“…only a lucky writer can write a classic, and it’s only a rare classic that can be perennially relevant.” So writes Lauren Groff in her essay, “The Lost Yearling” (Harper’s, Jan. 2014, pgs. 89-94), a eulogy of sorts, for the fading Pulitzer prize book, The Yearling, wri

“You made it so easy.”  The woman on the other end of the phone laughed.  She was referring to an email I’d sent to friends about Barnes And Noble’s holiday 20% discount  on my books. I sent the message more for vanity than for sales.   I was tickled to see my novel, Hear

J. C.  Halliman cocks a doubtful eyebrow at novelist Philip Roth’s announcement he has retired from writing. (“The Monk Retires,” The Baffler, Vol. 27, pgs. 184-189.) If so, the essayist wonders, why do we keep seeing him on television or as a speaker at literary events. From t

A writer, sitting alone with a computer, lives a courageous life.  It begins with an internal struggle to manage thoughts, to edit fearlessly and then expose the work to the public where it will be praised, ridiculed or ignored.  I think Harper Lee at 82 is remarkably brave to come

When Lee Harper was asked if the reason why she never wrote a novel after To Kill a Mockingbird was because she didn’t want to compete with herself, the author replied, “Not just no, but hell no.” (“To Steal a Mockingbird,” by Mark Seal, Vanity Fair, August, 2013, pg.112) Sh

An acquaintance of mine recently congratulated me on my new book, Trompe l’Oeil, my third in five years and sighed that she wished her current biography, which she’s been working on for five years, didn’t require so much research. Her implication was that a fiction writer can kn

When I was in high school, I had a math teacher who had a pet phrase: “Your freedom stops where my chin begins.” I always thought it was a good measure of personal rights. I am allowed to do as I choose as long as what I choose affects only me. In all other cases, my conduct must