James D. Best

NYU teaches a class in storytelling the Tisch School of the Arts. On the first day of class, Professor Liotti invited Trey Parker and Matt S...

I watched the final episode of Justified last night. A little tardy you might think. Not to my way of thinking. I never watch any TV ...

I believe Mark Twain is the greatest western writer of all time. Not only did Tom and Huck live on the frontier, but Roughing It des...

Snake in the Grass A Steve Dancy Tale A lone wrangler with a fine herd of horses goes berserk in the middle of nowhere.  Steve D...

I write novels. Seven and counting. (Plus six nonfiction books, if I include my ghost writing assignments.) I’ve previously written only on...

I bounce around the internet each morning after checking email. I scan a lot of articles, but rarely get by the first few paragraphs. M...

Henry Miller, circa 1930 As someone who admires storytelling skills, I’m not a fan of Henry Miller . He wrote stop-and-read-again sente...

Hemingway never published advice for aspiring writers, but he spoke or wrote enough about writing that Larry W. Phillips was able to ...

My favorite television program is Justified .  I don’t lament its demise because I watch TV programs on Netflix or Amazon Prime. I ...

Orwell's Rules 35 cents for a Masterpiece Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to see...

Thomas Sowell also recommends giving books for Christmas. Here is an excerpt from today's column. Christmas Books, by Thomas Sowel...

Fictional Bookstore From You've Got Mail We just returned from New York City. My son’s family lives on the Upper West side with h...

An Editor on the Comstock Lode by Wells Drury Previously, I wrote that Mark Twain is my favorite Western writer . Twain actually ...

I’ve contended that word of mouth is the greatest marketing tool available to authors. Word of mouth includes book clubs, online recommenda...

Last week I wrote about living without my handy Kindle. I relearned how to buy a paperback at the airport and life went on. Somethi...

I carry my Kindle with me almost everywhere I go. Now, instead of fuming at airport security, I read or shop for my next book. If my wife a...

When I attended the Tucson Festival of Books as a panelist, I also joined the audience in a number of other sessions. One of the best s...

I self-published The Shopkeeper in 2007. It seems like a lifetime ago, but in indie-publishing terms, it was an eon. I stumbled into i...

I’ve returned home after an extended vacation in Pacific Beach, California. I made good progress on Jenny’s Revenge , but I keep forget...

Yours Truly on an overhead wave.(Who're ya gonna believe, me or yer lyin' eyes.) Writing and surfing and sun and good food and ...