Guy Portman's Blog, page 38

7 Authors Who Overcame Adversity

Earlier this week during a break from working on my third novel I took to thinking about famous authors who overcame adversity. Why, I don’t know why. Anyway, I thought it was a topic thatwould make a worthy addition to my popular famous author series of blog posts. Here are 7 authors who overcame varying degrees of adversity:

Maxim Gorky

( March 28th 1868– June 18th 1936)

Iconic Russian author Maxim Gorky was brought up in relative poverty by his grandmother after being orphaned at a young a...

My Easter Egg Tour

I was going to dedicate this week’s blog post to books about Easter, but after doing a little research I came to the conclusion that this was not a good subject for a post. Most books about Easter are aimed at children and about half of them are about bunnies.

Yesterday afternoon I took abreak from working on my third novel and went tothe shops, where I came across a dizzying array of Easter Eggs. This inspired me towrite thisEaster Egg themed blog post.

As sales at Easter time make up 10% o...

7 Literary One Hit Wonders

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. Last week’s post, 7 Famous Authors Who Died Poor, proved to be very popular, receiving approximately 700 page views last weekend. This week’s post is devoted to 7 literary one hit wonders.

Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights(1847)

Emily Brontë, the sister of literary greats Charlotte and Anne Brontë, died at the age of 30, 1 year after the publication of Wuthering Heights. Regarded as a classic of English literature, Wuthering Heig...

7 Famous Writers Who Died Poor

This week sees the latest instalment in my famous author series. The series has proven to be extremely popular, especially amongst members of the Google+ community.

Here are 7 famous writers who died poor:

P. Lovecraft

(August 20th 1890 – March 15th 1937)

P. Lovecraft was an American author, who is regarded as one of the most important horror fiction writers of the 20th Century. However Lovecraft achieved very little success during his lifetime and was only ever published in pulp magazines....

Books About Drug Addiction

As I have read a number of books about drug addiction recently, I have decided to dedicate a blog post to the subject.

The following books are presented in the order in which they were published:

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey

Published in 1821,Confessions of an English Opium-Eater is widely regarded as being the forefather of addiction literature. The book embraces anornate prose style andgrandiloquent use of language.

My Review: The first part of this autobiogr...

Happy Birthday Bret Easton Ellis

As Bret Easton Ellis, one of my favourite authors, turns 51 on March 7th, I am devoting this week’s blog post to him.

(Born: March 7th 1964)

Bret Easton Ellis rose to prominence when his impressive and controversial first novel, Less Than Zero, was published in 1985 when the author was only 21, and still studying at college. The social commentary and plotless realism that were to become Ellis’s trademark are in evidence throughout this nihilistic first person narrative.

My Review: Set in ninetee...

Happy Birthday John Steinbeck

John Steinbeck would have been 113-years-old today. As it is hisbirthday, I am devoting this week’s blog post to him.

(February 27th 1902 – December 20th 1968)

Born in Salinas, California, John Steinbeck went on to become a prolific novelist and short-story writer, and one of the most acclaimed literary figures America has ever produced. Steinbeck’s accolades includeThe Pulitzer Prize for Fiction(1940) and theNobel Prize in Literature(1962).

Steinbeck’s most famous book and my favourite novel is...

4 Famous Male Writers’ Writing Styles

Every author has his/her own distinctive writing style. My own evolving writing style utilises dry humour, satirical observations and concise prose.

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 4 famous writers’ writing styles:

James Joyce

(February 2nd 1882 – January 13th 1941)

Notable works: Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, A, Portrait of the Artistas a Young Man.

Ireland’s most famous author is remembered as being one of the most influential writers of the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th centur...

4 Famous Writers’ Writing Styles

Every author has his/her own distinctive writing style. My own evolving writing style utilises dry humour, satirical observations and concise prose.

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 4 famous writers’ writing styles:

James Joyce

(February 2nd 1882 – January 13th 1941)

Notable works: Ulysses, Finnegans Wake, A, Portrait of the Artistas a Young Man.

Ireland’s most famous author is remembered as being one of the most influential writers of the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century. Joyc...

Record Breaking Authors

This, the latest instalment in my series of author related blog posts, is dedicated to World record breaking authors. As an author myself I find this topic fascinating, and I hope you will too.

Here are some record breaking authors:

Most Prolific Author Ever - American born author Lauran Bosworth Paine (1916-2001) can lay claim to being the most prolific author of all time. Paine, who had more pen names (70) than most authors have titles, wrote approximately 1000 books.

Best Selling Author Ever...