because, as Hemley writes, "Life is in the details, and so is good fiction".) You'll see how to decide which ideas to bring to fiction and which ones to let go. And you'll learn how to: find the right form - novel, short story, vignette, memoir - for the story you want to tell; use "triggers" to start your reader's imagination rolling; keep your fiction emotionally honest by making the right choices between "the way it happened" and what the story dictates (ask "Is it believable?", not "Did it happen?"); create composites of real people and places that fit the unique needs of your story and empower your imagination; focus your fiction. Make sure everything, every character counts - and eliminate "people who sit at the end of the bar without a role to play"; fictionalize - ethically and legally - other people's stories. Learn your rights as a writer versus their rights to privacy. (Can you use actual names? When do you need to get permission?). To illustrate how writers feed their fiction with reality, Hemley uses examples from his own work and from fiction masters of yesterday and today. At the end of each chapter, challenging exercises help you apply the basictheories and push them even further. An adventurous read, Turning Life Into Fiction will help you create fiction that's just as strange and wonderful and "real" as the life that inspires it.

In his new collection of quirky, bittersweet stories, Carlson observes the men and women of the middle class, people who find themselves settling uneasily into lives they never envisioned for themselves. Carlson uncannily captures the complexity of his characters' inner lives.

Why are men so often clichés on the romantic page? They don’t need to be. Not even when real-life men appear to be clichés of themselves. These techniques can create male characters who pop off the page in any genre for their realism and depth. Come join the male author of over a hundred short stories, fifty romance novels, and twenty thrillers (including numerous Top 10 Romance of the Year accolades from B&N, NPR, and various industry reviewers) as he explores: common tropes (and why they’re wrong even when they’re so right), guy-speak, emotions, physicality, journeys, and much more. Also we’ll tackle the Kinda-Myths: grunting, silent, brooding, uncommunicative, punching walls, rampant sex drive (while in a gunfight), arrogance, lack of emotion, conversations all about them…

Experience the Joy and Delight of Creating Amazing Wedding Cakes from Scratch. Lorelie Carvey will show you how to make and decorate the perfect wedding cake. The award-winning pastry chef has spent over thirty years perfecting her techniques and now offers advice that will ensure a sweet memory for your bride's special day. From the first idea to the spectacular result, Carvey guides you through everything you need to know to make the ultimate dream dessert. She includes her favorite recipes, like her chocolate buttermilk cake, hazelnut cake, chocolate mousse, lemon cream cheese, Italian meringue buttercream, and so much more. Carvey personally perfected each recipe during her baking career. In addition to recipes, Carvey clearly and comprehensively explains and demonstrates (with detailed photos) the baking and decorating techniques so you can create your unique cake design. With her own guide to ingredients, cooking methods, baking utensils, and decorating tips, you'll have everything you need to create a magnificent wedding cake that will be remembered and cherished by everyone. Your purchase comes with benefits including...a membership to Lorelie's exclusive cake support group, step by step video, a discount coupon for Cake Stackers, printable guides to pan sizes with number of servings, cups of batter, baking temperatures, baking times and cups of icing to frost and decorate. It also includes a guide to bakers measures and equivalents, emergency substitutions, cake ingredients, functions, fails and causes, a photo tutorial of delivering your cakes, plus cake decorating ideas and instruction.

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Celebrated food blogger and best-selling cookbook author Deb Perelman knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion—from salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe. “Innovative, creative, and effortlessly funny." —Cooking Light Deb Perelman loves to cook. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad? With the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her award-winning blog, Smitten Kitchen, is known for, here Deb presents more than 100 recipes—almost entirely new, plus a few favorites from the site—that guarantee delicious results every time. Gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of her beautiful color photographs, The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking. Here you’ll find better uses for your favorite vegetables: asparagus blanketing a pizza; ratatouille dressing up a sandwich; cauliflower masquerading as pesto. These are recipes you’ll bookmark and use so often they become your own, recipes you’ll slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws, and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you her favorite summer cocktail; how to lose your fear of cooking for a crowd; and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and galettes; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion. Look for Deb Perelman’s latest cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers!