An A-level In Harry Potter -

Harry Potter has taken his place alongside such greats of English literature as Shakespeare's Hamlet and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and is required reading for A-level English students. via Book trade news from Book2book

There was a time, when I was much younger, that I fancied I would like to become the “next Stephen King.” In other words, I wanted to be a rich and famous novelist who made huge advances for his work and had a legion of fandom waiting with bated breath for his next word.

As I stepped into adulthood I realized how unrealistic that dream truly is, because, honestly, no one could ever be Stephen King but Stephen King.

One of the most important steps in publishing is feedback, whether it's from an editor or another trusted “expert” type source, which means it's also important for an author to be able to graciously accept constructive criticism.

Sometimes that's really difficult.

It's natural for a writer to develop an emotional attachment to a creative work, and it's hard to listen to anyone criticize your baby.

Still, in the end, the result is a better story. And that's why I'm happy I have an honest person reading my own projects.

Upon reading a private blog on another service I maintain, a friend of mine once accused me of being a prolific writer, someone who writes/posts in large volume.

How I wish it were true.

Frankly, there are times when I feel the same about working on a writing project as I do about getting up at 5:30 a.m. to run on the treadmill: it’s a heckuva lot easier to just go back to bed.

At first I thought it might be an April Fool’s joke, but it turns out that Amazon.com really is asking print-on-demand publishers to use their BookSurge POD facilities in order to sell their print-on-demand products at Amazon.com.

Publisher Bloomsbury sees life after Harry Potter -

"We have a clutch of strong titles coming out this year, including ... a new Margaret Atwood novel, and the Deathly Hallows coming out in paperback"

If you've spent any time at all exploring the technique of creative writing, you've no doubt heard some writers say that they start out with a certain story in mind, and then, as characters are invented and fleshed out, the piece takes on a life of its own. The story that the author started out writing, in turn, potentially comes out as a different tale altogether.

There are others who say the "characters developing a life of their own" is foolishness, and that a "good writer" develops an outline for a piece long before sitting down at the keyboard to pound out the details.

When I was a kid I went through a variety of creative “phases.”

I wrote short stories. I wrote poetry (yes, poetry, even before I was an angsty teen) and songs. I even drew a comic strip (“Bugland Bugs,” which was a simple black-and-white featuring a variety of bugs with strong personalities). 

Thanks to the brilliant efforts of my graphic designer fiancée, TimeTides has a brand new logo and theme that better "reflects" (heh heh) its content and name.

There's also a new "subscriptions" feature for those who sign up for a free account here at TimeTides. You can be automatically notified of new content here by creating an account and then subscribing to my blog, product posts, or posts in any number of publishing categories.

Just click the link to the right to register, login, visit your "My Account" page and click "Subscriptions" to get started.

Famed science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke died early Wednesday morning after years of suffering from post-polio syndrome, according to an article in the Charlotte Observer. 

Clarke was most famous, perhaps, for 2001: A Space Odyssey.