Now that my book is done, I’ve resumed working on a novel I started while I was waiting on edits. And, I have to say, despite all I’ve learned over the last year, I still have familiar feelings of insecurity as I dig into this new book. I know lots of writers feel this way. I’ve — Read More
Author: Kim Hooper
Writer envy
The latest issue of Poets & Writers magazine features an article about Judy Blume. She just released a new, for-adults book called In the Unlikely Event (which is currently sitting in my Amazon cart). A particularly intriguing part of the article: Blume suffered an existential funk in the early 1980s after reading Dad (Knopf, 1981) by — Read More
Spotlight on: Jeffrey Eugenides
Jeffrey Eugenides is one of those writers who leaves my jaw on the floor every time. I consider him so far out of my league that envy isn’t even in the cards; just admiration and awe. Eugenides is a literary writer who is also popular–in other words, a rarity. He wrote The Virgin Suicides in 1993 (which — Read More
Publishing Journey: The Edits. Done. For Now.
Well, about a month after I received edits that sent me into a mild tailspin, I am done. The book is back with my editor. She will have it for a couple weeks, and then I’ll get another round of edits, which are supposed to be very minor. I have learned through this process not to — Read More
Spotlight on: Tom Perrotta
I haven’t met a Tom Perrotta book I didn’t like, and I’ve read a lot of them–Bad Haircut (short stories), The Wishbones, Joe College, Little Children, The Abstinence Teacher, The Leftovers. I still need to read Election. Perrotta is not-so-arguably one of the best contemporary authors today. Two of his books (Little Children and Election) — Read More
Spotlight on: Liane Moriarty
I’ve decided to do a little “Spotlight On” post about authors I really love and admire. I’ll scour the Internet for interviews they’ve done and essays they’ve written to gather up some interesting tidbits about their lives and writing process. Sound fun? I think so. First up: Liane Moriarty. I fell in love with Moriarty — Read More
On the influence of the editor
Since receiving a round of fairly extensive edits on my book, I’ve been thinking a lot about how most of the books I read are probably very different from their first drafts. And that gets me thinking about the creation of art in general. If a writer is heavily influenced by an editor, is the book — Read More
Publishing Journey: The Edits
So, the last time I touched my book was in October, about 8 months ago. In November, I got verbal (and email) confirmation that St. Martin’s Press did, in fact, want to buy my book (woohoo!). I didn’t actually sign a contract until January. The wheels on this publishing bus go ’round and ’round, but — Read More
Read Harder Challenge 2015: Complete
Remember when I told you about the Book Riot Read Harder challenge? Thanks to a number of lazy weekends, I’m done! You can see the 24 books I read below. Overall, I’m really glad I did this. I read a lot of books I wouldn’t normally read, and there were just a few I absolutely did not like — Read More
On persistence
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently about how we only get about 10% of any one person’s story. We see only the parts they are willing to share–the happy parts, mostly. We shield others from our heartaches. If we do share, we share a small sliver. For example: On Facebook, which I consider an exaggerated — Read More