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The hardest part of writing thrillers is coming up with new villains |
Kerri Miller's Must-Read |
| "On Writing" by Stephen King Buy this book Stephen King took note, recently, of the rash of arrests of creepy clowns and tweeted: “Hey guys, it’s time to cool down the clown hysteria.” A Canadian newspaper columnist quickly chided the Master of Horror, reminding him that he himself had ignited the clown hysteria with his creation of Pennywise in his novel “It.” The only King novel I’ve ever had the intestinal fortitude to finish was “11/22/63.” The rest of his fiction scares the daylights out of me. But I reach often for King’s nonfiction book about the craft of writing. It’s one of my go-to’s when I want to nudge a writing legend like John Irving or Joan Didion into a fuller analysis of how they pull off such extraordinary literary acrobatics. I also open it when I’m interviewing a new writer, like Erin Morgenstern of “The Night Circus," or Audrey Niffenegger of "The Time Traveler's Wife," who I interviewed alongside Stephen King a few years ago. King’s writing wisdom guides me in conversations about where instinct and craft meet. He says in his “On Writing” foreword: “Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do — not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t work when it’s bad.” So, even if I can’t stomach King's horror masterpieces, creepy clowns and all, his penetrating insight on how the best writers do what they do has been invaluable. -K.M. PS: Here are just a couple of the books that King put on his must-read list at the back of “On Writing”: “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf; “One True Thing” by Anna Quindlen; “The Tooth Fairy” by Graham Joyce and “A Widow for One Year” by John Irving. |
| This Week on The Thread |
| Six literary pun costumes to book for Halloween Hold the eye rolls, grab the glue gun. You've never had more pun on Halloween. More |
| A permission slip to read "Fahrenheit 451"? This dad can't resist the irony Daniel Radosh, a writer for "The Daily Show," couldn't believe his son needed permission to read the classic Ray Bradbury novel. His response to the teacher has gone viral. More |
| For John Sandford, Minnesota remains the perfect crime scene Thrill master John Sandford, who set his latest book, "Escape Clause," at the Minnesota Zoo, explains the hardest part about crime writing. More |
| 10 deaths, one day: A look at the youngest victims of gun violence "Another Day in the Death of America" by Gary Younge Buy this book On average, seven children and teens are killed by guns each day in the U.S. Reporter Gary Younge picked one day — Nov. 23, 2013 — and profiled the ten boys who died on that date. More |
| Paul Beatty becomes first American author to win the Man Booker Prize "The Sellout" by Paul Beatty Buy this book Paul Beatty won the Man Booker Prize for his novel, "The Sellout," a satire of race in the United States. More |
| Christopher Marlowe officially credited as co-author of 3 Shakespeare plays Oxford University Press will list both William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe as co-authors of the three Henry VI plays in its newest complete edition of Shakespeare's work. More |
| Where fact, fiction, history and heart converge "The Terranauts" by T.C. Boyle Buy this book T.C. Boyle's new novel is ripped from the headlines ... of 1993. It follows the misadventures of a group of scientists conducting experiments in a hermetically sealed, Biosphere 2-like environment. More |
| A dive into the dark plot of a cult-like retreat "The Smaller Evil" by Stephanie Kuehn Buy this book Stephanie Kuehn's childhood taste for horror novels and her doctorate in clinical psychology both get put to work in her new mind-bending YA thriller. More |
| A compelling new take on vampires "Certain Dark Things" by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Buy this book Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel is set in a realistic, multidimensional Mexico City, where a young human boy meets a mysterious girl and gets caught up in a whirlwind of vampire-gang drug wars. More |
| "I just always felt that there were two of me" "Love Warrior" by Glennon Doyle Melton Buy this book The writer behind the popular Momastery blog leaves nothing back in her memoir on parenting, her marriage and her mental health. More |
| I shall faint! Unpacking Victorian womanhood "Unmentionable" by Therese Oneill Buy this book Therese Oneill's new "Unmentionable" is a snarkily informal history of the difficulty of being a woman in the Victorian Era, hemmed in from head to toe with countless rules about dress and manners. More |
| Getting personal about life and writing "Thrill Me" by Benjamin Percy Buy this book Writer Benjamin Percy has been on both sides of the divide between literary and genre fiction, and "Thrill Me" is both a meditation on the writing life and a passionate argument against that divide. More |
| An eerie take on the Amazon and filmmaking "We Eat Our Own" by Kea Wilson Buy this book Bookseller Shane Mullen has two eerie, unsettling reads for your October book list. The first deals with a horror film gone awry in the Amazon and the second revolves around the mysterious disappearance of young twin girls. More |
| A full-throated spiritual autobiography "Upstream" by Mary Oliver Buy this book Oliver's latest collection of essays reflect the author's passion for nature and literature. Critic Maureen Corrigan says "Upstream" presents a portrait of a visionary poet — and a "tough old broad." More |
| Ann Patchett: "Guess what, folks? We judge books by their covers" Author Ann Patchett wrote her latest novel because she couldn't find any other book that captured "the big messiness that is modern family." More |
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