Huckleberry Finn – Michael A. Kahn

Maybe You Can’t Tell a Book by Its Cover, But You Can Sure Sell It That Way

Posted on February 15, 2019February 17, 2019 by Michael Kahn

I read a fascinating post on the Jezebel website by Kelly Faircloth in which she recounted the history–or, per the title of her post, the “steaming, throbbing history”–of the covers of romance novels, from the sweet innocent covers of the 1950s to the soft-porn bodice-rippers of later decades, many of which featured the male model…

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The Magical Lure of the Intimate Voice

Posted on December 18, 2017December 21, 2017 by Michael Kahn

I have written here and elsewhere of the power of a great opening line. If you can imagine a bookstore as a crowded singles bar with each book hoping to get lucky, that first sentence essentially functions as the author’s pick-up line. Sure, a sexy book jacket helps, since it will increase your chances of…

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A Truly Challenging Question for Me (and You)

Posted on August 1, 2017February 16, 2019 by Michael Kahn

I received an email from the folks at Goodreads asking for me to answer the following question: “If you could travel to any fictional book world, where would you go and what would you do there?” What a great question! And one you should ask yourself as well. Here’s how I answered it: I started…

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God or Huck Finn: Who Should Tell Your Story?

Posted on September 15, 2016September 14, 2016 by Michael Kahn

An online discussion among several of my fellow Poisoned Pen Press authors got me thinking about the one decision every fiction author must make before typing CHAPTER 1 at the top of the page. That decision? Who will tell your story? “Huh,” a baffled reader may wonder, “doesn’t the author tell the story?” Only rarely….

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Who Tells the Story: From the Bible to Marlowe

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Michael Kahn

Who will tell the story? Every author must answer that question before typing “Chapter One” at the top of that first page. Not who will write the story. That’s the author’s job. But who will tell it? Who will serve as the narrator? One common answer is known as Third Person Omniscient. That’s where the…

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Mysteries for Literary Snobs

Posted on February 14, 2013February 16, 2013 by Michael Kahn

Once upon a time, novels were just, well, novels. Pride and Prejudice was once just a novel, as were The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and The Woman in White. If first published this year, however, each would be slotted into one of the genre ghettos constructed by the literary snobs….

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