Fiction, memoirs, poems spring from 1,000-word challenge
1000 Words of Summer This image released by HarperCollins shows author Jami Attenberg, founder of the 1,000 word challenge, calling for people to write 1,000 words a day for 14 days. The rules: Set down 1,000 words a day for 14 days. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or dialogue, inspired or uninspired, for a future book or simply for the sake of writing. “So when the 1,000 words of summer challenge crossed my (Twitter) timeline, I knew I had the opportunity to pair some much-needed community with targeted accountability to finish what I’ve started. Philyaw said the writing challenge gave her a feeling of “community” and likened it to the Zoom conversations she had during the pandemic.
wftv.comTravel guide with 2021 twist: Writers laud American places
The Oregon Coast is featured in a collection of mini-essays by American writers published online by the Frommer's guidebook company about places they believe helped shape and define America. The resulting collection of mini-essays, including contributions from memoirist Cheryl Strayed, novelist Jodi Picoult, humorist David Sedaris and activist Gloria Steinem, was organized by Frommer’s, the travel guidebook company. But “with the virus surging, we felt it was irresponsible for us to put together a story that pushes travel,” she said. A 17th entry comes from Frommer herself, writing in collaboration with her father, Arthur, who founded the guidebook company that bears their name. These “gifted storytellers … don’t pull their punches when discussing the mistakes the founders made, (the acceptance of slavery foremost among them) or the tumultuous nature of the debates that rang off these walls,” the Frommers wrote.
Back to the '80s: Andrew McCarthy writing 'Brat Pack' book
NEW YORK Actor-writer-director Andrew McCarthy, a 57-year-old father of three, keeps getting asked about his Brat Pack years in the 1980s. Grand Central Publishing announced Tuesday that McCarthy's Brat: An '80s Story will come out next spring. Grand Central is calling the book a revealing look at coming of age in a maelstrom, reckoning with conflicted ambition, innocence, addiction and masculinity. McCarthy is calling it a long-delayed reckoning. The term Brat Pack was popularized by an unflattering New York magazine story that ran in 1985 and portrayed the young actors as shallow and self-absorbed. McCarthy has long disputed he was part of any such group, telling People magazine in 1999 that he hadn't seen any of his famous co-stars since making St.