Sneak Peak: The Cover of My New Novel
Later this month, my publisher will officially release my new novel, The Gourmet Club. But here is a sneak peak at the cover, front and back, of my novel:
T.Rex, The White Lotus, & Chekhov’s Gun: Why Truth Is Stranger than Fiction
The challenge facing every author of a novel or short story is best captured in a cartoon I saw years ago: the writer is seated at his computer, and on the wall behind him is a sign reading: “10 Days without a Contrived Coincidence to Forward the Plot!” This universal author’s dilemma was perfectly captured…
Legal Thrillers for Literary Snobs
I was talking with a friend about the unfortunate tendency of readers, critics, and publishers to shoehorn every work of fiction into a specific genre, be it romance or science fiction or mystery or historical fiction–as can be confirmed by a stroll through your local bookstore, where the aisles are labeled by the genre they…
Great Closers of Fiction
While the Internet teems with posts listing the best opening lines in all of literature, I have learned over years of reading and writing novels that a great opening line is nevertheless overshadowed by the importance of a great closing line. Yes, a great opening line will lure the reader into the novel. But even…
The Donald’s Cover Version: “Oops, I did it again . . . and again . . . again”
Back in the year 2000, the pop star Britney Spears released her second album featuring the title song “Oops, I did it again.” I couldn’t help but think of that song when I learned that Donald J. Trump, by any measure a serial copyright infringer, had just been accused by yet another songwriter’s family of…
In Praise of Awe
It took one of my children, back when he was no more than two or three years old, to teach me the profound truth in that famous line from “My Heart Leaps Up,” William Wordsworth’s poem celebrating the joys of nature: “The Child is father of the Man.” If you want to experience genuine awe,…
Hoosier Redux: The Hazards of Legal Jargon, i.e., Ipse Dixit
A short while ago I wrote a blog piece on the strange world of city-specific jargon, inspired by a popular coffee-and-dessert restaurant in Evanston, Illinois, whose name featured a word–HOOSIER–that has a far different (and derogatory) meaning to those of us from St. Louis. (Ironically, although I also mentioned a few classic Boston-specific terms. I…
“Hoosier” Is in the Eyes of the Beholder
Strolling down Chicago Avenue south of Main Street in Evanston, I paused in front of Hoosier Mama Pie Company, a beloved local spot for coffee and pastries. But as I gazed up at that sign, I had to smile at how the unique St. Louis definition of “hoosier” would undermine–indeed, torpedo–the cleverness of that name….
Nailing the Ending: The Hollywood Closer
“Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.” While those five words that close the movie Chinatown have been widely recognized as one of the great closing lines in motion picture history, to me the power of that final scene underscores the challenge facing authors of works of fiction, where fashioning a compelling closing line is a critical element…
Fair Use or Brazen Theft? Andy Warhol and the Copyright Fog of War
As a copyright lawyer, I have always smiled at the following quote from Mark Twain: “Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet.” And for those seeking to find any sense in that law, no realm is more of a challenge than the doctrine of…