Madam Mayo

Friday, March 13, 2009

For the Novelist's Bookshelf: One Dozen Recommended Books on Craft and Creating

My guest-blog for ForeWord's Publishing Insider column.
Posted by C.M. Mayo at 3:38 AM
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Labels: books for novelists, books on craft of writing, books on creating, C.M. Mayo, ForeWord Magazine, Publishing Insider
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AS OF JANUARY 2019

>> Click here to read "Madam Mayo" on the new self-hosted WordPress site, www.madam-mayo.com.

C.M. MAYO'S BOOKS

* METEOR
Gival Press Award for Poetry
* METAPHYSICAL ODYSSEY INTO THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION
Indie Excellence Award for History
* THE LAST PRINCE OF THE MEXICAN EMPIRE
A Library Journal Best Book
* MIRACULOUS AIR
Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico
* MEXICO: A TRAVELER'S LITERARY COMPANION
24 Mexican writers on Mexico, many in translation for the first time
* SKY OVER EL NIDO
Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction

WELCOME, DEAR CURIOUS AND EXTRA-ADVENTUROUS READER!

Through narrative we become more human. Truth is beauty. Exploration is infinite.

I am C.M. Mayo, writer, poet, and literary translator. Member, Texas Institute of Letters. www.cmmayo.com

I’ve been blogging here at “Madam Mayo” since 2006 about my works, recommended reading, and whatever and whomever else pops up a-blinking on my super-extra-interesting radar.

Why the funny name? A poet once wrote to me, Dear Madam Mayo, and I thought that was hilarious. (Ha, I’m old enough to remember the Gang of Four.)

In 2019 I will once again be blogging on Mondays, except when not, devoting the second Monday of the month to my writing workshop students and anyone else interested in creative writing, and the fourth to a Q & A with a fellow writer.

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NOW ALSO IN KINDLE

NOW ALSO IN KINDLE
"A swashbuckling, riotous good time, befitting the fairy-tale promise of the opening sentence." --AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR HISTORY

NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR HISTORY
C.M. MAYO'S EYE-OPENING NEW BIOGRAPHY OF FRANCISCO I. MADERO, LEADER OF MEXICO'S 1910 REVOLUTION
"[A] masterful introduction to a topic that hasn't been explored in this accessible way before, and may never be again."
-- OCCULT OF PERSONALITY

> Read more reviews and excerpts

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

C.M. MAYO AT THE UCSD CENTER FOR US-MEXICAN STUDIES, U TEXAS EL PASO, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS & MORE

C.M. MAYO AT THE UCSD CENTER FOR US-MEXICAN STUDIES, U TEXAS EL PASO, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS & MORE

New on Kindle, my longform essay on the Mexican literary landscape and the power of the book

New on Kindle, my longform essay on the Mexican literary landscape and the power of the book
"With great insight and humor, C.M. Mayo takes you by the hand and leads you on a guided tour through Mexico's complex and amazingly rich literary past... An engrossing and truly illuminating portrayal of the country's literary production throughout the ages. Highly recommended." —Diana Anhalt, author of A Gathering of Fugitives: American Political Expatriates 1947-1965

C.M. MAYO'S ON-LINE BOOKSHOP

C.M. MAYO'S ON-LINE BOOKSHOP
Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution; The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire; Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion; Sky Over El Nido, and more titles by C.M. Mayo

Quetzalpugalotl & Quetzalpugtl Chillin' in Tepoztlan

Quetzalpugalotl & Quetzalpugtl Chillin' in Tepoztlan

MIRACULOUS AIR: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico

MIRACULOUS AIR: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

Get the paperback from all major online booksellers, including

Top Posts

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Ur Posts from the Dawn of Blogging

Ur Posts from the Dawn of Blogging

ALL YE MULTITUDINOUS POSTS OF YORE, YONDER BACK TO AD 2006-- THE 930TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1066

ALL YE MULTITUDINOUS POSTS OF YORE, YONDER BACK TO AD 2006-- THE 930TH ANNIVERSARY OF 1066

Selected interviews with other writers and podcasters

Selected interviews with other writers and podcasters

Q & A with Other Writers

  • Q & A with Amy Hale Auker on "Ordinary Skin: Essays from Willow Springs"
  • Q & A with Mary Mackey on "The Jaguars That Prowl Our Dreams"
  • Q & A with Lynn Downey on Researching California History
  • Q & A with Yermiyahu Ahron Taub on "Prodigal Children in the House of G-d"
  • Q & A with Sara Mansfield Taber on "Chance Particulars"
  • Q & A with Nancy Peacock on "The Life and Times of Persimmon Wilson"
  • Q & A with Leslie Pietrzyk on "Silver Girl"
  • Q & A with Mary S. Black on Travels in Texas
  • Q & A with Ellen Cassedy and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub on Blume Lempel's "Oedipus in Brooklyn"
  • Q & A with Shelley Armitage on "Walking the Llano"
  • Q & A with Carolina Castillo Crimm on "De León: A Tejano Family History"
  • Q & A with Paul Cool on "The Salt Warriors"
  • Q & A with John Kachuba on "The Savage Apostle"
  • Q & A with Karen Benke, Poet, Creativity and Fun Maven, Letter Writing Aficionada, and Author of "Write Back Soon!"
  • Q & A with Edward Swift on the Big Thicket, New York, the Orphic Journey, San Miguel de Allende, the Sierra Gorda, and More
  • Q & A with Sonja D. Williams on Writing "Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, and Freedom"
  • Q & A with Roger Greenwald, Poet and Literary Translator of Gunnar Harding
  • Q & A with Rev Stephen Hermann on Francisco I. Madero as Medium
  • Q & A with Independent Publisher Michele Orwin, Founding Editor of Bacon Press Books
  • Q & A with Tod Goldberg about Podcasting with Literary Disco
  • Q & A with Mexican Historian Alan Rojas Orzechowski on Painter Santiago Rebull
  • Q & A with Rice Freeman-Zachery on Creative Podcasting
  • Plus: Podcast interviews in "Conversations with Other Writers"
  • Plus: Many more interviews on the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project

TOP POSTS ON WRITING

  • Writin' the Rollercoaster: Diction Drops & Spikes
  • Virginia Tufte's ARTFUL SENTENCES: SYNTAX AS STYLE
  • Grokking Plot: The Elegant Example of BREAD AND JAM FOR FRANCES
  • One Powerful But Simple Practice for Reading as a Writer
  • On Seeing as an Artist or, Five Techniques for a Journey Towards Einfuhlung
  • 30 Deadly-Effective Ways to Free Up Bits, Drips & Gimungously Vast Swaths of Time for Writing
  • Eight Conclusions After 8 Years of Blogging
  • So How's the Book Doing? (And How Many Have You Sold? And What was Your Print Run?)
  • The Manuscript Is Ready (Or Is It?) What's Next?
  • A Dozen Dialogue Exercises
  • 10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Writing Workshop
  • The Mental Edge
  • Literary Travel Writing
  • Decluttering or, The Integrity of Design
  • The Arc of Writerly Action

TOP POSTS ON BOOKS

  • Top 10+ Books Read 2018
  • Top 12+ Books Read 2017
  • Top 10+ Books Read 2016
  • Top 10+ Books Read 2015
  • Top 10 Books Read 2014
  • Top 10 Books Read 2013
  • Top 10 Books Read 2012
  • Top 10 Books Read 2011
  • Top 10 Books Read 2010
  • Top 10 Books Read 2009
  • Top 10 Books Read 2008
  • Top 10 Books Read 2007
  • Top 10 Books Read 2006
  • Claudio Saunt's West of the Revolution: An Uncommon History of 1776
  • Reading Mexico: Recommendations from the Chocolate Box for a Book Club of Extra-Curious & Adventurous English-Language Readers
  • A Visit to the Casa de la Primera Imprenta, Mexico City
  • What the Muse Sent Me About the Tenth Muse, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
  • Sam Quinones' Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic
  • Edward H. Miller's Nut Country: Right-wing Dallas and the Birth of the Southern Strategy
  • James McWilliams' The Pecan: A History of America's Native Nut
  • Why Translate? The Case of the President of Mexico's Secret Book
  • Five Super Simple Tips for Better Book Design
  • Lonn Taylor's Texas People, Texas Places
  • A Window to the Invisible World: Maestro Amajur and the Smoking Signatures
  • My Dad's Book, Captured: The Forgotten Men of Guam
  • Why Aren't There More Readers? A Note on Curiosity, Creativity, and Courage
  • Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West
  • The Holographic Universe
  • Around the World With Madam Mayo

A MENU OF POSSIBILITIES TO CONSIDER

A MENU OF POSSIBILITIES TO CONSIDER

VISIT MY OTHER BLOGS (NO, I DO NOT BLOG ALL DAY THOUGH THAT SURE WOULD BE FUN)

MARFA MONDAYS BLOG
The blog for the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project: Exploring Marfa, Texas & Environs in 24 Podcasts, 2012-2013. All about the podcasts, plus photos, books, videos, and more about Marfa and the Big Bend. This blog and the podcasts are apropos of a work in progress, World Waiting for a Dream: A Turn in Far West Texas.

MAXIMILIAN ~ CARLOTA BLOG
A once-in-a-while-on-Tuesdays blog to share my (copius) research and other information related to my novel set during the 1860s in Mexico-- that tumultuous period known as the Second Empire or French Intervention.

READING TOLSTOY'S WAR & PEACE
Finally, after numerous attempts, I tackled the behemoth in 2011. This blog, now closed but ever open for perusal, I kept for myself, for fellow W&P travelers past, present and future, and for my writing workshop students so they can see precisely what I mean by "reading as a writer."

GIANT GOLDEN BUDDHA & 364 More 5 Minute Writing Exercises (ex-blog / blog archive)
A long-ago blog by Yours Truly and friends, now an ebook. Help yourself.

Click on the cover to learn more about this rare eyewitness memoir of Maximilian

Click on the cover to learn more about this rare eyewitness memoir of Maximilian

Blogroll: YE TYPOSPHERE

Backspace Does Not Erase
Life in a Typewriter Shop
The long slow {typecast} blog
Sammlerclub Historischer Buromaschinen Schweiz
The Typewriter Revolution
Welcome to the Typosphere

Blogroll: TEXAS HISTORY & TEXAS LITERARY

Ana Carolina Castillo Crimm
Paul Cool
K.K. Searle's Texas History Page
Lone Star Literary Life
Texas Book Lover (Michelle Newby)
Texas Heritage Society
Texas Institute of Letters
Texas State Historical Association

… more links coming soon...

Blogroll: RARE BOOKS

* Bookman's Log (Greg Gibson of Ten Pound Island Books)
* Book Tryst (Stephen J. Gertz)
* The Exile Bibliophile (Benjamin L. Clark)
* Fine Books Magazine Blog
* Literary Tourist
* Rare Books Digest
* Text Technologies (Elaine Treharne)

Blogroll: SOUTH OF THE (US.MEXICO) BORDER

  • Rosa Ma Porrua
  • Crónicas Californianas
  • Border Lines (Tom Barry)
  • Sterling Bennett
  • Sher Davidson
  • Enrique Alfaro Llarena
  • XGUSTO (Martín Casillas de Alba)
  • Casita Colibrí
  • Red Shoes Are Better Than Bacon
  • Jenny Red Bug
  • Araceli Ardón
  • Agustín Cadena
  • Paco Calderon
  • Bertha Hernández (Historia de México)
  • David Lida
  • Rachael Laudan
  • Literal Magazine
  • Richard Perry's Colonial Mexico
  • Brian L. Price (Mexican Literature)
  • Deborah Riner
  • Maximilian ~ Carlota
  • Jesus Silva-Herzog Márquez
  • Mexico City: An Opinionated Guide
  • Mexico Cooks!
  • Mexico Guru
  • Mexico File
  • Mexico Reporter
  • Sam Quinones
  • Rosemary Salum
  • San Miguel Writers Conference News Blog
  • Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado
  • Heribert von Feilitzsch
  • Woodrow Wilson Mexico Institute
  • The Mex Files
  • Good Food in Mexico City
  • Todos Santos Baja Pages Blog

Blogroll: FAR WEST, FAR EAST & YONDER

  • Dosanko Debbie
  • George Monbiot

Blogroll: NORTH OF THE BORDER & BEYOND Creatives Edition

  • 32 Poems
  • A Splendid Wake
  • Advanced Style
  • Adventure Travel Writer (L. Peat O'Neil)
  • Andrea Jones, Between Urban and Wild
  • Annogram
  • Bacon and Books
  • Barbara Morrison's Monday Morning Book Blog
  • Beltway Poetry
  • Brigid Amos (Nebraska Notion)
  • Christine Boyka Kluge
  • Critical Mass (NBCC Blog)
  • Cultural Weekly
  • Cynthia Haven's The Book Haven
  • Daniel Gutstein
  • Dave Bricker's The World's Greatest Book
  • Deborah Batterman
  • Delia Lloyd
  • Dry Heat Blog (David Cristiani)
  • E. Ethelbert Miller
  • Eat, Read, Share Book Club
  • Femme et Fleur (Carol Markel, poetry as millinery)
  • First Person Plural (Writer's Center)
  • Francis Tapon
  • Gregory Conti
  • iGNANT
  • Independent Book Publishers Association Blog
  • Jan Bowman
  • Jim Kunstler
  • John Randolph Bennett
  • Joseph Hutchinson's The Perpetual Bird
  • Justin Nobel's Digital Dying
  • Karren Alenier
  • Kathryn Dunn
  • Ken Albala's Food Rant Blog
  • Kevin Kelly
  • Laila Lailami
  • largehearted boy
  • Laurie Gough's Travel Writing Life
  • Leslie Pietrzyk
  • Lisa Carter's Intralingo
  • Lisa G. Sharp
  • Liz Castro's Pigs, Gourds, and Wikis
  • Mann Library's Daily Haiku
  • MARFA MONDAYS (my other blog)
  • Marginal Revolution
  • Mark Athitakis
  • Mary S. Black
  • Nancy Marie Brown's God of Wednesday
  • Neal Gillen
  • Nita Congress
  • Nordic Mountain
  • Número Cinq
  • Patricia Dubrava
  • Peter Behrens
  • Phil Jason
  • Phronesisaical
  • Political Party Time
  • Postcards from San Antonio
  • Quid Plura?
  • Rice Freeman-Zachery
  • Richard Barron (The Traveller)
  • Richard Goodman's Geezer Journal
  • Richard Polt's The Typewriter Revolution
  • Rick Kinnaird
  • Right-reading
  • Sandra Beasely
  • Sara Mansfield Taber
  • Sarah Zalan's Photoblog, "One"
  • Sententia Vera
  • Sergio Troncoso
  • Seth Godin
  • Steve Blank
  • Steven Hart
  • Susan J. Tweit
  • Swiss Miss
  • The Blue Lantern
  • The Way of Improvement Leads Home
  • Unbridled Books Blog
  • Undine's World of Edgar Allan Poe
  • Viral History (Ken Ackerman)
  • Washington Review of Books
  • Women Writing the West
  • Zack Rogow

Blogroll: TOTALLY COSMIC

  • Arlington Institute FuturEdition e-newsletter
  • Dr Rita Louise
  • Early Retirement Extreme
  • Frank DeMarco
  • Heterodoxology (Egil Asprem)
  • John Kachuba
  • Lori Williams
  • Margaret Dulaney
  • Michael Tymn
  • Nemaha
  • Peter Woodbury
  • Ralph Mag
  • Robotenomics
  • Rose Rosetree
  • Sophy Burnham
  • Steven A. Hermann

C.M. MAYO'S ONLINE LIBRARY OF OUT-OF-COPYRIGHT TEXAS BOOKS

> Click here.

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