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Late Last Night Books

because so much reading, writing, and living happens after-hours

Late Last
Night Books
because so much reading, writing, and living happens after-hours
Since 2013
Gary Garth McCann, founder and managing editor
an ad-free magazine about fiction by authors Terra Ziporyn * Sally Whitney * Eileen Haavik McIntire * Gary Garth McCann * Peter G. Pollak * Garry Craig Powell * Jenny Yacovissi * Lily Iona MacKenzie * Todd S. Garth * Daniel Oliver
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How Jane Austen Learned to Write

Late Last Night Books
GARRY CRAIG POWELL

Author of  Stoning the Devil

26 MAY 2020 How Jane Austen Learned to Write

She didn’t do an MFA in Creative Writing, let alone a PhD. She didn’t even have a BA in it. Or in English. And yet Jane wrote the initial draft of Sense and Sensibility when she was 18, and had finished Pride and Prejudice by the time she was 20. Astonishing? Yes. So how did she do it? Did she follow the advice of the self-appointed writing gurus—who tell you that if you can’t do a degree in the subject, you need to attend expensive conferences, join writing groups, get professional editors? No, none of that. So how on earth did she learn her craft?

By reading and writing. I’m not an Austen scholar, but I know that in the late eighteenth century England’s public libraries had not yet been founded, so it’s fair to assume that most of her reading was done in her father’s library.

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Book Review: Known by Heart

Late Last Night Books
JENNIFER YACOVISSI

Author of Up the Hill to Home

20 MAY 2020 Book Review: Known by Heart
Even in describing heartbreak, the deeply abiding humanity of these stories bring joy.

A GATHERING OF BETTER ANGELS

Late Last Night Books
SALLY WHITNEY

Author of When Enemies Offend Thee and  Surface and Shadow, plus short stories appearing in journals and anthologies, including Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest 2017.

10 MAY 2020 A GATHERING OF BETTER ANGELS

My new novel, When Enemies Offend Thee, was released on March 1—a happy, ebullient time until 11 days later when the governor of Pennsylvania closed all non-essential businesses, including bookstores, and issued a stay-at-home order for my part of the state. Consequently, my book launch party was canceled along with any readings and book signings I had scheduled for the foreseeable future. And so it remains.

I don’t know when I’ll be able to connect with readers in person, which is one of my favorite things about being an author. There’s nothing better than talking with readers about their thoughts on characters, motivations, and plot  development.

And then there’s the challenge of letting readers know about When Enemies Offend Thee with no parties, signings, or readings.

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READING IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

Late Last Night Books
TERRA ZIPORYN

Author of The Bliss of Solitude, Time’s Fool, Do Not Go Gentle, and the new novel Permanent Makeup as well as many nonfiction works including The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health, Alternative Medicine for Dummies, and Nameless Diseases.

4 MAY 2020 READING IN THE AGE OF COVID-19

Like many friends, I thought a small silver lining of the COVID-19 shut-ins would be a chance to do a lot of reading. I was wrong.

I’ve been shut in for about 6 weeks now, and I’m still only on book number two. I haven’t made much progress on my backlog of magazines and journals either.

It’s Not Just Me

It turns out I’m not alone. Many friends have reported the same problem. They have plenty of time, and yet it seems to be consumed by Zoom calls and cleaning, daily walks, and the treacherous task of getting groceries.

It’s hard to keep your mind on the books when CNN keeps featuring Dr. Fauci.

Plenty of Books

Part of the excuse is that libraries are closed.

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Fallible by Kyle Bradford Jones

Late Last Night Books
DANIEL OLIVER

The Long Road (Black Rose Writing, 2018)

30 APRIL 2020 Fallible by Kyle Bradford Jones

Fallible by Kyle Bradford Jones is a memoir about the author’s struggle with mental illness, particularly during his grueling training as a physician. Dr. Jones is never cured of his anxiety and depression, which he describes as an invisible omnipresent “gargoyle” that waxes and wanes through about a decade of his life.

Early in his medical training, Dr. Jones notices that his symptoms of anxiety are exacerbated by the stresses of medical school. Even the road to acceptance into a program has been rough for the young man, who is married and whose wife is expecting their first child. In addition, the couple moves out of state, away from the support of both of their families. Fellow students in his medical program begin dropping out or developing mental disorders of their own.

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The Martin Amis-Garry Craig Powell Reading List for Covid-19 Quarantine

Late Last Night Books
GARRY CRAIG POWELL

Author of  Stoning the Devil

26 APRIL 2020 The Martin Amis-Garry Craig Powell Reading List for Covid-19 Quarantine

A proliferation of reading lists has appeared since quarantine began: ‘comfort reading’ (Susan Hill), lists about pandemics, lists of new novels (nearly all by women) and so on. But isn’t this a good time to catch up on our serious reading? I recently mentioned to a friend, novelist David Joiner, that in The Pregnant Widow, the protagonist Keith Nearing manages to read practically the whole canon of the British novel in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (in fact up to about 1920) during a single long vacation, while he stays at a castle in Italy with a bevy of nubile young women, one of them named Scheherazade. DH and Frieda Lawrence were once guests at the same castle, which happens to have an excellent English library.

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Words as Animals!

Late Last Night Books
LILY IONA MACKENZIE

Author of the novels  Curva Peligrosa,  Fling!, and Freefall: A Divine Comedy, and the poetry collection All This

10 APRIL 2020 Words as Animals!
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I recently read the book Words as Eggs by Jungian analyst Russell Lockhart. The idea for the work, and the chapter from which the title comes, originated in one of Lockhart’s dreams. A voice in his dream said, “Do you not know that words are eggs, that words carry life, that words give birth?” (92). Lockhart later points out that this dream revelation isn’t exactly new in the larger scheme of things. In the beginning, it’s rumored that God spoke the world into existence: “the word is seed and gives birth to life and living things” (92). As eggs, words are constantly delivering new ideas and thoughts, filling our minds with possibilities and worlds we otherwise wouldn’t have access to.

A writer, I’m fascinated with anything to do with words and how they inform, form, and reform our surroundings—and us.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR TODD LONDON

Late Last Night Books
TERRA ZIPORYN

Author of The Bliss of Solitude, Time’s Fool, Do Not Go Gentle, and the new novel Permanent Makeup as well as many nonfiction works including The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health, Alternative Medicine for Dummies, and Nameless Diseases.

4 APRIL 2020 AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR TODD LONDON
Author Todd London

I grew up surrounded by a dazzling number of talented classmates in Evanston, IL. Many went on to become world-famous academics, politicians, actors, directors, screenwriters, playwrights, and novelists. Todd London, the author of the new novel If You See Him, Let Me Know, was one of those people.

Todd lived right down the street from me, and we went to junior high and high school together. We even attended the same summer camp. But neither of us ever realized that last part, partly because I was too shy and insecure (or perhaps too vain and self-absorbed) to connect with him.

Todd is now Head of the MFA Playwriting Program at the New School, School of Drama and the Director of Theatre Relations for the Dramatists Guild of America.

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Interview with Irene Frances Olson, Author of REQUIEM FOR THE STATUS QUO

Late Last Night Books
DANIEL OLIVER

The Long Road (Black Rose Writing, 2018)

30 MARCH 2020 Interview with Irene Frances Olson, Author of REQUIEM FOR THE STATUS QUO

I had the pleasure of reading REQUIEM FOR THE STATUS QUO, a novel about a caretaker’s experiences with an Alzheimer’s patient, the narrator’s own father, in the Seattle, Washington area. The author, Irene Frances Olson, cared for her father, who suffered from the same disease. She currently participates in various organizations dedicated to Alzheimer’s patients and their family and friends.

What kinds of novels do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Any nonfiction?
I always read Fiction and Non-fiction simultaneously. Lately I have been shying away from any Fiction themes that are too intense, violent, or suspenseful as I have enough intensity in my life without having my leisure time fall into that category. With that said, however, I will most likely return to such themes when/if the world calms down a bit.

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Write for Your Life! How Coranavirus Could Improve Your Writing and Life

Late Last Night Books
GARRY CRAIG POWELL

Author of  Stoning the Devil

26 MARCH 2020 Write for Your Life! How Coranavirus Could Improve Your Writing and Life

And I don’t just mean because you probably have more free time now, although there is that, of course. I can think of a number of other advantages of the enforced retreat we’re all taking, some practical, some emotional, and some (dare I say it?) spiritual.

First, you’re probably less distracted. News on all topics apart from the virus is drying up. No more endless debates about issues which enrage you! No need to respond to countless messages in your social media feeds. And it’s much quieter. Last night I stepped out of my house and couldn’t hear a single car. I live in a rural area of Portugal, but even so, the silence was otherworldly. I called my wife outside and the whole countryside seemed still and peaceful.

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Chances are you’ll enjoy the latest novel by Richard Russo

Late Last Night Books
PETER POLLAK

Author of Missing (2019);  Inauguration Day (2017);  The Expendable Man (2011); Making the Grade (2012); Last Stop on Desolation Ridge (2012); In the Game (2014); & House Divided (2015)

23 MARCH 2020 Chances are you’ll enjoy the latest novel by Richard Russo

In Chances Are . . . the latest novel by Richard Russo, three friends are getting together on Cape Cod 44 years after they celebrated having graduated from college at the same location. Worthy of a full-length novel? Not until you discover that the co-ed who joined them on the prior occasion was never seen again after leaving the sea-side cottage the morning they all departed for unknown futures.

A mystery? Yes, but in the hands of Richard Russo what we have is so much more than a whodounit. Russo’s skill at bringing the depth of his characters’ beings to the surface and hooking us on them is what makes him unique among modern novelists. He is able to keep us as much interested in these average guys as does our anxiety to learn what happened to young Jacy.

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A Love of Reading, The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Late Last Night Books
JENNIFER YACOVISSI

Author of Up the Hill to Home

20 MARCH 2020 A Love of Reading, The Gift that Keeps on Giving
For her birthday, an ode to Mom, who taught the author the joy of reading.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

Late Last Night Books
SALLY WHITNEY

Author of When Enemies Offend Thee and  Surface and Shadow, plus short stories appearing in journals and anthologies, including Best Short Stories from The Saturday Evening Post Great American Fiction Contest 2017.

10 MARCH 2020 SHEDDING LIGHT ON WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING

What exactly is Delia Owens saying in her best-selling novel Where the Crawdads Sing? Perplexing events and characters in the story have caused readers to ask a lot of questions and have a lot of interpretations. Last November, I was fortunate to hear Owens speak in person about the novel, offering a few answers to all those questions.

Inspiration for the story, she explained, started when she was a child in the state of Georgia and her mother would send her out to explore the woods. As an adult, while she was exploring the much larger wilds of Africa, she realized how similar human behavior is to animal behavior. “We are both territorial,” she said. “Also, females will abandon their young in times of severe stress.”

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CALLING ALL AUTHORS

Late Last Night Books
TERRA ZIPORYN

Author of The Bliss of Solitude, Time’s Fool, Do Not Go Gentle, and the new novel Permanent Makeup as well as many nonfiction works including The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health, Alternative Medicine for Dummies, and Nameless Diseases.

4 MARCH 2020 CALLING ALL AUTHORS
Writers Wanted

Have you written a book lately (or not so lately)? We’re still looking for authors to be interviewed on Late Last Night Books!

Looking for authors with stories to share

Once again, I am looking for authors who want help publicizing their new books or writing projects–or, as before, even a not-so-newly published book–in future blog posts. In my experience, getting your name and work “out there” is the most painful part of being a writer. I’m hoping this blog can help make that process a little less painful for others–especially writers (and that’s most of us) who don’t have well-funded publicity machines working on our behalf.

In the past this offer has brought forth many talented writers, including Bill Woods, Nancy Burke, Lila Iona McKenzie, Anna Marsh, and Michael J.

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The Rise of the Podcast

Late Last Night Books
DANIEL OLIVER

The Long Road (Black Rose Writing, 2018)

29 FEBRUARY 2020 The Rise of the Podcast

The podcast has become the author’s best friend as far as learning about marketing a book is concerned. In terms of keeping up with trends in the industry, this medium brings the author and anyone else that sells books up to speed.

Podcasts usually record a conversation, or question and answer session, with a host and one or two other experts. The consumer listens to them for free online. The conversation is easier to follow and more entertaining than, say, a lecture provided by one person. Everyone can recall fighting off sleep while trying to concentrate on a lecturer for forty-five minutes to an hour. Or how about those three-page articles in magazines that can be tiresome to follow? With their back and forth banter, podcasts are livelier and generally have a good sense of humor, making them the better method to learn the fast-changing world of book marketing.

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The Unspoken Prejudice Against Male Authors

Late Last Night Books
GARRY CRAIG POWELL

Author of  Stoning the Devil

26 FEBRUARY 2020 The Unspoken Prejudice Against Male Authors

A headline in today’s Guardian gushes: ‘Rathbone Folio Prize: Zadie Smith makes female-dominated shortlist.’ Now I like Zadie, and although I haven’t read her first story collection, Grand Union, I doubt that it’s unworthy. Still, I must admit (dare I?) that on reading “female-dominated shortlist” I did think, ‘Another one?’ And in case you wonder, as I did myself for a moment, if it were merely my impression that women writers have been dominating the prize shortlists lately, I did some research. These are the facts about a few major recent prizes:

Rathbone Folio Prize, 2020: 6/8 shortlisted writers are women

Booker Prize, 2019: 5/6 finalists were women

National Book Award Finalists, 2019: 4/5 finalists were women

National Book Critics Circle First Book Award, 2019: 6/7 finalists were women

Orange Prize for Fiction, 2019: 6/6 finalists were women.

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So You Want to Write a Memoir!

Late Last Night Books
PETER POLLAK

Author of Missing (2019);  Inauguration Day (2017);  The Expendable Man (2011); Making the Grade (2012); Last Stop on Desolation Ridge (2012); In the Game (2014); & House Divided (2015)

23 FEBRUARY 2020 So You Want to Write a Memoir!

Writing a memoir can be a most rewarding experience––one your family and friends will thank you for having done. A memoir is your opportunity to leave concrete documentation of your life in a form that is easily accessible to present and future generations.

Every family has stories. That’s human nature. But all too often people have questions about the past they wish they had answers to when someone important to them is gone. You may have felt that way upon the passing of a parent, sibling or other significant person in your life. Don’t make your offspring wish they knew more about your family background or how you met your spouse or why you moved to a certain city.

Here are some reasons you might want to write your memoir:

  • To share your life’s story with your offspring, other relatives and friends.
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Bursting through barriers to story

Late Last Night Books
LILY IONA MACKENZIE

Author of the novels  Curva Peligrosa,  Fling!, and Freefall: A Divine Comedy, and the poetry collection All This

10 FEBRUARY 2020 Bursting through barriers to story
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I’ve been so busy taking care of marketing demands for my three novels (Fling!, Curva Peligrosa, and Freefall: A Divine Comedy),  and finishing up the creative writing workshop I’m teaching at the Fromm Institute of Lifelong Learning, that I haven’t had time to write new material, fiction or otherwise. Prose, especially non-fiction, is easy for me to produce. I can spin out words and sentences that end up making sense, as I’m doing here.

But writing fiction? It’s like digging a ditch or chipping away at the concrete of my brain to find a way back into a story. That’s why I usually have several projects in motion. I move back and forth between them. When I run into a dead end with one, I can enter a vein in another, carried along until something stops me again.

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READING SPOTS: BEYOND THE ARMCHAIR

Late Last Night Books
TERRA ZIPORYN

Author of The Bliss of Solitude, Time’s Fool, Do Not Go Gentle, and the new novel Permanent Makeup as well as many nonfiction works including The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health, Alternative Medicine for Dummies, and Nameless Diseases.

4 FEBRUARY 2020 READING SPOTS: BEYOND THE ARMCHAIR
Reading in the clouds
Reading in the clouds

Last month I asked readers about the most unusual or challenging places they’ve ever tried reading. They came through with fantastic answers, confirming my hunch that diehard readers will read anywhere and everywhere.

Forget the Armchair

The “weird” reading spots I mentioned ranged from bathrooms to beaches, commuter buses to cliffs. Many people agreed–there are many more places to read in this world than armchairs and libraries. Beds and trains are among the top picks.

My friend Wheatleigh, for example, says his most unusual reading spot was probably the Shinkasen (Japan’s bullet train) while travelling at 200 mph. He did that a lot while living and working in Japan.

“Each station in Japan has a distinctive ‘eki ben‘ or station bento (lunch box),” he recalls.

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MANIC WARS by Trina Ann Pion

Late Last Night Books
DANIEL OLIVER

The Long Road (Black Rose Writing, 2018)

30 JANUARY 2020 MANIC WARS by Trina Ann Pion

MANIC WARS by Trina Ann Pion is a raw look at mental illness and how those who suffer from it are poorly treated even in a developed nation. This novel follows Christina Wars, who suffers from bipolar disorder, and her life over the span of about two months in Montreal, Canada. Ms. Pion inflects her own degrading experiences with mental illness and the health and justice systems into the novel. The story illuminates a world of unfairness and distrust to which these patients are subjected.

It is clear from Christina’s first hospitalization that the odds are stacked against her as she navigates the health system. Or, as the story unfolds, the health system dictates what happens to her. Although she’s brought to a hospital against her will, it is for the best because she wrecks her house and is acting irrationally, but she can’t even have a cigarette until she has hounded the staff there.

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