My Review of The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey

The Unstrung Harp by Edward Gorey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Poor Mr. Earbrass, facing the eccentricities and foibles of the creative process that all of us writers must endure, the endless editing, and the excruciating process of getting published!

This little book is a delight and a must-read for anyone who loves books or, particularly, is involved in making them. Gorey's illustrations are delightful, and though this is a quick read and an old-style writing (as is the setting), his wit is spot-on. Perhaps my favorite part is when he is nearing the end of his creation, where "the characters have one and all become thoroughly tiresome, as though he had been trapped at the same party with them since the day before; neglected sections of the plot loom on every hand, waiting to be disposed of; his verbs seem to have withered away and his adjectives to be proliferating past control."

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Cheers and happy reading!

10 Cheesy Pick-Up Lines for Writers

There's one in very nightclub. You know the type. That creepy pick-up artist who eyes you from across the bar, cocktail in hand, then sidles up to you, looks you up and down, and says .... 

(Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash)

But no, lose the nightclub. Now you're in a cafe next to a bookstore. And everything about you says "WRITER." That introverted way about you. Glasses. Unassuming clothes. And, of course, an open book or laptop next to your pumpkin spice latte.

And up walks another writer, but instead of a cocktail in his hand it's a cappuccino, and in the other a copy of something pretension enough to worthy deep discussion. Maybe Tolstoy. Maybe The New Yorker. He's got a man bun and an ironic but neatly trimmed beard. A real hipster. The sort who boasts about his Great American Novel but is still searching for that bit of inspiration to get it started.

Then he invites himself to sit at your table, looks you up and down, and says...


10. "I like the curves of your story arc, baby."

9. "This is one conjugation guaranteed to make you comma." 

8. “You’re my climax.” 

7. "If you show, I won't tell."

6. "Ooh! I haven't seen a 'plot' that big since War and Peace."

5. "I've got some Great Expectations for you, with an Oliver Twist!"

4. "I'm plotting a way into your heart."

3. "Wanna see where I put my apostrophe?"

2. "How about we start with some foreshadowing?"

1. "Hey, girl, wanna see what's between my covers?"

and a bonus!

"Baby, if you were words on a page, you’d be fiiine print."

Do you have another great "writer pick-up line" to contribute? Leave a comment!

Cheers and happy reading!

A fantastic review of my horror collection, Around the Corner from Sanity

Quoth the Writer Book Reviews has regular reviews of books, author interviews (stay tuned for one with me!), and more.

Now they've just released an in-depth review of my collection of 14

The reviewer, Lisa Hodorovych, with her copy.

horror and paranormal humor stories, Around the Corner from Sanity. Some quotes from the review:

• "one of the main reasons I loved these stories was because you legitimately felt shivers coursing through your body, your heart skipping a beat, your eyes widening in fear, and just felt a real reaction to these stories."
• "He does a fantastic job of making you feel what the character’s feeling, of making you feel scared, of making you scream “Oh my gosh, run!” at the book. I was truly amazed."
• "The stories in it will shock you and horrify you, but some will also make you laugh. Jason does an excellent job of tying in different emotions or behaviors, like laughter, to make it more real."

READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE.

You can also go to the book's Amazon page, where you can read all seven of the 5-star reviews that readers have left.

Cheers and happy reading!