Meg Waite Clayton's Blog
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May.20.2013
I know, I know. Caramel. Crunch. Or maybe it's the Mocha Cookie Crumble that has your number. No doubt Jane Austen would have gone for the crunch rather than, say, Hume's multi-volume History of England, and where would we be now? If Scott wouldn't have made the decision on his own,...
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Mar.20.2013
I've just added The Company of Writers by Hilma Wolitzer to my favorite writing books list on the writers tips page of my website, in part because of the great advice it offers for successful writing groups. The reasons I love this book are too many to mention in one little...
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Feb.07.2013
I’m sharing the book love between now and Valentine’s Day by hosting a 20 Authors / 60 Books Valentine’s Day Giveaway with some amazing author friends. Who? Hint: The collected cover-hearts of the beautiful books below! I'll also be doing an advanced reader copy giveaway of The...
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Dec.03.2012
"What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved like a road through mountains.” - Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire
Today is the 55th anniversary of the Broadway opening of "A StreetcarNamed Desire," which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize...
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Nov.30.2012
The Random House Publishing Group (my happy literary home!) just announced three new digital imprints to add to LOVESWEPT, their digital imprint for romance and women's fiction: ALIBI, for mystery/suspense; HYDRA, for sci-fi/fantasy; and FLIRT, for "college-age New Adult" fiction Their stated...
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Nov.13.2012
Today (horray!) is the publication date for My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop. Richard Russo kicks off this terrific collection of essays, and the list of authors and the stores they celebrate is an amazing one. I could not be more delighted to be...
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Nov.05.2012
Because this election is so important for the economy, women's equality, and the future of the arts, if you haven't voted yet, please consider reading one of more of the following on the Forbes Blog before you do:
A Women's View of the Economy on the Eve of the Election
After The Debate: The...
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Jul.13.2012
In a search for the source of the bad luck reputation of Friday the 13th, I came across numerous references to a line in Chaucer's Cantebury Tales -- "And on a Friday fell all this mischance" -- as the beginning of its literary reputation, unless one counts the crucifixion in the Bible, which maybe...
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May.22.2012
Because I’m a book person who loves film (even though I’m generally disappointed in the movie version of any book I have loved), I turned with great excitement to “Cannes film festival set to honor the bookworm” in the Guardian. As I read though, my heart fell a little, and not just at the...
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Nov.22.2011
Uh-oh. The year’s “great books” lists have begun. Female authors have put on our literary heels and danced backward as well as we can, but it looks again like we’re going to be left tapping our toes to the music while male writers dance on the best books lists once again. TheNew York Times...
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Oct.22.2011
"The role of the writer is not to say what we can all say, but what we are unable to say. Most of the writing today which is called fiction contains such a poverty of language, such triteness, that it is a shrunken, diminished world we enter, poorer and more formless than the poorest cripple...
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Jul.30.2011
I've often said writing a novel is like running a marathon, but I'm beginning to think it's more like making a jigsaw puzzle: The charge of the first draft is to get the pieces all laid out on the table, face-up, so you can see what's there. The trick of subsequent drafts is to get them all fitted...
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Jul.21.2011
The summer I studied for the bar exam, I went to my bar review class in the morning and then drove over the hill with my books, set up a beach chair on the sand, and studied in the reflection of sunlight off the waves. Yes, my BAR/BRI books ended up stained with sunscreen, but to this day I haven...
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Jul.08.2011
A feminist Jew, a wise Latina woman, and a Harvard Law dean walk into a bar... Thirty years ago, that would have been the opening of what would now be seen as a politically incorrect joke, the bar a place to drink rather than an entry into the practice of law. The idea of having a woman on the...
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May.21.2011
If today really is the end of the world, the great news for me is I'll go out in style: celebrating books! And if it comes at 6 p.m., then my last supper will have been a great one as well. I'm not quite sure why Da Vinci didn't show up to capture us, but we had the most delightful time at...
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Meg Waite Clayton's stirring novel will appeal not just to those who secretly wish to be writers, but to anyone with a love of great books; anyone who has felt truly moved by a book or an author; and anyone who has had their dreams bolstered by good and faithful friends.”
—Book Reporter
About Meg
Meg Waite Clayton is the nationally bestselling author of four novels: THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS, THE FOUR MS. BRADWELLS, THE LANGUAGE OF LIGHT, (all from Random House/Ballantine and all major book club picks), and the forthcoming THE WEDNESDAY DAUGHTERS (July...