Today marks the release of Danie Ware’s debut novel Ecko Rising, a genre-bending SF-fantasy mash-up set in a futuristic, tech-crazed London. To celebrate the release, Flavorwire asked Ware to curate a list of some of her favorite science fiction and fantasy from debut novelists. After all, she is an expert. … Read More
J. K. Rowling
Famous Authors’ Handwritten Outlines for Great Works of Literature
Writing a novel (or a story, for that matter) is confusing work. There are just so many characters running all over the place, dropping hints and having revelations. So it’s no surprise that many authors plan out their works beforehand, in chart or list or scribble form, in order to keep everything straight. Click through for collection of those planning papers, which offer a peek into the process of some of your favorite authors, from James Salter to J.K.… Read More
Publishers’ Craziest Schemes to Avoid Book Spoilers
The news that the translators of Dan Brown’s new book Inferno were basically isolated from the world for two months to avoid any chance of them leaking its plot was enough to elicit a collective bewildered shaking of the head at Flavorwire central. Still, it’s not even the batshit craziest thing that publishers have done over the years to avoid details of their precious books leaking before publication — as an industry, publishing has embraced the embargo-based insistence on secrecy so beloved of Hollywood, especially when it comes to books likely to sell in the bazillions (i.e., anything by JK Rowling). Here are some of the craziest schemes concocted to avoid leaks. … Read More
Your Favorite Authors’ Favorite Musicians
Here at Flavorwire of late, we’ve been looking at what some of our favorite creative types have appreciated in the work of their peers — our favorite actors’ favorite actors, etc. We do like a bit of genre cross-pollination, though, so we thought we’d extend the remit of the idea across genre lines, starting with some of our favorite authors discussing the work of the musicians who inspire, excite, or just generally impress… Read More
10 Books Guaranteed to Make You Cry
This week, we read about a study, recently published in PLOS ONE, in which researchers found that ”the emotional content of published English has been steadily decreasing over the past century, with the exception of words associated with fear, an emotion which has resurged over the past decades.” Well, we don’t doubt it. But that’s not to say that literature has lost any of its power to elicit emotions. To prove it, we’ve selected ten books that make us cry every time — and not always because they’re sad, but because they elicit some kind of strong internal reaction that, well, ends in tears. Read through our picks after the jump, and since everyone has different triggers, let us know which books are guaranteed to make you cry in the comments. … Read More
Jaw-Dropping Photos of Hogwarts in LEGO Form
Last week, we were left agog by an amazing, detailed recreation of Ghostbusters HQ in LEGO form. Now we’ve been equally bowled over by another pop culture holy place lovingly realized in tiny brick form: Alice Finch’s mind-blowing LEGO model of Harry Potter’s alma mater, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Finch told The Brothers Brick she spent a year recreating the school, drawing from both the film and books, using 400,00 bricks (“give or take a few”) and an unknown amount of cash (“I do not know how much it costs and I don’t really want to know”) on the project. The awe-inspiring results won the Seattle-based artist both “People’s Choice” and “Best in Show” at BrickCon, the annual gathering of LEGO builders, collectors, and fans. Finch recently made 75 photos of her work available via Flickr; we’ve selected a few of our favorites after the jump. … Read More
10 of the Most Incredibly Unlikely Celebrity Feuds in History
Yesterday saw the latest flare-up in what’s apparently a nearly two-decade war between Roseanne Barr and writer Jamaica Kincaid. As Roseanne tells it, Kincaid resigned in protest when then-editor-in-chief Tina Brown invited Barr to guest-edit an issue of the New Yorker in 1996, which is why Barr now considers Kincaid a “repugnant classist.” We didn’t know the two women had even heard of each other, let alone hated each other, but it turns out plenty of famous people have beef, and not just Kanye and Taylor Swift. Here are some of the most unexpected celebrity conflicts, from authors to actors to everything in between. … Read More
The Best-Selling Books in 10 Countries Around the World
We know what we’re reading in America, but what about the rest of the world? Next week, Indonesian writer Andrea Hirata’s first novel The Rainbow Troops, will be published in English for the first time. The novel, which with over five million copies sold is Indonesia’s best-selling book of all time, got us thinking about the books topping the charts around the world — that we may have never even heard of. After the jump, some potentially surprising — or just illuminating — best-sellers from India to the UK. Let us know your thoughts in the comments. … Read More
The Best Fictional Libraries in Pop Culture
Here at Flavorpill, we’re always on the lookout for a great library — even if that library happens to be fictional. So we’ve sifted through literature, film, and television to bring you ten of the best libraries ever… Read More
10 of Our Favorite Profiles of Ten of Our Favorite Writers
This week, like everyone we know, we fell head over heels for Joel Lovell’s wonderful profile of Flavorpill favorite George Saunders in The New York Times Magazine. What with that and his amazing new collection, we’re thinking that this might just be the year that Saunders transitions from being every writer’s favorite writer to everybody‘s favorite writer — after all, when the cover of The New York Times Magazine calls out your book as the best of the year (in January, no less), that’s as good of a ticket to household name status as you’re likely to get, shy of any Oprah-gilding. For those of you who, like us, inhaled Lovell’s profile and found yourself itching for more great writing on great writers, we’ve put together a few great profiles that you can read online to slake your literary lust. Read through for some choice quotes and links to the original articles, and do point us toward your own favorite author profiles for further reading in the comments. … Read More
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