In publishing parlance, I’m not “in house” anymore, meaning I no longer hold a full-time editorial position at a book publisher. (Ironically, I now work in my actual house.) It wasn’t an easy transition. When I left those roles behind, they stood me up in front of the

In a recent New Yorker: > Any work that resonates in some way can only be autobiographical. It just comes in different crypto-forms. This is Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who wrote and directed The Lives of Others. His new film, Never Look Away, is loosely based on the life of

As a kid, I thought tonic water was just a weird-tasting soda my grandparents liked to drink. I had no idea it was medicine. Originally, people drank tonic water to ward off malaria. The gin was optional—in theory. Tonic water contains quinine, a bitter extract of cinchona tree bark

Welcome new subscribers! I hope you like the Maven Game. There are many excellent options in the newsletter space today. I appreciate your giving this humble operation your attention. And now, on to the intellectual pyrotechnics someone told you to expect! But first, a bit of housekeeping for my existing

> George: You don’t think she’d “yada yada” sex… Elaine: I’ve yada yada’d sex. George: Really? Elaine: Yeah. I met this lawyer, we went out to dinner, I had the lobster bisque, we went back to my place, yada yada yada, I never heard from him

Turns out, what was formerly known as Moldawer’s Law [http://mavengame.com/2017/07/immolate-yourself-in-your-writing/]—”experts struggle the most in their own area of expertise”—is even older than I’d thought. Hundreds and hundreds of years older. From Ram Dass [https://beherenownetwork.com/ram-dass-ep-5-darshan/]: > I was only

In South Korea, people now pay to be locked up [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-prisonstay-idUSKCN1NS0JB]. The daily grind there is so stressful, prison has become a viable alternative: no deadlines, no performance evaluations, no commute. This could be the next big South Korean import since The Good Doctor… It’

As a child in London, George Benjamin exhibited extraordinary musical gifts. As Rebecca Mead writes in The New Yorker [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/17/how-the-composer-george-benjamin-finally-found-his-voice] : > Whereas other inventive children might ask to be allowed to make up a story before bedtime, [Benjamin] begged to be permitted

> The singular secret to finishing your book is putting your butt in a chair and writing…Nothing else matters. > —Mark Teppo, Finish Your Novel! I know that, Mark. Come on. I’m a professional. What fundamental fact of writing life could be more obvious? To have written, one

We’re off on vacation for a week, so just a brief insight for you this afternoon. Then you can go back to your high-end haircuts and green tea matcha lattes [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/nyregion/how-ronny-chieng-comedian-and-actor-spends-his-sundays.html] . (No week is complete without the New York Times