Old Dog, New Tricks

Here are a handful of writing-related stories worth chewing over this weekend:

If you really want to get away with murder, don’t write about it in your best-selling thriller and then taunt the police with evidence of your “genius.”

Cherie Priest made a really strong debut with her horror novel “Four and Twenty Blackbirds.” Here’s what she’s learned since the publication of her first book.

Anybody who has a vested interest in the health of newspaper book review sections should read this (long) article by Steve Wasserman, former editor of the LA Times Book Review.

Just in case you’re wondering, I don’t make anything near a living by being a book reviewer. I earn a salary as a marketing copywriter, creating ads, sales collateral, web banners and the occasional TV/radio campaign for a major West Coast daily. I intend never to discuss my day-to-day interactions with my employer. There’s no way I can afford to be Dooced.

But I don’t see any reason why I can’t point the way to interesting articles and sites about the newspaper industry in general, even if my employer is mentioned prominently. Here’s one from Business Week, which I found via Poynter Online, your one-stop site for journalism news and gossip. Jon Fine argues that the San Francisco Chronicle should scrap its presses and go purely digital. You first, pal.

I’m not sure I agree with all of Fine’s points, but they’re certainly worth considering. Meanwhile, one enterprising do-it-yourselfer at the Birmingham News has already invented the digital newsrack. (Via Clear Night Sky)