Norman Draper

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Norman Draper

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Born
in Atlanta, Georgia, The United States
Website

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Influences
Peter Mayle, Miguel de Cervantes, the Restoration playwrights, daily n ...more

Member Since
August 2013


Norman Draper worked as a reporter for large, medium-size and small newspapers. He has lived in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Colorado, Mississippi and Minnesota. He left journalism in 2011 and worked as an editor for a state agency until 2014.

Norman has been writing fiction for most of his adult life. He's written four novels, the third of which--Backyard--was published in November 2014.The sequel--Front Yard--debuts September 29,2015. Norman is a serious baseball fan, but could never hit so much as a lukewarm heater,though he had a pretty decent glove.

He's also a gardener with just enough knowledge and skill to be dangerous.

Norman especially enjoys wearing his wife's floral print shirts and writing about himself in the third person.
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Norman Draper Write through it. Even if it's crap that winds up on your screen, it keeps your momentum going. Writer's block is not a huge problem for me since I wa…moreWrite through it. Even if it's crap that winds up on your screen, it keeps your momentum going. Writer's block is not a huge problem for me since I was a newspaper reporter for 35 years. There's no such thing as writer's block on deadline. (less)
Norman Draper I don't really think about it that way. It's something that I'm compelled to do. In a way, I have no control over it. I always wind up sitting at the …moreI don't really think about it that way. It's something that I'm compelled to do. In a way, I have no control over it. I always wind up sitting at the keyboard (or typewriter in the past) hacking away. There are times when I hate it, but I keep doing it anyway. Obsession? Compulsion? Since it's three months until the publication of my first novel, I can't tell you yet what it's like being a published writer. (less)
Average rating: 2.81 · 263 ratings · 89 reviews · 4 distinct worksSimilar authors
Backyard

2.77 avg rating — 217 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions
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Front Yard

liked it 3.00 avg rating — 45 ratings — published 2015 — 2 editions
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Backyard by Norman Draper (...

liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating2 editions
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Bands by the Bow: A history...

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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Better Luck with my Reading

Since my last, somewhat mournful blog, I'm pleased to say I've had a string of successes in my reading. Start off with Mark Helprin's "In Sunlight and In Shadow." Typical Helprin tome, coming in at 700 pages-plus. Big and heroic, a bit like something that might have been written generations ago. It's a quick read for a book so long, and lacks Helprin's usual mastery of a magical way of writing lik Read more of this blog post »
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Published on November 03, 2014 09:45
The Stories of Ra...
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The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury
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Action at Beecher Island by Dee Brown
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Confederates by Thomas Keneally
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Anne of Green Gables by Mariah Marsden
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Silk Road by Colin Falconer
Silk Road
by Colin Falconer (Goodreads Author)
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The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman
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Fire on the Horizon by Wilbur Smith
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The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard
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History of the Civil War, 1861-1865 by James Ford Rhodes
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The Complete Works of John Muir (Illustrated Edition) by John Muir
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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Gardener's Group : * Giveaway! Enter after reading Rules by 11:59pm EST on 2/20 - Winner announced 2/21! 20 28 Mar 04, 2015 05:24PM  
31471 THE Group for Authors! — 12874 members — last activity Oct 08, 2025 12:26PM
This is a group for authors to discuss their craft, as well as publishing and book marketing.
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message 1: by Norman (last edited Jan 06, 2014 06:17PM)

Norman Draper The other day I was thinking of books I couldn't come close to finishing. I'm afraid Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" was one of them. And "Finnigan's Wake," of course. But at least with those books I was able to knock off a few pages, or maybe even a chapter. Not so with "The Egoist" by George Meredith. That was a book I stopped reading after the first sentence! Awhile back, I looked the book up to revisit that offending sentence. Here it is:

"There was an ominously anxious watch of eyes visible and invisible over the infancy of Willoughby, fifth in descent from Simon Patterne, of Patterne Hall, premier of this family, a lawyer, a man of solid acquirements and stout ambition, who well understood the foundation-work of a House, and was endowed with the power of saying No to those first agents of destruction, besieging relatives."

Now, does that suck you in or what!


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