All of the titles mentioned in this blog post (with the exception of out-of-print books) can be found here: http://astore.amazon.com/wileymag – Look under the category, “2012 List” (I know. Some of you don’t like Amazon. That’s fine. You can buy these books anywhere you choose to buy them. Thanks.) * * * It is Christmas Eve Day and if you haven’t finished buying gifts for the special writer in your life (or, yourself) then it’s too late! This isn’t one of those, “Hurry, it’s

<img class="size-medium wp-image-1211 lazyload" alt="Sometimes, I don't even have room for all the books I want to read on my &quot;to read&quot; shelves." src="https://ericswyatt.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/img_1132.jpg?w=300" height="225" width="300" /> Sometimes, I don’t even have room for all the books I want to read on my “to read” shelves. There are two shelves built into my desk space where I keep the books I plan to read next. There are, as of this morning, thirty-six

Another month is gone, and another batch of books made the migration from the “to be read” shelf to the “been there, done that” shelf. Here’s the list of books I read for October: Portable Film School, by DB Gilles – I’m not done with this book, yet, but I’m going to go ahead and list it as an October read. Film making has long been an interest of mine, though mostly on a conceptual level. This book gives an interesting overview of the types of things one would learn in film

As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed this morning–taking a quick break from a manuscript I’m critiquing–I thought about something that I’ve known for a while: We writers spend a lot of time hawking our books to other writers, or would-be writers. This sort of thing happens in the realm of literary short fiction, a lot. Most of us who write short stories submit them to literary magazines, many of which have several hundred to several thousand readers. And who are those r

Holy Cow!!! Six months down, six to go here in 2012. As with the conclusion to all the other months, it’s time to post the monthly roundup of books I’ve read. I don’t know about you, but I replace books on the “to be read” shelf quicker than I can read them. I’ve put myself under a “new book embargo” several times this year. My book blockades are about as effective as UN sanctions…the “to be read” shelf is groaning under the weight of new books. Here’s the run-down for June:

I don’t know about anyone else, but the further along I get in the writing of this “will-it-ever-end?!?” novel, the harder and harder it is to do one of the things I used to love: Go to the bookstore. <img class="size-medium wp-image-977 lazyload" title="books" src="https://ericswyatt.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/books.jpg?w=224" alt="" width="224" height="300" /> Every new book–and there are thousands printed every year–is like one more star in the literary universe. How do y

Here’s what I read this month: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins – Yep. I gave in. The book was better than the movie, but I liked the movie pretty well. No. It isn’t a high-level, hyper-literary book. It doesn’t have to be. The plot is straightforward, but interesting. The characters are sympathetic. The world of the novel is full of intrigue. I’ll be reading the other two books of the trilogy in the coming months. (I promised I’d pace myself, not get too wrapped up in th

I mentioned the other day I was planning to post a listing of the books I’ve read (or, in a couple of cases, books I’m close to finishing) each month. This is the first of those lists. 🙂 As always, when I post links to books on the blog, I do so using my merchant account, via Amazon, when possible. If you follow the link and buy from them, I get a small percentage. By no means does that mean you should use Amazon, if you feel strongly about ordering elsewhere. Visit your loc

Hey, a rare Saturday morning post, here, but I wanted to share some info. If you have an iPad, the iBook store has some good eBooks on sale for $3.99 or less. Because they are iBook books, I don’t have an affiliate relationship and don’t get any kickbacks, so don’t think I’m profiteering!!! (With this business model, I WILL need a bailout at some point, though…) Here are some of the titles on sale: Shopgirl – Steve Martin The Monsters of Templeton – Lauren Groff Wicked – Greg

I always look forward to the start of a new month, because Amazon turns over their lineup of deeply discounted mp3 music and Kindle-based ebooks. If I’m honest, I wait and buy most music this way now, and it is starting to be a larger portion of my book buying. So, let me share a couple of suggestions with you for September: MUSIC The first two are great albums on sale for $5.99…but they aren’t a part of the regular, monthly $5 sale, so I’m not sure how long they’ll be offere

So, it’s Friday. (Friday. Gotta get down on Friday.) Twitter has a Follow Friday “tradition” where you list the people you follow who have the most interesting, useful, funny, or otherwise engaging Tweets, so your friends can follow that person, too. It is a sort of mini-endorsement, if you will, and it is an interesting way to help others broaden their networks and spheres of influence. In the spirit of Follow Friday, I thought I might highlight some online friends and folks