Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at
6:11 pm

Ben Hecht was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, and novelist. Called “the Shakespeare of Hollywood”, he received screen credits, alone or in collaboration, for the stories or screenplays of some 70 films and as a prolific storyteller, authored 35 books and created some of the most entertaining screenplays or plays in America. According to film historian Richard Corliss, he was “the” Hollywood screenwriter, someone who “personified Hollywood itself.” The Dictionary of Literary Biography – American Screenwriters, calls him “one of the most successful screenwriters in the history of motion pictures.”In 1921, Hecht inaugurated a Daily News column called One Thousand and One Afternoons in Chicago While it lasted, the column was enormously influential. His editor, Henry Justin Smith, later said it represented a new concept in journalism: “the idea that just under the edge of the news as commonly understood, the news often flatly unimaginatively tol (more…)
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at
6:35 pm

Collection of classic fairy tales. According to Wikipedia: “Andrew Lang (March 31, 1844, Selkirk – July 20, 1912, Banchory, Kincardineshire) was a prolific Scots man of letters. He was a poet, novelist, and literary critic, and contributor to anthropology. He now is best known as the collector of folk and fairy tales.” The active (hyperlinked) table of contents links to each individual story.
About the Author
Andrew Lang was one of the most famous literary critics around 1900. He also edited a series of children’s fable books that preserved and illustrated a host of tales which are still used extensively today.
(more…)
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at
8:49 pm

Review
“Freelancing for Newspapers is an excellent text for aspiring freelancers. Sue Fagalde Lick covers all the bases in a clear journalistic style that her readers would do well to emulate.” — Marcia Preston, novelist, former editor of Byline Magazine”Sue Fagalde Lick serves up enthusiastic and informative tips and information. Lick’s new book will help writers succeed in an area of freelancing that many haven’t even considered.” — Angela Hoy, publisher, WritersWeekly.com “This book is a must-have for any writer serious about garnering clips. Sue Fagalde Lick offers practical, hands-on advice as well as skill-building exercises geared toward both novice and experienced writers.” — Robbi Hess, editor/co-publisher ByLine Magazine; co-author, Complete Idiot’s Guide to 30,000 Baby Names
Pick up the Sunday paper and consider how many stories it takes to fill all those pages. How can any newspaper staff produce so many stories every (more…)