When Octavia Butler died in 2006, she left behind unseen short stories. Butler’s agent has discovered two unpublished stories in the author’s papers. “A Necessary Being” features a lonely alien leader, and “Childminder” is about mentoring telepaths. The two stories will be published this summer in the collection Unexpected Stories.
New Octavia Butler
Your Words Here
For years, one of the best ways to make a living as a writer (if you didn’t want to go into academia) was to become an ad copywriter. They heyday of print was flush with opportunities to make bank off billboards and publications. At The Paris Review Daily, Dan Piepenbring looks back on the ad copy of Fay Weldon, who gave the UK, among other things, the slogan “Vodka makes you drunker quicker.” (Related: Hope Mills on working for a creative agency.)
Tao Lin: The Next Big Thing?
At Salon, Daniel Roberts profiles Tao Lin, the next big thing in urban hipster lit. According to the skinny jeans-clad hipsters reading his books on the L train, at least. Says one: “That guy is the next big thing.”
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Two Good Women
Want to see Nobel laureate Alice Munro in conversation with Margaret Atwood? The two will take part in a Google+ hangout on Wednesday night at 7:30. (You could also read our beginner’s guide to Munro’s work.)
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Craft Work
It’s the kind of niggling question that drives a writer mad: is it best to edit a piece after you finish a draft, or is it better to edit while you write? At Electric Lit, Lincoln Michel argues for the latter, on the grounds that it lets writers fix endemic problems before it’s too late. You could also read Lincoln’s 2010 Millions review of the movie Avatar.
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