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  • Toni Morisson’s New Novel ‘God Help The Child’ Arrives In April

    It’s going to be a long six-month wait for fans of the prolific author Toni Morrison. Publisher Alfred A. Knopf announced last Tuesday that Morrison’s new book “God Help the Child,” will be released next year on April 30.

    The Nobel-prize winning author’s new book was described as a “searing tale about the way childhood trauma shapes and misshapes the life of the adult.” The latest novel centers on Bride, a bold and confident woman whose successes in life stems from her beauty. Along the way, Bride encounters Rain, a mysterious white child who forms a strong bond with the book’s protagonist.

    Knopf-Doubleday Chairman Sonny Mehta described the book as a “compact, fierce work,” that’s sure to keep fans compulsively reading until they reach the final pages of the novel.

    Morrison, an 83-year old native of Ohio gained prominence after winning the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the American Book Award back in 1987 for Beloved, which was adapted into a feature film starring Oprah Winfrey. She’s mostly known for her richly detailed characters that are grounded in reality. Some of her papers can be found as part of Princeton University’s permanent collection.

    The 83-year-old author shows no sign of stopping as she releases her 11th book next year. The award-winning author tackles the struggles related to race and history in her fictional books. She’s one of the best known authors in the historical fiction genre with novels like The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, Jazz, all featuring stories that are set in different periods of American History.

    Aside from countless accolades and awards for her novels, Morrison also won a Grammy in 2008 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. She has also written three children’s books with her younger son, artist Slade Morrison who passed away in 2010.

  • John Grisham Child Porn Comments Went Too Far

    Author John Grisham has apologized for comments he made regarding child pornography during an interview with the Telegraph.

    Grisham claimed that the United States is wrongly convicting too many men for viewing child pornography. He said that many of them simply had too much to drink, started surfing the web, and accidentally stumbled upon pictures of children.

    “We have prisons now filled with guys my age. Sixty-year-old white men in prison who’ve never harmed anybody, would never touch a child,” he said while promoting his new book Gray Mountain.

    “But they got online one night and started surfing around, probably had too much to drink or whatever, and pushed the wrong buttons, went too far and got into child porn,” the best-selling novelist added.

    To get his point across, Grisham referenced his good friend from law school, explaining that this is what happened to him and he was sentenced to three years in prison.

    “His drinking was out of control, and he went to a website. It was labelled ‘sixteen year old wannabee hookers or something like that’. And it said ’16-year-old girls’. So he went there. Downloaded some stuff – it was 16 year old girls who looked 30,” Grisham explained.

    “He shouldn’t ’a done it. It was stupid, but it wasn’t 10-year-old boys,” he added. “He didn’t touch anything. And God, a week later there was a knock on the door: ‘FBI!’ and it was sting set up by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to catch people – sex offenders – and he went to prison for three years.”

    On Thursday, October 16, Grisham issued an apology , via a statement from his publisher Random House. According to the statement, Grisham’s comments “were in no way intended to show sympathy for those convicted of sex crimes, especially the sexual molestation of children.”

    He said that anyone who participates in child pornography should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. “I can think of nothing more despicable,” he said. “I regret having made these comments, and apologize to all.”

    What do you think about Grisham’s remarks? Leave your comments below.

  • Susan Spencer-Wendel, Best-Selling Author, Dies At 47

    Susan Spencer-Wendel, Best-Selling Author, Dies At 47

    Susan Spencer-Wendel, writer of the best-selling book Until I Say Goodbye, died on Wednesday in her home. She was 47 years old.

    Spencer-Wendel was suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease – a neurodegenerative disease. The symptoms for the disease include muscle atrophy, difficulty breathing, swallowing, and speaking.

    Spencer-Wendel was a court reporter for The Palm Beach Post in 2009 when she first noticed symptoms of the disease. She was only diagnosed 2 years after, but she had already decided to live her life the way she wanted, and the best she could.

    She travelled the world and visited places, such as Budapest , the Caribbean, Cyprus, and Yukon. She also took time to find her birth mother, and shared memorable experiences with her family.

    While travelling, Spencer-Wendel documented her trips for The Palm Beach Post, and it caught the eye of HarperCollins. They gave her a $2.3 million deal and Universal Pictures also gave her a seven-figure offer.

    Her travels and experiences are now documented in her 357-page book entitled Until I say Good By: My Year of Living with Joy. The memoir was published in 2013.

    Nancy Maass Kinnally, Spencer-Wendel’s friend since childhood said, “She never stopped seeing the beauty that surrounded her and the love that surrounded her, and she never stopped putting love out into the world.”

    Her husband John said in an interview, “She’s sort of my inspiration. I take cues from her. Every day I wake up, and I think, ‘This is just horrible.’ Then I go in, and I’ll see her wake up and I’m like, ‘Oh, you’re smiling? I probably should be, too.’ That’s what’s getting me through.’”

    Spencer-Wendel’s disease caught up with her last year, when she could no longer use her thumb properly. Reports say that she died surrounded by her loved ones.

    Spencer-Wendel is survived by her husband and three children, Marina, 16; Aubrey, 12; and Wesley 10.

    Image via YouTube

  • Joe McGinniss: Author of ‘Fatal Vision’ Passes Away at 71

    Author Joe McGinniss passed away Monday afternoon after a two-year battle with prostate cancer.

    His attorney Dennis Holahan confirmed that he died while being treated at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was 71 years old.

    McGinniss has written 12 books in all, mostly well-known for their politically-related storytelling.

    One of those books is based on the 1968 campaign and victorious win of presidential candidate Richard Nixon. The Selling of the President 1968 became one of his first bestsellers in 1969.

    The Last Brother, published in 1993, was based on the experiences Senator Edward M. Kennedy dealt with within his career and family. The Miami Herald‘s review stated how “McGinniss makes thoughtful ventures into the soul of the Kennedys and how they created a legend that so beguiled the public.”

    In 2010 he published The Rogue, a book based on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. McGinniss made headlines after moving next door to the politician in Wasilla, Alaska, which almost landed him a lawsuit.

    An interview with McGinniss on the Today show:

    However, McGinnis became notorious for his 1983 book titled Fatal Vision, which recounts the murder case of a former military physician.

    Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted in the stabbing and murder of his pregnant wife and two daughters at their Fort Bragg, North Carolina home. The doctor initially hired McGinniss to write his version of the case, but the novelist decided to write a completely different story about the MacDonald case from a prosecuting standpoint. Towards the end of the book he concluded that the former Green Beret doctor, who he claims was addicted to prescribed drugs, committed the crimes.

    Fatal Vision was so controversial that MacDonald supporters even accused McGinniss of betrayal in 2012. Yet, MacDonald continues to maintain his innocence, despite the details presented by the novel.

    Additionally, McGinniss has written other family murder trilogies including, Blind Faith (1989), Cruel Doubt (1991), and Never Enough (2007).

    His most recent work, 15 Gothic Street, has yet to be published, but a summary is provided on his blog.

    McGinniss leaves behind his wife Nancy Doherty, five children, and seven grandchildren. His son Joe McGinniss Jr. is also an author.

    Image via Youtube

  • Mark Helprin’s Novel Is Now A Colin Farrell Film

    “If it weren’t for music, I would think that love is mortal.”

    This prosaic musing about music might seem like words written by a romance novelist. Indeed, it’s a quote from one of Mark Helprin’s novels. However, the 66-year-old author has created far more than mere love stories and his work covers various subjects. As he has jumped across genres and breathed life into everything from periodicals and short story collections to animated fantasy narratives, his style is best described by another quote on his own website – that he “belongs to no literary school, movement, tendency, or trend” and “lights his own way”.

    Such an eclectic collection of creations makes perfect sense for someone with Mark Helprin’s history and experiences. An author with his academic training, military service, decades of journalism, and involvement in politics and statesmanship likely has a great deal from which to draw and share in written form. Some of his popular works include “A Soldier of the Great War,” ”Refiner’s Fire”, and the aforementioned “Winter’s Tale” – a romantic historical fantasy. In fact, the latter of those three has been recently adapted into a Hollywood film which will be released this coming Valentine’s Day.

    The movie version of “Winter’s Tale” stars a noteworthy cast including Colin Farrell, Jessica Brown Findlay, Jennifer Connelly, and other celebrated actors.

    Yet, like any writer driven by genuine passion (and an understanding that one is only as good as their latest work), Helprin isn’t resting on his current success. In fact, by spring of 2015, he’ll have ready a new literary world into which his fans can escape via his current project, “Avocado”. The novel (which will be released through the John Macrae Books imprint) is described by the publisher as being a “lyrical, romantic and madcap novel set in post-World War I that follows a married couple in search of success from Brooklyn to the California avocado groves and then to Hollywood at the twilight of the silent film era.”

    There’s no way of knowing yet whether this upcoming novel will also make it to the silver screen; but as it already has a Hollywood theme to it, perhaps such is Mark’s intention and inspiration as he constructs it.

    If “Avocado” were adapted to film, which A-listers might you cast for a 1920’s couple making a cross country road trip?

    Image via Youtube

  • Candace Cameron Bure, From “Full House” to Family Matters

    Candace Cameron Bure has come a long way since her leading role in the 1990’s hit show “Full House” and it seems that she may have picked up on some of those theatrical family values.

    Most of you may remember her as D.J., the oldest sister of the on-camera family, which we had the privilege to watch grow up from a young adolescent to a respectable teenager.

    Now at the age of 37, the former childhood TV star has recently revealed her current life as a mother, wife and ongoing actress.

    Bure has been married for 17 years and she and former hockey player, Valeri Bure, have three children.

    Married at the age 20 and conceiving her first child at 22, Bure decided to take a well-needed break from the acting industry to focus on raising her children.

    Bure’s 2013 released book, “Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose,” is said to detail the aspects of her life.

    One thing that she emphasizes the most in her book is her Christian beliefs, which she incorporates into her marriage. Bure admits that she chooses to be a submissive wife because she believes that two heads of authority do not make a marriage work.

    Her personal view on the matter, of course, is a hot topic when it comes to leadership roles in relationships.

    In an interview with the Huffington Post, she clarifies her marriage views described in her book.

    “The definition I’m using with the word ‘submissive’ is the biblical definition of that. So, it is meekness, it is not weakness. It is strength under control, it is bridled strength,” she said.

    In her younger years, Bure suffered from bulimia and in 2011 she transcribed those experiences in her first book, “Reshaping It All: Physical and Spiritual Fitness.”

    Now, following years of growth and raising a family, a new edition to her publishing career shares the side of her that she values the most.

    “It’s much like an autobiography and it takes you through my life story, picking out those moments where I had to make choices that would help me balance my life,” she told ABC News.

    Bure plans to continue to embrace the fact that her TV roles will never match up to her role as a mother and wife, something she refers to as: “…where I’m going to be for however many years of my life.”

    Image via Youtube, B&H Publishing Group

  • Unpublished J.D. Salinger Stories Posted Online

    Three unpublished short stories, that were previously only available to read at academic institutions, have been leaked online this week and have shown up on websites such as Imgur and MediaFire.

    The late writer, J.D. Salinger, who died in 2010 at the age of 91, was always very protective of his work, and never published the three short stories that have now been popping up on the internet. The 41-page album is named Three Stories and contains The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls , Birthday Boy , and Paula.

    It is believed that the source of the leak was from an eBay auction that sold an unauthorized copy of Salinger’s original stories. The copy sold for $110 back in September, and just showed up on the internet this week.

    (image)

    Are these the actual works of Salinger? Los Angeles book critic, David L. Ulin, says they are. “I’ve never read The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls: It’s part of a collection of Salinger material at the Princeton University library and available only to scholars who are supervised as they read,” Ulin said. “I have read the other two stories, however, at the University of Texas’ Ransom Center, and the versions of them in Three Stories are the real deal.”

    Salinger scholar Kenneth Slawenski, the author ofJ.D. Salinger: A Life, believes Three Stories to be identical to the originals as well. “While I do quibble with the ethics or lack of ethics in posting the Salinger stories, they look to be true transcripts of the originals and match my own copies,” Slawenski told BuzzFeed.

    Image via Biography.com and Imgur.com

  • J.D. Salinger Stories Are Leaked Online

    J.D. Salinger Stories Are Leaked Online

    Three unpublished stories by the late reclusive author J.D. Salinger were leaked online this week, sending the literary world into a frenzy. Apparently Thanksgiving got a little bit busier as people scrambled to get their hands on a copy of the manuscript and verify whether the stories were indeed penned by Salinger.

    The story of the manuscript leak was first reported on Reddit. The manuscript, which is titled Three Stories, includes the following stories: The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls, Paula, and Birthday Boy. The first of the stories is the one that has people talking the most because it appears to be a prequel to Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye.

    According to Buzzfeed, the source of the leak was an eBay auction that sold a copy of an unauthorized copy of the manuscript containing the three Salinger stories. The copy sold for $110 back in September, and the stories began popping up around the Internet yesterday. The manuscript is available on Imgur and Mediafire.

    Now, for the big question–are the stories legit? According to J.D. Salinger scholar Kenneth Slawenski the answer is “yes.” Slawenski, the author of J.D. Salinger: A Life told Buzzfeed that the stories are real based on his prior reading of the manuscripts, which aren’t (or weren’t) available to the general public. “While I do quibble with the ethics (or lack of ethics) in posting the Salinger stories, they look to be true transcripts of the originals and match my own copies,” Slawenski said.

    David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times Book Critic, has also verified that two of the stories are real: “I’ve never read The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls: It’s part of a collection of Salinger material at the Princeton University Library and available only to scholars who are supervised as they read. I have read the other two stories, however, at the University of Texas’ Ransom Center, and the versions of them in Three Stories are the real deal.”

    Now that the stories have been verified, this will give J.D. Salinger fans a taste of what is to come in a couple of years. Salinger’s estate plans to publish five books starting from 2015 through 2020. The books reportedly include a collection of short stories that contain recurring character Seymour Glass as well as a short story that follows up on Holden Caulfield.

    As you can see from the Twitter posts below, some people are really freaking out over the J.D. Salinger stories being leaked:

    [Image via Imgur]

  • J.R.R. Tolkien Biopic Film Is In The Making

    Have you ever wondered what went on in the mind of the man who created the popular Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit novels?

    There is now a film in the works that is being developed about the well-known author’s life, taking a closer look at what caused him to write the books that have become one of the most popular trilogies of all time.

    The biopic film has almost become a genre of its own in recent years with the big productions done with films such as Walk The Line, Ray and others. Now fans of his famous fantasy books will get a chance at a closer look at J.R.R. Tolkien. There is no doubt that it will be well-received after the success of his books, and the films that were adapted from them.

    The question is, who could play such an icon? There has been no casting done on the film yet, but the film is in the development stage with a script being penned by David Gleeson.

    Fox Searchlight and Peter Chernin’s Chernin Entertainment are currently working to develop the project, which would chronicle the big moments that had an impact on J.R.R. Tolkien’s life. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit in 1937, and began his Lord Of The Rings trilogy in 1954.


    J.R.R Tolkien certainly led an interesting life, and one that is worth exposing to those who are not familiar with him. Before writing his famous books, he fought in World War I, and he was a code breaker in waiting during World War II. He was also known for his friendship with C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia.

    It is surprising that such an iconic author has not been given a biopic film already, however with the reemergence of the Lord of The Rings popularity through the films, it seems that this may be the best time to do it.

    Before the J.R.R Tolkien film goes into production however, fans can get excited for the final two films that will be adapted from his books. The new hobbit film is set to come out next month, with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug due to hit theaters on December 13th. The Hobbit: There And Back Again is already set to be released on December 17th, 2014, getting fans excited over a year ahead of time.

    Image via Youtube

  • Doris Lessing, Nobel Prize Winning Author, Dies At Age 94

    Dori Lessing, a Nobel Prize winning author, has died. She was 94, and perhaps most well-known for her novel The Golden Notebook.

    Her books were known to reflect her journeys across the former British empire. She was born Doris May Tayler in 1919 in Persia, what is now Iran.

    Her travels certainly helped shaped her writing, and she also moved to Zimbabwe, at the age of 5, and lived there until the age of 29.

    As she lived a long life, Lessing enjoyed a successful career, and one that included winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 2007.

    She died in her home of London, England, and her career stretched from 1950-2008. In addition to being a successful novelist, Lessing was also a poet, playwright, biographer, and short story writer. She moved to Britain at the age of 30, after becoming disillusioned with the communist movement.

    Lessing wrote with the well-known publishing company Harper Collins. Nicholas Pearson, her editor said of her passing “Doris has been called a visionary and, to be in her company, which was a privilege I had as her editor towards the end of her writing life, was to experience something of that. Even in very old age she was always intellectually restless, reinventing herself, curious about the changing world around us, always completely inspirational. We’ll miss her hugely.”

    At the time that she was awarded her Nobel Prize, she said that she was not surprised, and gave a bit of an odd response when saying “I’m 88 years old and they can’t give the Nobel to someone who’s dead, so I think they were probably thinking they’d probably better give it to me now before I’ve popped off.” However, we all know that kind of thing can happen, and actors often receive Oscar seemingly for the same reason, some would argue.

    Lessing’s famous work, The Golden Notebook, was published in 1962, and centered around Anna Wulf, who uses four notebooks to bring together the separate parts of her disintegrating life. In addition, she has written over 55 works of fiction, opera, nonfiction, and poetry.

    Doris Lessing died peacefully, and while her family has requested her privacy, the exact cause of death is still unknown.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS01_jB83yY

    Image via Youtube

  • Man Booker Prize: Eleanor Catton Wins The Award

    The Man Booker Prize of 2013 was awarded to Eleanor Catton. Catton is a lives in New Zealand, and only 28 years old. She was born in Canada, but moved to New Zealand at the age of 6. This makes her the youngest author to ever win the award, which is the highest literary honor to receive in Great Britain. In addition to being the youngest author to be awarded the prize, the book also sets a record of being the longest book to win the award, at 832 pages.

    Each year, a different author’s work is awarded for their work in fiction, and this year the award went to The Luminaries, Catton’s latest book, which was published in September of 2013. She was awarded the prize today, and it was presented to her by Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. She has previously written one other novel, The Rehearsal.

    The Luminaries is set during New Zealand’s gold rush, and is described as a layered murder mystery, centered around a group of men with intertwined fates. Other nominees for this year’s award included A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Harvest by Jim Crace, The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahir, The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin, and We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo.

    Last year’s prize went to Bring Up The Bodies by Hilary Mantel. The winner is selected each by the judging panel on the day of the ceremony. This year’s ceremony was a momentous occasion because it marks the last year before the award is opened to entries from the United States and beyond. Just a month ago, it was announced that the Booker Prize Foundation would be open to all novels written in English and published in Britain, regardless of the author’s nationality, finally letting Americans in on the glory as well.

    There is only one other author from New Zealand to win the award, Keri Hulme, who won in 1985 for her novel The Bone People. During her speech when she accepted the award, Eleanor Catton thanked her publishers for executing the “elegant balance between making art and making money.” She was stunned at the announcement that she won, calling her lengthy and complex novel, a “publisher’s nightmare.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMQUfEe_o

    Image via Youtube

  • Dakota Johnson Still Committed to “50 Shades”

    Dakota Johnson, 24, is not standing idly by while producers of the Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation search for her new leading man. According to Hollywood Life, the actress is looking to join the hunt. They report from an industry source, “For Dakota, she was sad that Charlie [Hunnam] had to back out but she is very excited to see who will take the role. She is in constant contact with producers and the studio and she is very willing to help out in any way and is looking forward to do readings with everyone who is available for the role.”

    Fans of Johnson, who is cast as Anastasia Steele, were a little nervous with the troupe turbulence as the pairing of Johnson and Hunnam was reported to be based on their chemistry, but producers promise their commitment to Johnson is as solid as when they cast her back in early September.

    But the rumor mill is certainly full of conjecture that the fame and pressure may get to Johnson as it did Hunnam.

    twitter on Johnson

    MTV News jumped on the speculation about Hunnam’s replacement with a ranking of possible new Christian Grey billionaires, in addition to popularly rumored Matt Bomer and Ian Somerholder. They name Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Jamie Dornan (Once Upon A Time), Theo James (Downton Abbey) and Christian Cooke (Magic City) as their top nominees for the literary world’s reigning king of seduction.

    Author of the book series, E.L. James, favors Robert Pattinson, who apparently has no plans to don another franchise role at this time.

    Daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, Johnson is scheduled for two more 2014 releases in addition to Fifty Shades (due out 1 August 2014). Need for Speed with Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad immortality, is in post-production and an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline is currently filming.

    [Image via Fifty Shades of Grey The Movie Facebook.]

  • Bill O’Reilly Plugs Latest “Killing…” Series Books

    Political commentator and author Bill O’Reilly gave an early plug for his latest nonfiction history book during an interview with CBS’ 60 Minutes this weekend. He also detailed the third, and latest, book in his nonfiction series, Killing Jesus, just out in September.

    The muse to writing on Jesus came to the life-long Catholic at night and he points to divine inspiration for the idea, “My inspiration comes from that [the holy spirit] and so I wrote Killing Jesus because I think I was directed to write that.” But, O’Reilly says, “It’s not a religious book… it’s all about history,” though the work is bound to spark commentary. The contract for the book amounts to over $10 million, to be shared with his co-author, Martin Dugard, who does the bulk of the research for the publications.

    The fourth book of the Killing… series, is anticipated for release September of 2014, and will focus on World War II. The series started with Killing Lincoln—which was turned into a 2013 docudrama for National Geographic Channel, featuring Tom Hanks as narrator and Billy Campbell as Abraham Lincoln—and book two was Killing Kennedy. National Geographic adaptations are already set for Jesus and Kennedy—premiering this November. The channel hit viewership records during last February’s airing of Lincoln.

    O’Reilly (pictured here on vacation in Ireland, 2013) said the new book includes, “brand-new information about some very, very fascinating things,” but he would not reveal if the title will mimic the rest of the series.

    According to the interview, O’Reilly’s show, The O’Reilly Factor, has reigned for 13 years as the most watched program on cable news. Known for a history of combative interviewing, CBS interviewer Norah O’Donnell claims he is “mellower” than during his earlier appearance on the news magazine, when interviewed in 2004 by Mike Wallace.

    Other publications penned by O’Reilly include children’s versions of the history series and titles such as Keep It Pithy: Useful Observations in a Tough World (2013) and No Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful & Famous in America (2002).

    [Image via official Bill O’Reilly website.]

  • Maya Angelou Talks About Her Childhood on Mother’s Day

    It can be hard to accurately express feelings on Mother’s Day, and who better to take up the task than a poet?

    Maya Angelou has just released her seventh autobiography, titled Mom & Me & Mom. The book chronicles the author‘s memories of her mother and grandmother, who each helped to raise her at different points in her childhood.

    Angelou appeared this Sunday (Mother’s Day) on Face the Nation to speak about her mother, saying, “She and my father fell in love, or maybe in lust with each other. They were both really beautiful human beings and it was after World War I and my father was pompous and pretentious and had learned some French in France. And my mother was very beautiful and he was very handsome, and they fell in something together.”

    Angelou’s recollections, which can be heard in the video below, go on to become darker before she turns to the story of how she got her first job:

    (Image courtesy Adria Richards/Wikimedia Commons)

  • Reagan Daughter’s Lesbian Novel Self-Published on Kindle

    It turns out that not even having a U.S. president for a father can guarantee a publishing contract.

    This week, Patti Davis, born Patricia Reagan, self-published a novel in the Kindle book store. Titled Till Human Voices Wake Us, the book deals with a woman’s lesbian relationship with her sister-in-law. From the book description on Amazon:

    In the empty days after her son’s death, left alone in her grief by her husband, Isabelle Berendon falls in love with the unlikeliest person in the world: her sister-in-law.

    Davis has previously written 8 books, including The Long Goodbye, which chronicled her father’s, Ronald Reagan’s, battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Now that she has penned a fictional novel (and one dealing with lesbianism at that), she states in her author biography that she finds herself in the same boat as other authors who can’t get an offer from a publishing house. However, she is also embracing the self-publishing model that ebooks are making more possible:

    I’ve written a lot about my famous family, the Reagans — maybe this non-autobiographical novel was too much of a departure for publishers to wrap their heads around. But now there is KDP and the room to publish a book yourself. It’s exciting to me — a new era in publishing. Most writers have books they have labored over for years and long to put out into the world. Till Human Voices Wake Us is one of those books.

  • A.B.C. Whipple Dies; Author Was 94

    Addison Beecher Colvin (A.B.C.) Whipple, author and journalist, has died.

    The Associated Press reports that Whipple died on Sunday, March 17 from Pneumonia.

    Whipple is, perhaps, best known for his work as a Pentagon correspondent for Life magazine during World War II. He was instrumental in pressuring the U.S. military to allow the publication of a photograph of dead U.S. soldiers. Whipple pressured war censors for the clearance, eventually getting the attention of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who allowed the publication of the image. The AP states that the event ended the censorship rule against publishing photos of dead soldiers.

    After the war, Whipple continued to report for Life and began writing books, most of them about sailing and seafaring. Throughout his career, Whipple authored more than 20 workss, such as Vintage Nantucket, The Whalers, and The Mysterious voyage of Captain Kidd.

    Whipple went on to become an executive editor at Time-Life Books.