Stephen Leary's Blog, page 17

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Dead Author

10. Everybody has forgotten you...except me.9. You should've tried to create a memorable character.8. It's as if you never wrote anything.7. I asked the librarian if anybody wrote a biography of you and she almost died laughing.6. They found someone to complete your last unfinished novel. Justin Bieber.5. Thank god you can't write any more books--oh wait, you're Robert Ludlum, never mind.4. You know those famous authors you had literary feuds with? They're still alive.3. I can't find any of y...

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: The Tintin Theory

Satellite data suggests the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was pinpointed somewhere in the Indian Ocean south of Indonesia.

The advantage of that route would be a lack of radar to detect the presence of the plane.

It would suggest the plane veered westward from Kuala Lumpur, through the Malacca Strait, then further west and then south of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean, where presumably it could travel back eastward between Australia and Indonesia undetected.

The destination would then be eithe...

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Librarian

http://blog.stephenleary.com/2014/03/...

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Librarian

10. How come y'all so damn ugly?9. Do I have to return these?8. Is it true you librarians are a bunch of radical commies?7. Can I sleep here overnight?6. Do you ever clean these CD cases?5. You needed a master's degree for a job like this?4. Do you have any Rush Limbaugh books?3. Did you know the books are out of order?2. Can you direct me to the section of the library without any bums in it?1. This book isn't on the shelf and it isn't checked out. Where is it?

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Top 10 Things Never Say to a Poet

http://blog.stephenleary.com/2014/03/...

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Poet

10. What do you do for money?9. Shakespeare would vomit...but I like it.8. You're planning to teach, right?7. Plath, Sexton, Berryman...and now you, in their footsteps.6. Are you trying to sell these or just give them away?5. Whenever you find your unique voice you'll be amazing.4. How about that! You didn't use one word I didn't immediately recognize!3. I'm compiling an anthology of doggerel and I want to feature your poetry.2. My friend's therapist recommended he write poetry, too!1. Isn't...

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Bestselling Author

http://blog.stephenleary.com/2014/03/...

Top 10 Things Never Say to a Bestselling Author

10. Are you as surprised by your success as I am?
9. Must be heaven to know you can publish anything and people will buy it!
8. Have you heard from John Grisham's lawyers yet?
7. Great job with that plot and characters you stole from J.K. Rowling!
6. Did an intern ghostwrite your last book?
5. Shouldn't you credit Robert Ludlum as a coauthor of your new thriller?
4. Have you thought about writing a book with an original plot?
3. Stephen King! Great to meet you! Oh no, wait...who the hell are you?
2....

What If Everyone in the World Wrote a Book?

http://blog.stephenleary.com/2014/03/...

What If Everyone in the World Wrote a Book?

My twitter feed is filled all day every day with tweets from people who wrote self-published books wanting to sell them. I do that too.

It's fun to go to tweetdeck.twitter.com and watch all the tweets scroll by with hardly any slowdown. Some of these books must be good, I'm convinced. Many are likely not, just as many books published by traditional publishing houses are not very good either.

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing has opened the floodgates and authors no longer need to rely on agen...