• Welcome
  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
    • Book Coach
    • Book Proposal
    • Classes, Workshops & Retreats
    • Editorial Services
    • Literary Consultant
  • Why Work With Us
  • Contact
  • Blog
fiction
Thrills and Chills
by, Audrey Arnold
November 26, 2019

Know someone who loves a suspenseful page-turner? From fast-paced action to stories that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, thrillers can encompass a wide variety of subjects, themes, and plotlines. With book buying season upon us, these selections are sure to make great gifts for the thriller lover in your life. Recursion by Blake Crouch From the best-selling author… [Read More]

Filed Under: apocalyptic fiction, Benjamin Percy, Blake Crouch, book recommendation, book selections, fiction, gift of books, Jeremy Robinson, Lisa Jewell, Love of books, mystery, Recursion, Ruth Ware, science fiction, SecondWorld, The Dark Net, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Then She Was Gone, thrillers
No Comments
Who is Your Reader?
by, Jill Swenson
December 11, 2018

Every writer hopes to captivate an audience. But who are you writing to? When you write a letter, you address your reader directly. When you write a speech, you anticipate a particular group of listeners. If you write a news article, you have a strong sense of who the readers will be, and your writing reflects your grasp of how best to address their subscribers…. [Read More]

Filed Under: audience identification, bookstore, children's literature, fiction, GoodReads, library, Nonfiction, YA
No Comments
In memoir, the narrator IS the protagonist
by, Jill Swenson
March 12, 2013
Memoir Writing Workshop

Memoir is not fiction, yet some of the literary conventions used in the genre of memoir are the same as those used in novels. Plot, dialogue, and character are three shared devices. Fiction and memoir share a structural emphasis on narrative arc. In fiction, this is called a plot line. After setting the scene and introducing the characters through some dialogue and action, there is… [Read More]

Filed Under: Author, Dialogue, fiction, narrator, protagonist, self presentation
2 Comments
The Summer Without Men
by, Danielle Sherwood
July 12, 2011

Don’t let the jacket copy and title fool you. No chick lit fodder beckons in Siri Hustvedt’s newest fiction: The Summer Without Men (Picador, April 26, 2011). The antics of Mia Fredrickson’s young and turbulent neighbors, the adolescent girls in her poetry workshop, and her mother’s senior circle composed of the wise and nurturing “Five Swans” provides the context for deep intellectual passages and keeps… [Read More]

Filed Under: book review, fiction, history and memory, Jane Austen, love and marriage, poets, question of difference, Siri Hustvedt, Summer Reading, The Summer Without Men
No Comments
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
by, Jill Swenson
July 9, 2011

By Bethany Dixon I admit it: I judged this book by its cover. The enigmatic title alone would have pulled me in, but what I noticed was a presentation that would seduce any foodie – a robin’s egg blue background behind three perfect tiers of lemon cake, with chocolate frosting hidden between the layers like a secret. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake tells the… [Read More]

Filed Under: Aimee Bender, book cover, dysfunctional family, enigmatic title, fiction, magical realism, metaphor, Rose Edelstein, Taste feelings in food, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
No Comments
Cleaning Nabokov’s House
by, Jill Swenson
March 8, 2011

Leslie Daniels is a great writer whose background as a literary agent serves her well in her craft. Romance, baseball, a dog, small town upstate culture, crime, memoir/creative nonfiction, writing and authors and agents: women’s fiction has a fresh new voice. Daniels mixes it all up so there’s something for everyone. Plus humor, sardonic and ironic. Walking away from a marriage because you don’t know… [Read More]

Filed Under: agent turned author, book review, fiction, humor, Leslie Daniels, Vladimir Nabokov
No Comments
NEWSLETTER
RECENT ARTICLES
Writing Retreats to Inspire in 2023
Dec 20, 2022   |   Audrey Arnold
Keeping History Alive—an Interview with Bett Fitzpatrick
Nov 15, 2022   |   Audrey Arnold
Reading in Duluth
Oct 25, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
Fall Forecast
Sep 13, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
August is for Reading
Aug 9, 2022   |   Jill Swenson
view more

ARCHIVES

Growing Good Ideas Into Great Books

CONTACT US

    LINKS

    • Blog
    • Contact
    • Welcome
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • Why Work With Us

    TWITTER

    • Lurking? Who me?
    • The good stuff.... https://t.co/IxzBIsq5fT
    @swenbooks
    Copyright © Swenson Book Development - All Rights Reserved
    Privacy Policy