Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with authors

Not Who Done Its

Xurando — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:33:17 -0800

Help me find mysterious novels not mysteries. Looking to read novels with a mysterious feel to them. Does not have to be crime oriented or science fiction. Hidden, ambiguous, plot is not linear. A good example is Murakami's Killing Commendatore. Maybe books that push the unanswerable mysteries of life to the edge.
Looking forward to your suggestions.

Figuring out pseudonyms, posthumously?

Alterscape — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 06:52:30 -0800

This question reminds me that my mother's father, who had a career as a PR bureaucrat for the US Atomic Energy Commission (and later, nuclear energy companies), released a novel in the mid-90s under a pseudonym. I'm unsure if it was self-published or not. How might I identify the book today, given that he passed away 15 years ago and I'm not on speaking terms with that side of my family? Where would one start? From childhood memory, he was very cagey with everyone about the novel and the pen-name, although he clearly talked about it enough that people knew it happened. I suspect the novel was probably awful smut, but who knows, it might be a proto-Clive-Cussler comedy goldmine. In hindsight, he was probably not a nice person, but I'm sort of curious about what on earth kind of fiction the man would've written. If I wanted to find that novel, is there any way to do so via research in sources that does not involve dealing directly with that side of my family?

A page-turner written by a trans or NB author?

The corpse in the library — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 10:33:38 -0800

For the Seattle Public Library's book bingo, I need to read a book by a trans on non-binary author. Because of *gestures widely* I have the attention span of a flea and the book needs to be in English, fiction, entertaining, and a page-turner, and ideally have some humor. I like mysteries and don't like reading about children in peril or people making bad decisions. Suggestions? If you look at that bingo card and think "Oh, I know the perfect entertaining book for another category!" I will happily take suggestions, but I've already filled a lot of the squares.

Who are the authors who celebrate the banal?

jacobean — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 09:46:12 -0800

After having spoken to people who've lived in war and other conflict zones, I always appreciated how lucky most of the Western world is enjoy simple freedoms such as going to a mall or enjoying a coffee in a cafe with relative peace of mind. When this pandemic crisis is over, I think / hope people are really going to appreciate some of the most banal things again.

But who are the authors who have celebrated the banal in their works?

Finding New Authors

rtimmel — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 17:37:29 -0800

Back in the day (mid- to late 1970’s), I read a type of author that I don’t see anymore. They were generally taught in university level contemporary literature courses, and while not best-sellers, were somewhat recognized and popular (I bought a paperback copy of Gravity’s Rainbow at the grocery store.) Has that kind of writing died out, or am I just not aware of it? Guys (and yeah, they were almost always male. Hopefully that has changed in the intervening 40 years) like John Barth, Donald Barthelme, Russel Hoban, Thomas Pynchon, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, John Hawkes, etc., etc. That was 40 years ago – who are the now-contemporary contemporary literature authors? I tried searching for collage syllabi but came up empty.

Want an apolitical Crime/Detective writer

noelpratt2nd — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 06:32:44 -0800

Does anyone know of a writer of crime fiction who is modern, nonleftist (or even obviously conservative), and good? I've already read John D. MacDonald, Ross Macdonald, Connelly, Westlake/Stark, Rob't Parker, and am now reading John Sandford but he's becoming too liberal for me. I'd like to go with someone well-known but need to know whom to avoid. I also like horror, but Stephen King's "Under the Dome" I had to drop. Have also already done the Dan Simmons trilogy... Thanks.

"All great achievements require time"

selfnoise — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 12:56:59 -0800

I see this listed everywhere as a Maya Angelou quote, but I can't find the source. Is this actually a quote of hers or is it generic pablum?

X marks the [literary] spot

basalganglia — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 05:47:41 -0800

For 2019, I'm doing an A-Z reading challenge (one book for each letter of the alphabet, all published in 2018). I'm having trouble coming up with some of the letters, particularly X -- I guess no one was writing about Xena Warrior Princess last year or something -- so I'm turning to the Hive Mind for help; open to suggestions for other books on the proposed list as well. Full list inside. I'm genre-agnostic with a natural tendency to literary fiction but am actively trying to expand my reading universe to include more non-fiction and authors outside the US/UK bubble. Strike-throughs = books I've finished in January. Apologies for any formatting funk but I tried to retain a table-ish structure for ease.

American Marriage............................Tayari Jones
Becoming..........................................Michelle Obama
Census..............................................Jesse Ball
Dread Nation....................................Justina Ireland
Everything Happens for a Reason...Kate Bowler
Female Persuasion...........................Meg Wolitzer
Good and Mad..................................Rebecca Traister
Hazel Wood.......................................Melissa Albert
Immortalists......................................Chloe Benjamin
Jagannath Stories.............................Karin Tidbeck
Kiss Quotient.....................................Helen Hoang
Ladder to the Sky..............................John Boyne
Mars Room........................................Rachel Kushner
Night Diary.........................................Veera Hirandani
Overstory...........................................Richard Powers
Prince and the Dressmaker..............Jen Wang
Queen of Hearts...............................Kimmery Martin
Red Clocks........................................Leni Zumas
She Would Be King...........................Wayetu Moore
There There......................................Tommy Orange
Unsheltered.....................................Barbara Kingsolver
Varina...............................................Charles Frazier
~~Widows of Malabar Hill....................Sujata Massey~~
??????................................................??????????
Your Duck is My Duck.......................Deborah Eisenberg
Zenith...............................................Sasha Alberg

Help me find this novel

no regrets, coyote — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 14:25:35 -0800

Please help me ID a novel I read several years ago. My memory is vague, but I think it was about siblings who grew up together on a farm, and then had sections about their separate adult lives. Gambling in Nevada was involved, and there was an extended section about an artist in France? I have a few main memories of this book, but it's so hazy that I'm not even 100% sure they're all from the same novel. The book was lit fic, possibly by a prominent author. I think I read it 5 years ago or so, but it could have been written any time since the 90s. The timeframe of the novel is ambiguous, but probably 1960s-1990s. There were several distinct sections:

1) Two or three kids growing up on a farm (at least a boy and a girl), raised by a single dad, in the western US. One of them is adopted and possibly runs away. Maybe the boy is adopted to help work on the farm?

2) The boy leaves the farm and falls in with gamblers and becomes an expert card shark. He gets into some trouble.

3) The girl becomes some kind of academic and moves to France to research a french author or artist. She lives in a small cottage by herself and meets a strange french man who lives in a trailer in the forest.

4) The novel ends with an extended section about the life of the artist/author that the woman went to France to research.

Again, I'm not sure how much of this is correct. Any help appreciated, this has been driving me nuts.

Help me remember the title of historical novel set in Paris

fever-trees — Mon, 07 Jan 2019 18:57:35 -0800

A friend is trying to remember the title of a historical novel he read in the last 5 years which he thinks was recently published when he read it. Things he remembers:
- set around a cafe in Paris post WW1 or WW2
- some of the characters are Russians, possibly Russian authors
- the title might include the word "Michael" or possibly "el something"

I realise this is very vague, I'm hoping it was a really popular novel that might ring a bell with someone.

Fiction authors/editors/publishers: How do you purpose chapters?

paleyellowwithorange — Sat, 27 Oct 2018 19:29:35 -0800

MeFite authors, editors and publishers who have written, edited and/or published novels or novellas: what are your ideal intentions for your readers, when it comes to chapters and chapter breaks? Should a chapter be read in a single sitting? Ought a reader to pause and reflect between chapters (and if so, for how long)? Or are chapter breaks just dramatic milestones? Or something else? Obviously there's no way to dictate how readers consume fiction; but if you could indicate your intentions to your readers, what would they be, with regard to chapters?

I want to write a book! How do I make sure I write it?

dry white toast — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 17:51:43 -0800

I have an idea for a non-fiction book. I think it's a good one. Tell me authors: What do I do now? I've looked through past question on actually getting the thing published, but that's not the primary concern of this question.

I need a plan for actually producing the thing. I'm interested in people's suggestions for good habits and routines for creating and keeping momentum going. I'll need to do a good deal of research (I already have a lot, but I know I need to do more). Any tips for dividing my time between research and writing? In the past I would have felt I needed to have all the research done, but I think doing *some* sooner rather than later is important in making it feel real to me. Did you/do you have a daily word count target? A weekly one? Should I ready every last book written about my general topic? Only a few? Hardly any?

Tell me how to turn a book from idea into reality.

Female literary dog names

RyanAdams — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 11:27:34 -0800

My family is in the process of adopting two bonded female treeing walker coonhounds, and looking for literary names for them (especially ones that make sense as a pair). Can you provide us with some good suggestions? Picture is available here.

Previous dog name history (to give background / ideas): Shakespeare (great dane/bloodhound mix), Bark Twain (another TWC), and our current dog Dickens (a lab mix). We are definitely not tied down to just author names, though.

I want to read more Native American authors.

dostoevskygirl — Sat, 07 Jul 2018 16:42:22 -0800

Recently read There There by Tommy Orange and LOVED it. I now want to read more Native American voices - old, contemporary, fiction, poetry, non fiction. Anything. PS: I’m familiar with Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexie. I have Zitkála-Šá’s American Indian Stories on my kindle waiting to be read.

Books by folks with disabilites?

Grandysaur — Fri, 04 May 2018 20:57:31 -0800

It’s been my mission lately to read books by non-cishetwhitedudes, but I realize I should change that to non-cishetwhitedudeswhoareablebodied. My tastes screw towards literary fiction and academic historical non-fiction. Also always down for a good memoir. But honestly, I’ll read most things happily and have no problem returning your recommendation to the library unfinished, or being pleasently surprised by something I never would have picked up. RAIN YOUR RECOMMENDSTIONS UPON ME! Also acceptable are books about folks with disabilities, but I’d rather support a non-cishetwhitedudewhoisablebodied by picking up their book than not.

Notable Literary Dog Names.

Nanukthedog — Sat, 24 Mar 2018 04:56:18 -0800

We need names for our upcoming (female) dog... preferably on of notable literature ancestry to match our (male) cat named Tobias Wolf (Toby). She is an English Cream Golden Retriever... so Thusfar I've proposed Virginia Woof and Jane Arfsten, but we're looking for your best names...

SFF Readalikes... for My Own Writing

toastedcheese — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 12:37:52 -0800

I'm winding up a writing project (hurrah!) and am preparing to query literary agents in the next couple months. I am hoping to develop a list of writers whose work resembles my own - not to name-drop in my query letters, but to help me become aware of literary agents who might be interested in my work and other publishing opportunities. I write secondary-world fantasy and anthropological science fiction for adults. My work is character-driven and my settings low-powered. I like writing about domesticity, work, class, ethnicity, and gender. I'm no good at writing about warfare. My villains are often bureaucracies.

Contemporary writers who inspire me include Ellen Kushner, Sofia Samatar, Maureen McHugh, Katherine Addison. I adore Ursula K. Le Guin, Patricia McKillip, and Diana Wynne Jones. All take an interest in ordinary people and have a strong sense of place.

Who are some currently active writers I should be keeping tabs on? Your replies will of course double as my to-read list.

Women authors for an Updike/Vonnegut/Roth fan?

nothing as something as one — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 08:07:48 -0800

My friend and I were recently discussing books, and I jokingly mentioned he should try reading some women authors for once. He was a bit surprised to realize how little he'd actually read by women, and I was a bit stumped coming up with recommendations, as we typically read very different types of books. But the hive mind is great at this kind of stuff. Help me come up with suggestions? Although he's an avid reader and pretty open to reading anything, he definitely gravitates towards white male authors. His favorites are John Updike and Vonnegut, he also likes Saul Bellow and Raymond Carver. Modern writers he's enjoyed include Phillip Roth, George Saunders and he's a big fan of Chris Ware. Can you suggest any women or POC writers that might appeal to him and break this reading rut?

I'm mostly a fantasy and YA reader, so not much overlap there, but he did enjoy the copy of Howl's Moving Castle that I gave him.

What are good short stories to read aloud to 3rd graders?

mrgrimm — Mon, 02 Oct 2017 11:53:22 -0800

What short stories would 3rd graders enjoy? I'm reading stories aloud to 3rd graders for 15 minutes once a week, and I need some good suggestions. For me, the stories that I remember from grade school where always the twists: The Monkey's Paw, The Necklace, etc. What great short stories do you remember from childhood? Or what great short stories have you read to 8- and 9-year-olds?

Thrillers or crime novels with characters that come alive

mononoaware — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 11:54:15 -0800

I like novels written in first-person point of view, think Raymond Chandler's Marlowe, but less chauvinist and dated. Good characterization and an eye for detail is paramount - unfortunately, that excludes lots of contemporary thrillers and crime novels. Authors I like: Jonathan Kellerman, Ben Aaronovitch, Jonathan Gash, John Burdett, Tyler Dilts. Please help: What else might I like? Some more info:
- Although I included Aaronovitch in the list, I usually prefer realism to any kind of fantasy elements.
- If you know Tyler Dilts' books: I didn't like his last one as much as the others because there was rather too much introspection and self-pity on the protagonist's side, which almost made him seem like some kind of Mary Sue.
- The above list is exclusively male, unfortunately. I'd be happy to add some female authors! Kathy Reichs almost belongs there, but I found some of her characters to be rather stereotypical.
- It's a bonus if their books are available on Kindle.

Simple way of finding out when an author publishes a new book?

ryanshepard — Wed, 07 Jun 2017 04:39:59 -0800

There are a number of comparatively low-profile-but-interesting-to-me authors that I would love to be able to get some kind of alert (pref. by email) about when they've published a new book. I follow some of them on Twitter and Facebook, but I regularly miss posts due to FB's filtering and general overload, so would love to be able to do this outside of social media. So, MeFites, what tools, if any, do you use? Has the internet found a solution to this problem that I've missed? I have heard about Goodreads' alerts feature, but have also heard it is semi-broken and spammy.

Seeking URL: LotR, child mortality, and post-apoc fiction

ErisLordFreedom — Sat, 20 May 2017 12:50:16 -0800

The article began with a quote from LotR movies: "A parent should never have to bury their own child." It pointed out that this wasn't in the books because, at time of writing, this was almost a nonsense statement: you could agree it was tragic, but it happened to everyone. It then went into child mortality rates and how those would shape the structure of society in a post-apoc world, especially one with fantastic elements like magical healing or superpowers. More details:

* The (male, I'm almost certain) author of the article had written one or more books set in a post-apoc fantasy-ish world, in which the "wizards" (who may have been technomages or something else) were pretty much dicks - because they could get away with it, because families with sick children will indeed slaughter the neighboring tribe to get peaches for the wizard if that will cure their kids of appendicitis. (Not the exact example used in the article.)

* This is several years old, and every variation of keyword and phrase searching I can think of turns up nothing on Google. I suspect the article has fallen past its "recent links to" zone, and won't be discoverable that way. However, name of the author or book(s) might make it find-able.

* Cannot recall if this was on the author's personal blog, a guest post on someone else's blog, or on a shared/community blog setting. However, it was likely a Wordpress, Blogspot, or similar place - it definitely wasn't LJ, and if it doesn't predate Facebook, it certainly predates it being popular outside of college students. This was a blog, not a social-media-site post.

* I remember the layout being blues-and-purples-ish and not hard to read. (I looked at it several times, but apparently counted on my browser just having the tab available.) Could be wrong about the colors; not wrong about "not painful to read" - anything I loved that was painful to read got copied into a Word doc & converted to an ebook format. (I'm thinking the article text was in a column in the center, with the standard book adverts on the right and nav links on the left, but as I said... quite a while ago; could be misremembering details. Also, if it's still around, as opposed to needing Wayback links, it's probably changed format.)

* I had never heard of the author; I remembering looking for the book(s) (can't remember for certain if it was a series or not, but I think it was) and noting them as "potentially interesting" and not bothering to save the details. Zombies may have been involved, which would've been a strong push toward the "don't bother" side of things for me, esp since I normally love post-apoc.

* Article was probably roughly from the period of 2010-2012, judging from what I vaguely associate with it. (E.g. other blog posts that I think of as "related" in that sense of "I think I read them within the same month," but I could easily be off by a year or two.)

Who is the John Muir of New Hampshire's White Mountains?

Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The — Fri, 12 May 2017 20:10:55 -0800

I've recently started reading John Muir's My First summer in the Sierra and it is riveting stuff, a love-letter to an entire landscape that resonates with the bedrock of my soul. However, right now my heart belongs to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, rather than the Sierra Nevada of California. What writings, by what authors, are the closest equivalent to John Muir's work, but set in the Whites?

The night lay coiled in the street, cobra-cold and scaled with stars.

Gordafarin — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 03:46:47 -0800

What authors, or specific books, have a particular gift for beautiful metaphor? Give examples if possible. Question title courtesy of Peter S. Beagle. Re-reading The Last Unicorn, I fell in love with his writing, highlighting passages on nearly every page. I want more of that.

I would prefer examples from prose but knock-your-socks-off poetry is OK too.

Multiple editors on a pinned post in Facebook?

Brandon Blatcher — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 17:51:15 -0800

I want to create a post in a private Facebook group, of which I am a moderator, and then have other moderators be able to edit that post. Oh and the post is a pinned post. Is this possible in Facebook?