Warren Adler's Blog, page 50

Clever Experiment Proves We Do Judge Books by Their Covers

“Entitled The Diamond Club, the book was completely written by the Internet, it was a “rambling incoherent mess”, but it did have three things going for it:

• A Fifty Shade of Grey-inspired cover

• characters with trendy jobs (cupcake artist, blogger, etc.)

• lots and lots of sex

Are these things enough to turn a book into a best-seller? Yes, they are. The Diamond Club managed to climb to #4 on the iTunes chart, despite all the 1-star reviews from people who actually read it, just because it resembled every other book on there… This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In 1969, 24 journalists put together Naked Came the Stranger, a novel full of sex, an incoherent plot, bad writing, meaningless dialogue and more sex, just to prove how low the American literary culture had sunk. It also became a best-seller.”

Read more: OddityCentral.com

…

Fascinating Photographs of Famous Literary Characters in Real Life

“Though they exist in our minds in many forms — the way we conjured them up at first reading, the way they were illustrated or the way they were portrayed on screen — many of our most famous literary characters are in fact based on real people, and have “true” faces beyond any adaptation. Or at least to some extent — at least in fiction, very few characters are true carbon copies… we’ve collected a few photographs of the real people behind famous literary characters to invade your memories.”

Read and view more: Emily Temple, Flavorwire.com

Alice in Wonderland — Alice Liddell

Peter Pan — Michael Llewelyn Davies

Dorian Gray — John Gray

Read and view more: Emily Temple, Flavorwire.com

 …

The Future of the Novel

With the tsunami of e-books where traditional and self-published writers are beefing up reading choices to astounding levels, the book business has become a competing stew of infinite taste sensations that are offered up increasingly sliced and diced, and composed for an increasing segmented reading public.

How to Reinvent Yourself at Any Age

(StatePoint) With the technological and cultural landscape in flux, many professional fields are undergoing rapid changes. Continually challenging yourself can help you achieve success, keeping you relevant as your chosen profession moves with the times.

Long gone are the days when most Americans start a job and toil at the same workplace — or even in the same profession — until they receive that gold watch on retirement day.

More Americans are now striving to live a life like that of Warren Adler, a self-made novelist and founder of a new business at the not-so-old age of 84.

For Adler and others like him, life is about embracing what’s new and jumping into new challenges.

Back in the days following World War II, he was a reporter for the Armed Forces Press Service, covering the Truman White House. He then launched the Washington Dossier magazine with his wife and son, started a public relations firm and then, mid-career, became a successful novelist at the age of 45.…

The Master… Really?

The Master directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, an alleged loose interpretation of the early days of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology religious movement has been hailed by some reviewers with such overhyped praise that one might think that it is in a class with Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Female Villains: 10 Evil Women In Literature

Women, by virtue of their historical status as nurturers, and for centuries dominated by men and considered mere breeders, have been characterized by time and custom as the gentler sex, compassionate and kind, more merciful and tenderhearted of the genders. But they have not always been portrayed as shrinking violets....

Decoding the Self-Published Author

The author, too, must adjust to the new reality. The term "self" in "self publishing" will eventually disappear as more and more authors will have to take the marketing and selling plunge on their own. Even if one is published in the traditional way by known publishers, one will have to market one's books on one's own hook, in imaginary and often costly ways. The self-published author will, in effect, be forced to become his own entrepreneur.

Spanked by an Insider

I would prefer [the Old Gray Lady] to... present in news columns, a more balanced, more deferential and civilized, less vitriolic and cocksure journalistic presentation; a stance she had once maintained and guarded with great courage and commitment.

Warren Adler: From man-about-town to the life-and-death obsession to write

By Erin Williams, August 30, 2012

(Article originally published in The Washington Post)

 

Warren Adler has lived more lives than the most feisty of cats. His storied career began six decades ago when he served as the only Washington correspondent for the Armed Force Press Service, a position that had him covering White House news conferences during the Truman administration.

He went on to become a man about town, creating both his own public-relations firm focused on real estate and politics (he publicized the Watergate when it was new and Richard Nixon’s 1969 presidential campaign) and the now-defunct society magazine Washington Dossier, which meant rubbing elbows with newspaper publishers and presidents alike.

After publishing his first novel at 45, the 84-year-old now has completed 33 books, 12 of which have been optioned for movies, including the 1989 hit film “The War of the Roses.” On Wednesday, Adler, who is also an e-book pioneer, will return to Washington to sign copies of his latest book, “The Serpent’s Bite.” Before he takes his victory lap, he discussed Washington of yesteryear, creating a legacy and why he, quite literally, lives to write.…

Meet Best Selling Author Warren Adler

By Norm Goldman

(Article originally published on BookPleasures.com, August 27, 2012) 

 

Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is excited to have as our guest Warren Adler who has written thirty-three novels including The War of The Roses that was made into a movie with Michael Douglas and Random Heartsthat was likewise made into a movie with Harrison Ford.

Warren started an unprecedented bidding war in a Hollywood commission for his unpublished book Private Lies which according to the New York Post “Tri-State Pictures outbid Warner Bros and Columbia, and purchased the film rights to Private Lies for $1.2 million… the highest sums yet paid in Hollywood for an unpublished manuscript.”

He has also written short story collections and in stories from his collection The Sunset Gang became an American Playhouse three-hour television production in 1991 and 1992 and an off Broadway Play. His most recent novel, The Serpent’s Bite will be released in the fall of 2012 (has been released and is available in hardback and e-book formats on Amazon).…