This is one of those delightful little books that shops keep near their counter: literary impulse buys. My husband found it in Type Books, in their literary impulse buy department, and I’m lucky that he spoiled me with it because it’s the sort of little book that I’d love to have, but I’d never have bought it for myself.
Not because it’s not delightful: it definitely is. But because there’s always a more [useful, serious, note-worthy, prize-winner-ish, world-widening] book to choose instead.
Although there are some statements that aren’t a perfect fit for me, at least some of those are a perfect fit for friends of mine, so I’m willing to adopt the premise that those few which don’t fit either category must perfectly describe a friend of Adair Lara’s.
Here’s a sample:
You are shipwrecked on a deserted island but can’t send the rescue note off in the bottle because you have no access to spell-check.
You have an opinion on the serial comma.
You’d write anything they’d let you write: horoscopes, greeting cards, catalog copy. You’ve even wondered how much fortune cookie writers make.
You think of eavesdropping as researching.
Good fun for writers.
Adair Lara’s You Know You’re a Writer When… (Chronicle Books, 2007)