Category Archives: celebrity

March 22, 2013   Lauren   authors, celebrity, fun, Lauren, Twitter  
3

Authors in real life.

On the way home yesterday, I saw a man near the subway who looked oddly familiar.  I found myself trying to figure out what TV show or movie I knew him from or if he’d dated someone famous.  After a while I finally got it:  he’s someone I recognize from his profile picture on Twitter.

This made me think of how many more authors would be recognizable now than they ever have been before.  Thanks to social media, I know what plenty of authors I’ve never met look like, even many whose books I haven’t read.  Sure, some books have author photos in them, but not all, and you don’t have to be Thomas Pynchon to be fairly unknown as a person to your biggest fans.

When I worked at Barnes & Noble in college, I loved when celebrities came into the store for the fun of seeing them, sure, but I also loved seeing other people see them.  Among my favorite experiences is the day a girl nearly fainted at the sight of David Lascher (who you may recall as Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s boyfriend, or, if you are a truly awesome person of a certain age, as Ted from Hey Dude).  She was on vacation with her family, and you could just tell that it was everything she ever dreamed would be possible on her trip to New York City.  He was lovely and gracious about it, and her face after he continued on his way was absolute bliss.

So is that our world now?  I’ve definitely seen the enthusiastic “OH EM GEE, [insert author here] retweeted me!!!!” messages (you can go ahead and mentally add the appropriate emoticons), and you just need to click onto an author page on Facebook to see how engaged people are with authors as celebrities.  Does that bleed over into the real world yet?  Have you ever seen one of your favorite authors in an unexpected place (so not at a signing or conference)?  If so, did you say hi?  And authors, have you been approached in the grocery store?  Would you want to be?

In a happy coincidence, there’s a Sporcle photo quiz of novelists, poets, and playwrights.  Hey, it’s Friday, give it a go and let us know how you do.

August 21, 2012   Brenna   art, Brenna, buzz, celebrity, children's books, crafts, creativity, debate, feuds  
3

Books as Art

The outrage surrounding MTV reality starlet and YA author Lauren Conrad’s destroying some of Lemony Snicket’s books on her DIY craft show to make them into storage containers has reignited the debate over books being used as non-reading materials. Rebecca Joines Schinsky of Book Riot posted about this and makes some really great points worth considering if you find yourself appalled by Conrad’s actions. For one, Schinsky notes that people love books for the stories, not the medium in which they’re delivered—most evident nowadays in the success of digital publishing. On top of that, she quotes Rachel Fershleiser—author, former bookseller and publicist, who has the publishing experience and no-nonsense attitude required to set the record straight—that books that don’t sell are often recycled. So, why shouldn’t creative people use them as they see fit?

Now, there are a couple of things that certainly don’t help Conrad’s case. The books she destroyed were Lemony Snicket’s. Lemony Snicket, people. The girl writes YA and doesn’t appreciate a modern classic children’s author? And storage containers? Really? Not the most original or useful endeavor. If, however, you don’t see the problem with that, check out The Repurposed Library by Lisa Occhipinti or Playing with Books by Jason Thompson for some truly great ideas.

And if you’re as fascinated by a celebrity feud as I am, take a look at Lemony Snicket’s amusing response here.

October 11, 2011   John   celebrity, future of publishing, John, opinion, publishers  
30

Authors with imprints

Word came down today that HarperCollins is giving Dennis Lahane (author of Mystic River) his own imprint. To quote the Washington Post: “Dennis Lehane Books will issue ‘a select’ number of literary fiction works each year that have ‘a dark urban edge.’ The author himself said in a statement that he was hoping to help ‘worthy writers’ in need of more attention.” This comes on the heels of Anthony Bourdain also getting at imprint at Harper to showcase authors of his choosing.

Now, it’s long been a truism of publishing that the only people who care about imprints are people in publishing. And while some knowledgeable consumers might expect a certain level of quality or type of book from an imprint, I think for most readers the only important things on the spine are the title and author. Yet Harper is clearly banking that readers like and accept Lahane and Bourdain as stamps of approval—if they dig a book enough to publish it, it’s got to be good, right?

What do you think of this strategy? Would seeing either of their names on a book convince you to take a look, much less buy a copy? Are “literary celebrity” imprints the wave of the future? Or is this just a myopic publishing stunt that won’t really mean much when it comes to the register? Discuss, discuss…

August 23, 2011   John   celebrity, fun, John, libraries  
5

Libraries of the rich and famous

As my wife would probably tell you, home design isn’t usually my cup of tea. But I couldn’t help myself on this one: the Accredited Online Colleges blog (I know, random—thanks to the good folks at Shelf Awareness for digging it up) posted this awesome slideshow/list of 20 celebrity libraries to die for.

Leather binding! Oriental rugs! Mahogany! Fireplaces! Ahhh….

While I’m sure it would be lovely to sink into one of the couches in the Hearst library, my faves here would have to be Nigella and Keith Richards—something about the clutter makes them look like places you’d actually want to read, instead of just admire. Though I do like the clean look of Jane Fonda’s room—feels like a great space for escaping from the world.

On the other hand, what’s up with Sting, Rod, and Michael and their stuffy, faux British-manor reading rooms? Not exactly sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, guys. And while I guess Karl Lagerfeld’s space is meant to be utilitarian, you’d think a fashion designer would come with something a little more… attractive?

Thoughts? Picks? Pans? Anyone know other celeb libraries worth checking out? If so, please link away…

June 06, 2011   Jane   celebrity, ghostwriting, Jane, opinion, writing  
9

To ghost or not to ghost?

Last Thursday, I read a piece in the New York Times about celebrities like Kourtney, Kim and Khloé Kardashian, Nicole Richie and Hilary Duff  who had  “written” or “were writing” novels.  Of course, everyone knows these women are using others to help them (or maybe do all of the work) but these writers are anonymous—they are “ghosts.”  This made me think of others who use ghosts.  Robert Ludlum, for example, who long ago passed away, has “written” many novels since his death.  Eric von Lustbader is universally acknowledged as the writer of his books, giving a new, ironic spin on the term “ghost writer.”

And this is true of many other authors—those who are published writers and those who aren’t writers but who want to “write” books.  I often wonder why these authors don’t just acknowledge those who are helping them rather than keeping them under wraps.  The writer does an enormous amount of heavy lifting and deserves credit for their work.

Of course I work with many collaborators and sometimes they ghost and sometimes they openly collaborate.  I feel it is extremely helpful to the collaborator/ghost writer’s career to be acknowledged publicly for the hard work that they do.  Ultimately, book publishing is a collaborative business.  It takes a village, to paraphrase Hillary, to bring a book to life and I think acknowledging all the people involved can only make for a better experience all around.

I would love to know what your thoughts are about this.  Does it bother you to know that a book has been ghostwritten? Do you think ghostwriters should be openly acknowledged?

May 18, 2011   Miriam   celebrity, controversy, culture, fiction, Miriam, nonfiction  
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Scandals/Scandales

The thing about taking turns blogging once a week as we do here at DGLM is that you sometimes have the perfect subject to write about but it’s not on your designated day.  Then, Wednesday rolls around, you had a miserable commute into the rain-soaked city, your lower back aches and you’re walking around like an 80-year-old who’s nine months pregnant (you know how pregnant women waddle when they’re in their sixth trimester…or was that just me?), the piles on your desk are mocking you, and all you want to do is read everything you can find online about the Schwarzenegger and Strauss-Kahn scandals.  So, in lieu of something pithy and informative about publishing (e-books, the business as we know it is dying, yadda, yadda), I’m just going to ramble on about these two current headliners.

The Schwarzenegger story is tawdry and lurid in a way that we’re so used to (John Edwards is cackling madly somewhere) that it’s really just a fill-in-the-blank kind of scandal.  Doesn’t mean I’m not going to pick up my copy of Star as soon as it hits the newsstands.  The Strauss-Kahn case, however, is much more interesting because it is so multi-layered and speaks to so many different kinds of abuses and contradictions.  Arnold Schwarzenegger’s infidelity is hurtful to his family and fans in the way that these kinds of betrayals generally are.  Strauss-Kahn’s alleged actions will have an effect on the global marketplace and the fate of several countries currently facing huge financial crises.  Criminal behavior is an apt description and not just because of the appalling nature of the offense.

So, being that it’s the way my brain is wired after 150 years in the business, I see potential for books in both stories: Schwarzenegger’s would be a novel—Jackie Collins meets Dominick Dunne perhaps?  Strauss-Kahn’s a serious, non-fiction exploration of why powerful men, whose careers are devoted to helping humanity in macro ways, often turn out to be such sleazeballs and our complicity as a culture in letting them get away with it—this is more of a Michael Lewis meets Philip Gourevitch for a long discussion over coffee kind of book.

Which, if either, would you buy and read?  And why?

May 10, 2011   John   authors, celebrity, controversy, favorites, fun, John, opinion, scandal  
3

Remembering Woody

Found this reading list in The Guardian today from an author for whom I have deeply mixed feelings—yep, it’s the Woodman, doing a typically odd bit of press in advance of his new movie.

Back in middle and high school, I absolutely loved Woody Allen. Sleeper and Bananas were two of the funniest movies I’d ever seen, plus Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex (a little confusing to a sixth grader, but no less fun). Yet nothing cracked me up as much as his short story collection Side Effects—one of the few books I literally read to pieces. The opening story “Remembering Needleman” probably influenced my high school creative writing more than any other work—which didn’t always fly so well, especially in a certain 19th century lit class…

And then, the Soon Yi news broke. Man, wasn’t that a huge deal? I remember being pretty creeped out by the news, not least because growing up in Manhattan I had friends who went to school with some of Mia’s kids. And yet, when I got an invite to see Woody play the clarinet soon after, did I turn it down? Nope, sat at a table right near the front—even waited afterward to see him get into his car.

Time and apparent fidelity to Soon Yi have certainly helped Woody’s rep, but they haven’t exactly exonerated him. And it’s pretty depressing to see two of his book picks are Catcher in the Rye (misunderstood outsider) and a bio of Elia Kazan (persecuted auteur), as if he still sees himself as a victim. Still, I have a huge soft spot for some of his later movies like Everyone Says I Love You and Match Point. And when his most recent story collection Mere Anarchy came out, I faithfully got my copy.

So I’m still pretty torn about Woody. What do you think? Am I cutting the man too much slack? Or is this a question of drawing a line between the author and his work? Do you make similar distinctions for other controversial authors?

March 23, 2011   Miriam   celebrity, characters, fun, in memoriam, Miriam, opinion  
1

Heroes of their own life stories

There’s a dusting of snow in the grassy areas all over the tri-state area today and a cold rain is falling from the leaden skies here in the City.  The fact that April is eight days away and that this has been one of the more gruesome winters I’ve experienced in a couple of decades is enough to make me want to just go back home, get in bed and pull the covers over my head (and not emerge until June).  But, if the general foulness of the weather wasn’t enough, the news this morning that Elizabeth Taylor has died makes the grayness feel a bit more enveloping.  Needless to say, I was (and am) a big fan of  Ms. Taylor, a great beauty, a sometimes brilliant actress, and a larger-than-life public figure who often used her powers for good, rather than evil.  A woman who could have coasted on her looks all her life instead demanded to be taken seriously as an artist, businesswoman, and humanitarian, while never losing her sense of humor and her ability to mock her own faults, excesses and failures.  Upon being named a Dame of the British Empire, she famously quipped, “I’ve always been a broad, now I’m a dame.”

Thinking about how much I’ve always admired Elizabeth Taylor’s spirit and resilience I came across this piece in the Huff Post featuring eight women writers’ female heroes (one of the authors is our own, wonderful Tayari Jones).  I expected that the heroes chosen would be literary types—the usual suspects such as Jane Eyre, Jo March, or even some unusual ones like Olive Kitteridge—but instead, these authors picked women like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rosa Parks, and Zelda Fitzgerald.   Dynamic, smart, dogged, defiant, and mostly unforgettable real women.  It occurs to me that these iconic figures spark our imaginations in ways that eventually find their lives and actions reinvented and reinterpreted (and sometimes rediscovered) in books, plays, and songs.   From Joan of Arc to Eleanor of Aquitaine to Evita Peron our female heroes have become great fictional characters as well.

But how about all the literary figures who are merely based on a real female hero?  What are your favorite examples of veiled portrayals of great or famous or notorious women who made their mark in the real world and whose avatars live on in fiction?

October 01, 2010   DGLM   celebrity, fun, Rachel, reading  
13

Caution: Snooki writing

by Rachel

Thanks to Michael for pointing out this Salon article on celebrity novelists (don’t be turned off by Snooki’s photograph heading the story—you should read this!). Michael Humphrey notes that it takes a “special daring jump” for celebrities to pen novels, if celebrities are penning these at all (I really don’t believe Lauren Conrad wrote her novel—do you? Do you care?), and I have to agree. Memoirs I understand; everyone wants to read about someone else’s life, but when it comes to fiction, should celebrities stay away from trying their hand at literature?

I, for one, won’t be reading Snooki’s novel, but for fun, what do you think the opening line to the book will be?

September 20, 2010   DGLM   celebrity, Jim, memoir  
4

What Makes a Good Memoir?

So let’s just get this out of the way. I’m a big enough fan of Patti LuPone that I was at the bookstore on the day her memoir came out itching to buy a copy. When she was at Book Expo America (on the one day I didn’t go!), I politely texted three of our other agents asking if they might be able to get her to sign something for me (they did!). I’m a drama nerd, and while I’ve seen LuPone deliver some astonishing performances, the real reason I couldn’t wait to read the book is that she’s a bit of a…um…well, let’s say she’s a character. She has lots of personality. Lots. I mean, check her out stopping the show during a performance of Gypsy if you haven’t already.

Point is: she’s bigger than life, so she should have turned out a magnificent memoir. Right? Well, yes, she should have. So why didn’t she?

Turns out LuPone stumbled into the same traps that a lot of memoir writers do. Living an interesting life does not mean you’ll be able to write an interesting memoir. And relating facts chronologically does not an interesting narrative make. You need to be incredibly self-aware to write about yourself successfully. You need to set vanity aside: if you’re always trying to portray yourself in a positive light, you’re just posturing. You need to have a story to tell. A story. Having lots of little stories doesn’t count. There has to be something linking what you’re telling us, and we need to progress from beginning to middle to end. Otherwise, even the most interesting material can start to get dry (I’m looking at you, Bill Clinton). You also need to be a great writer. People sometimes seem to think that memoirs are easier to write than fiction. They shouldn’t be. If anything, the writing should be even better in a memoir than in a novel since you can’t just change the facts to make the story more interesting (I’m looking at you, James Frey).

Long story short: memoirs are harder than they look. And remember: never bore your readers.

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