Soup and Salad: The Worst Novelist in History, Writers Re-Read, Lessons From Gatsby, A Writer's Ego, Embracing Rejection, The Return of Frank Bascombe (?), A 21st-Century Essential Canon, Writers Helping Writers, Author Movie Cameos, 10 Movies Based on Poe

On today's menu:

1.  The Virtual Victorian somewhat cheerfully announces "The Worst Novelist in History."  E. L. James?  James Michener?  The guy who wrote that Mack Bolan series?  Guess again.  It's Amanda McKittrick Ros (December 8, 1860 to February 2, 1939)  an Irish novelist who, among other things, wrote that "eyes are 'piercing orbs,' or that legs are 'bony supports,' or that to blush is to be touched 'by the hot hand of bewilderment.'"  One...