Warren Adler's Blog, page 65

Reading Beyond the First Paragraph

I think it was Will Rogers, the homespun comedian, columnist and actor, who is probably unknown to most people under seventy, who once said something like "If a pipe was attached to congress you would have enough hot air to heat every home in America."

If you attached a pipe to the Internet, by that measure you would have enough hot air to heat the entire earth under a suffocating cloud that would make the direst predictions of global warming a mere glowing ash in a spent bonfire.

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The Russian Affliction

The revelations about the Russian spy network in the United States has confirmed a long held theory of mine about the principal reason why the Russians lost the Cold War.

They're paranoid. It's in their DNA.

This is why they built their railroads with a wider span, which meant that the trains had to be raised when crossing borders to replace the undercarriage to enter foreign space.

That is why the KGB became the most paranoid intelligence culture in the world on this very basic theory: Trust...

The Joy of Reading

It has become the prevailing opinion that people are not reading books with the same zeal, energy and enthusiasm as in bygone years. They could be right, although I cannot understand how people can live a rich, wise and fruitful life without reading works of the imagination. My own life would be bereft without my dedication to reading.

Books have been my life, both as a writer and a reader. I am well aware that younger generations seemed to have eschewed reading, surrendering instead to the...

Authors Guild Publishes Article by Warren Adler

Warren Adler's article, What's Next For Authors was printed in the Authors Guild Sprint 2010 Bulletin. To read the article please click on the link below.

Authors Guild Article

Helen Thomas and the Jews

If a world-wide survey were taken as to the accuracy and relevance of Helen Thomas's remarks about sending the Jews of Israel back to Poland and Germany "where they came from", my guess is that there would be a lot more people who agree with her than disagree.

Judging by the lynch mob of nations, commentators and bloggers that have been moved to condemn Israel for its "outrageous, disproportionate, barbaric and savage response" against a gaggle of alleged well-meaning "peace activists"...

Warren Adler will teach a 14 week Seminar at NYU to incoming Freshman on "How to Write a Novel"

How to Write a Novel

(V50.0428; call #776554)Date: Tuesday, Sept. 14Time: 2:00-4:30pmDescription: This seminar will explore the ways in which Mr. Adler conceives, creates, and executes his novel writing. Students will read a number of novels with a view to learning how a novelist confronts the challenge of creating an authentic parallel world that springs out of his or her imagination. Among those novels assigned will be Francoise Sagan's Bonjour Tristesse, Philip Roth's The Human Stain...

Anti-Semitism Erupts

For the eight odd million Jews scattered over the planet and not living in Israel, events concerning Israel cannot be dismissed as if they were occurring in someone else's back yard.

Whether a Jew is right-wing or left-wing, extreme or moderate, orthodox, conservative, reformed, atheist, academic, intellectual, poor or rich, whatever gender, whatever orientation, whatever country in which he or she is a citizen, whether he or she hates Israel or loves it, feels empathy or none, whether his...

A Cautionary Tale for the Aspiring Novelist

It has always been difficult for an aspiring novelist to get published by a traditional publisher. By novelist, I mean those who write mainstream novels that do not fall into any genre slot. The revolution in publishing and the burgeoning and inevitable shift from print to digitization has made it even harder for such a novel writer to take the first step in establishing and sustaining a career.

Worse, considering the long odds of getting a first novel published by a traditional publisher...

Short Story Contest Winners Announced

After reading through the hundreds of submissions, our judges have chosen a first place winner, a People's Choice winner, and the remaining finalists.

Here is the winner:

The First Prize Winner: The Week My Sister Died by Kari Wicker of Greenville, NC

Here is the People's Choice finalist:

Scrambled Lives by Doris Chauvancy of Franklin, NJ

Remaining finalists:

Old Friends by Ruvym Gilman of Brooklyn, NY
Low Tide Turning by John Blair of San Marcos, TX
The Thing with Feathers by Evan Guilford-Blake of ...

Short Story Contest First Place and Finalists Announced

After reading through the hundreds of submissions, our judges have chosen a first place winner and four finalists.

Here is the winner:

The First Prize Winner: The Week My Sister Died by Kari Wicker of Greenville, NC

Here are the four People's Choice finalists:

Old Friends by Ruvym Gilman of Brooklyn, NY

Scrambled Lives by Doris Chauvancy of Franklin, NJ

Low Tide Turning by John Blair of San Marcos, TX

The Thing with Feathers by Evan Guilford-Blake of Stone Mountain, GA

Voting is now open so we...