Diary Archive

The Fiction Desk diary contains all the odd observations and news that don’t fit anywhere else.

Crime Classics from Atlantic Books

Often seen as the "genre it's okay to like", crime fiction has a lot to offer both readers and writers. Crime Classics, a new series from Atlantic Books, is a great introduction to some of the older works that helped to form the modern concept of the genre, and have had their influence on literature as a whole. ...

The best books I didn’t read this year

While everybody else lists their best reads of 2008, The Fiction Desk presents a list of some of the titles that I'm sure would have been good... if only I'd actually got around to reading them. ...

George Orwell’s manuscript for 1984

George Orwell's original manuscript for 1984, which was published as a facsimile edition in the 1980s, is a comforting reminder of how much editing even the best writers have needed to do, and how important the editing process is as a whole. ...

Lawrence Durrell: Pied Piper of Lovers and Panic Spring

ELS Editions in Canada have republished Lawrence Durrell's first two novels, Pied Piper of Lovers and Panic Spring, for the first time in almost seventy years. ...

Minor characters in Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet

Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet is a terrific book, especially for writers. One thing Durrell does well is the way he handles the people in his stories; there are some great examples for other writers about how not to waste their minor characters. ...

What makes a good book for blogging?

How do book bloggers select the titles they want to review? Other than issues like genre, what makes a good book to blog about? Are shorter books better than longer books? Are debut novels better than the latest work from an established author? ...

Fake literary agents target new authors

People claiming to be literary agents are conning wannabe writers out of increasingly large sums of money, by selling them unnecessary or poor-quality editing services. Read on for information about how the scam works, and how to avoid it. ...

Bloggers take on the Booker longlist

In the weeks since the Booker Prize longlist was announced, book bloggers have been throwing their other challenges aside and getting to work reviewing the nominees. Here's the Booker longlist, with links to some of the reviews that have already appeared on the Blogosphere. ...

Reinventing The Fiction Desk

A quick introduction to the new version of The Fiction Desk. The site has now been rebuilt, with an emphasis on new book reviews and writing tips. ...

Mistakes writers make

A look at some of the more common mistakes writers make. ...

Advice for young writers

Some tips for teenagers who are thinking about a career writing fiction. ...

New Faber website & other news…

News from the book world, including Faber's new website and webisodes to promote Robin Cook's new thriller. ...

Supernatural detectives, Amazon vs. Hachette Livre, and some good posts…

News and links including paranormal detectives, the latest Amazon controversy, and some good new blog posts... ...

The scent dinner

Writers often talk about how things look, and forget that their readers—and their characters—have five senses. The following are notes on the writing of senses, prompted by a scent dinner with NY Times scent critic Chandler Burr. ...