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Charles Dickens

The Dahl controversy is capitalism not wokeism (This week in books)

March 10, 2023 by Nathan Bransford 2 Comments

This week! Books! Lots of links saved up since the last edition of This Week in Books, so let’s get to it. A controversy erupted over the last few weeks involving Puffin and the Roald Dahl Story Company creating new editions of Dahl’s children’s novels with updates to some of Dahl’s language with an aim […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Charles Dickens, ChatGPT, HarperCollins, Ian Fleming, Jesse Armstrong, Lincoln Michel, Matthew Walther, Monica Hesse, Prince, Roald Dahl, Writer Beware

Is it OK to resend a query? (This week in books)

November 13, 2020 by Nathan Bransford Leave a Comment

This week! Books! President Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land arrives next Tuesday, which is going to have massive reverberations in the bookselling world, not least of which because it clocks in at a hefty $45 list price. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reviewed it for the New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine looks at where it […]

Filed Under: This Week in Books Tagged With: Barack Obama, Charles Dickens, Dan Blank, Fuchsia Dunlop, Jessica Faust, Kate McKean, Kristin Nelson, literary agents

How to create a great villain

September 23, 2019 by Nathan Bransford 2 Comments

Bleak painting of two old men

Bill Sikes. Lady MacBeth. Captain Ahab. Voldemort. The Wormwoods. Sauron. Iago. The best villains in literature send a shiver down our spine and make our blood pressure rise. Why do some villains have such a hold on us while others feel like weak sauce? Here are some tips on how to craft a memorable villain. […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Charles Dickens, Herman Melville, J.K. Rowling, J.M. Barrie, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Robert Louis Stevenson, Shakespeare

Are we stripping modern books bare?

July 9, 2012 by Nathan Bransford 72 Comments

Reader Drew Turney wrote to me recently with an interesting question. There’s so much advice, commentary, and opinion about stripping away anything unessential to a book’s plot. Writing in the modern era emphasizes moving the plot forward at all costs, and everything else is “ruthlessly killed off no matter how darling.” Digressions and detritus that […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Charles Dickens, Culture, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, Moby-Dick

Who is the Greatest Villain in Fiction?

July 28, 2010 by Nathan Bransford 225 Comments

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the greatest villain of them all? Iago? Ahab? Fagin? Voldemort? Sauron? Villains are just plain scarier when they only have one name, aren’t they? Who’s your choice?

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Charles Dickens, Culture, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Moby-Dick, Shakespeare, You Tell Me

This Week in Publishing 10/15/09

October 15, 2009 by Nathan Bransford 83 Comments

This week! Publishing! Thursday! Here’s the schedule: – The contest is open until today at 4pm Pacific, at which time I will close it to entries faster than you can say “thank goodness no more please thank you mercy.”– Tomorrow I will announce the paragraphs I have chosen as the Stupendously Ultimate Finalists, most likely […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Charles Dickens, E-books, How to Promote a Book, Paranormal, This Week in Publishing

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

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