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Break Elmore’s Rules
Elmore Leonard has 10 rules for writing. They don’t cover most of the important points of writing. They could really be called: Ten Rules for Writing That Isn’t So Bad, Even if You’re Not Much of...
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Daniel Silva’s Funny Buggers
Any writer knows that things can go wrong sometimes. Characters start to get wooden. Scenes won’t come alive. But the slipperiest dilemma of all –– because it’s the one least likely to be obvious when...
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Why did Marlowe go in the bar?
Mrs. Rees has given me two lovely kids. She has enjoyed the presence of my parents. She even visited Wales with me. But I was never quite sure of her. Because she had only read one Raymond Chandler...
View ArticleIsraelis scaring each other
My pal Matthew Kalman just became editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Report, a much-deserved high-profile position for a thoughtful, creative fellow. In the true spirit of log-rolling he asked me to...
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In Crime Fiction, Be Not Afraid
I just wrote an article for The Jerusalem Report about “What Israelis Fear Most.” Surprisingly, I found that Israelis didn’t fear being murdered by a psychopath or caught up in a case of mistaken...
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Episodes in the Literary Life 1: My Part in Salman Rushdie’s Peril
(Readers often write to ask me how I came to be an author. Over the coming weeks, I shall be writing a series of autobiographical vignettes which shall, I believe, demonstrate the mélange of neuroses,...
View ArticlePodcast: My Part in Rushdie’s Peril
When I was a very young journalist in London, I had the last interview with Salman Rushdie before Khomeini pronounced his fatwa against the writer. Unfortunately I was drunk. He was rude, and so was...
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Episodes in the Literary Life 2: Get Me to Fucking Manhattan
(This continues my series of autobiographical vignettes, intended to demonstrate the neuroses, ambition, talent, chance, mischance, place, and alcohol that go toward the creation of a writer. The tales...
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Blogs love my Mozart book — and Glasgow and Calcutta do too
My latest novel Mozart’s Last Aria has been getting still more excellent reviews on fiction blogs. I’ve noticed that people like the fact that it brings to life Mozart’s times and his music — and that...
View ArticlePodcast: Crappy Jobs
Before I became a writer, I worked a number of crappy jobs. I hauled cement on my back, gleefully destroyed hospitals, ate meat pies, and watched homoerotic wrestling while draining a deep-fat fryer....
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