It’s one thing to read an author’s books and attend their signings.
It’s quite another when you can get to know them without standing in line first.
Best Known For: Carrie Pilby (2003)
Education: English & Creative Writing, University of Pennsylvania
Professional role model: Hmmm, hard to find one.
Current Employment and Projects:
Editor at a chain of weekly newspapers based in Hoboken, New Jersey. Project-wise, revising several different novels, including young adult novels, and hoping to publish one of them soon.
Describe your thoughts about e-reading in 140 characters or less:
Charmless but convenient.
Favourite magazine:
I just subscribed to Nerd Nite: The Magazine. Graphically, it reminds me of the old Mad Magazine, but more knowledge-oriented. Lots of fun. I also love getting Poets & Writers, New Jersey Country Roads (The Garden State does have a softer side!), and the New Yorker.
How important do you think it is for writers to be actively involved in social media? What do you predict about writers’ future role in promoting books?
It’s important for writers to get their work out there so it’s not overlooked in the rush of items competing for a reader’s attention. Writers will probably always have to promote their own work where they can. Blogging is helpful in keeping in touch with one’s readers, especially between books. And for those who really relate to your writing, they may want to know more about you.
What is the most useful lesson you’ve learned about writing?
“Kill your darlings” – don’t cling to certain ideas or phrases that no longer fit into your work, even if you have some sort of sentimental attachment. You have to be willing to edit it to make it readable. That may even mean cutting a passage that you worked hard on at one time.
As a newspaper editor, how do you feel about newspapers introducing paywalls for online content?
I think newspapers should still be able to make a profit and charge for their hard work so that they can survive among the competition. But paywalls may not be practical any longer with so much competition on the web.
How do you research your books’ characters?
Everything and everyone I see is potential fodder for a character or plot twist. I don’t do a lot of research, but I am always on the lookout for interesting people. I love people-watching.
Recommendations for summer reading:
Hmmm, I haven’t read these yet, but I’d like to pick up Buzz Bissinger’s memoir about his son and John Irving’s new novel. I always recommend that any young writer or precocious introvert should read At Home in the World, a memoir by Joyce Maynard.