Lincoln Michel

2 weeks ago | countercraft.substack.com | Lincoln Michel

Over the weekend, the Chicago Sun-Times—a storied and award-winning newspaper and longtime home of Roger Ebert—published a summer reading list. Almost all the books were fake. There is no Nightshade Market by Min Jin Lee, Boiling Point by Rebecca Makkai, The Last Algorithm by Andy Weir, or The Rainmakers by Percival Everett, among other invented titles. The article was not only generated by ChatGPT (or similar program), but clearly unedited.

3 weeks ago | lithub.com | Lincoln Michel

It is conventional wisdom that novels are either plot-driven or character-driven, but I’ve long been fascinated with the way structure can drive a story. Structure is the vessel we pour our narrative into. It goes a long way to determining its shape. Unusual structures produce surprising novels. There’s nothing wrong with Freytag’s Pyramid, I suppose, but sometimes you need to flip the pyramid on its head or blow it up and build something else altogether.

3 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Lincoln Michel

15 hours agoThe President has named a new Acting Librarian of Congress. It's his former defense lawyer. Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States, has been appointed as the acting Librarian of Congress by President Trump, according to a spokesperson at the Department of Justice. The permanent post of Librarian of Congress must be confirmed by the Senate.

1 month ago | countercraft.substack.com | Lincoln Michel

Metallic Realms lands on bookstore shelves next week! The novel has received very flattering reviews so far from Esquire (“Brilliant”), Publishers Weekly (“riveting”), Elle (“hilariously clever”), Booklist (“just plain wonderful”), and elsewhere.If you have any interest, I hope you’ll consider preordering or picking up on pub day. More information here. There have been many takes debating the most important literary trend of the century so far.

2 months ago | publishersweekly.com | Maria Reva |Meg Clayton |Lori Ostlund |Lincoln Michel

Gaëlle Belem, trans. from the French by Hildegarde Serle. Europa, $24 (192p) ISBN 979-8-88966-100-9French author Belem’s remarkable U.S. debut chronicles the life of trailblazing Creole horticulturalist Edmond Albius (1829–1880). Edmond was born into slavery in La Réunion. After his mother dies in childbirth, he’s raised by his enslaver, Ferreol, who teaches him the principles of botany, fueling the passion that will define his life.