know the place and share the feeling

books, book selling and writing

[writingdreamswithstars]

Damn straight

[sosuperawesome]

Book sculpture by Malena Valcarcel

[i-come-by-it-honestly]

[knowtheplace]

Copertini considered himself a better rider, but it was Copertini who had been going too fast in the dense woods and slammed head-first into a tree. His bike frame was mangled, but his headlight bulb had an unfractured filament, which now weakly illuminated a patch of dirt and stiff grasses. Copertini’s motorcycle was a different model than Valera’s, but they used the same lamp bulb. Valera wanted a spare. A spare would be handy.

Rachel Kushner, The Flamethrowers (p. 1).

[i-come-by-it-honestly]

Pop Chart Lab “A Diagrammatical Dissertation on Opening Lines of Notable Novels" | via The Hairpin

[amazonbitchgoddess]

[unabridgedbookstore]

Needs more books.

[knowtheplace]

Expansion of 'French Women Don't' Series

British Women Don't Want an Honest Answer to the Question, 'How Are You?': The Secret of Living in a Culture which Commends Repression

Anna Perks, the author of 'Collywobbles in Bedfordshire', reveals why emotions are unfortunate and best left unacknowledged. She hopes that by sharing the virtues of British restraint with American women, they will become more self-conscious and aware of the ridiculous nature of their presence. 

[knowtheplace]

Postscript 1868 There are things which happen and leave no discernible trace, are not spoken or written of, though it would be very wrong to say that subsequent events go in indifferently, all the same, as though such things had never been. Two people met, on a hot May day, and never later mentioned their meeting. This is how it was.

A.S. Byatt, Possession (p. 508)

[knowtheplace]

There’s a woman in the room that you trust about as far as you’d trust a snake. But like all snakes, she can be charmed. * You’re just drunk enough to tell the truth, and she’s just drunk enough to like it. * You’re loudly criticizing a dangerous man, and he respects you for it. You don’t believe her story or her money, but you believe those legs. All both of them, top to bottom, and any other direction they care to go in, too. * You’re part of the darkness now, and the darkness is a part of you. Sunshine and a fresh shave can’t clean it off, and you know it. Razors are for other men’s throats, not for yours. * You were willing to love her, but she wanted you to love her more than you loved that first drink in the morning, and so she had to go. * You live on the same street as Violence, just around the corner from Taking It Like A Man, and you’re not afraid to walk home alone. * Somewhere, a sap is playing the piano. * You wake up in Singapore. There’s a man in the bed next to you, but at least he’s dead, so you don’t have to worry about making small talk.

"How to Tell if You're in a Dashiell Hammett Novel" Mallory Ortberg | The Toast

[knowtheplace]

Comic Strip Presents... Five Go Mad in Dorset

[jokingjay]

are you ever just reading a book and you come across word that you don’t know how to pronounce so you just go afkjhjdsfsjkdhs in your head

[countingpaces]

when it’s someone’s name and you have to keep doing that for the rest of the book

[potter-merlin]

And then if that book gets turned into a movie, they will pronounce the characters name and you just sit there in the cinemas like the fuck just happened to me

[knowtheplace]

[knowtheplace]

Is this a golden age for Australian debut novelists?

All of which suggests a golden age for aspiring novelists – but the reality is perhaps less straightforward. “First books have a natural excitement around them. The media likes reporting them, readers also like to think, ‘here’s something new and of the moment’,” says Ben Ball, publishing director of Penguin Australia. With its mega-selling debuts by Simsion and Kent, 2013 was, he says, “a particularly good vintage.”

[rachelfershleiser]

Tumblr does a fantastic job of pinpointing key influencers. Just look at the curated Books Spotlight, Writer’s Spotlight or browse Tumblr Book News to see what’s trending. A lot of great authors use Tumblr successfully. Some of my favorites include Emma Straub, Heidi Julavits, and Chuck Palahniuk. It’s also a good idea to follow literary sites like The Millions and The Rumpus along with sites that started on Tumblr like Last Night’s Reading and Slaughterhouse 90210. Feel free to check out the Doubleday Books Tumblr, too. (via Tumblr for Writers 101 | Book Country Blog)