Weird Week in Writing: The last audiobook you’d ever expect; Shakespeare crook goes to jail; the writer of Armageddon makes Salinger film

Freaky Friday—the latest from the weird and wonderful world of
writing this week (followed, as always, by a prompt). Happy weekend!

Celluloid Salinger: Keeping up with the general strangeness/awesomeness of the J.D. Salinger legacy, a new documentary about the author is on its way in September by … the writer/co-writer of Armageddon and Shaft. Director Shane Salerno also is working on a massive biography, The Private War of J.D. Salinger, with David Shields.

For your ears only: London-based publisher Beautiful Books is releasing the first-ever audio version of the Kama Sutra. Next up: A pop-up book?

Daunting Data: There are 129,864,880 books in the world. But there’s got to be a little room left for the rest of us in there, right?

All’s Well That Ends Well: An antiques dealer gets a hold of a stolen original Shakespeare folio, damages it in an attempt to make it look like a different copy, poses as an international playboy, and gets eight years in jail.

Burt Reynolds Hotline: The Letters I Get … and Write!: And eight other awful library books.

Bieber’s Bio: Justin Bieber may have tweeted that his new book is in fact not a memoir, but that doesn’t mean Britney Spears’ Heart to Heart and Drew Barrymore’s Little Girl Lost never happened. Here’s the HuffPo’s roundup of books from the under-25 set.

Spawn spawns winner: Comics hit the courts again, and in the legal dilemma between writer Neil Gaiman and artist Todd McFarlane, Gaiman has emerged victorious. Further cementing his status as one of the world’s coolest writers, Gaiman has said the settlement will go to comics charities.

(Image: Via)

* * *

WRITING PROMPT:Inked
Feel free to take the following prompt home or post a
response (500 words or fewer, funny, sad or stirring) in the Comments section below.
By posting, you’ll be automatically entered in our
occasional around-the-office swag drawings.
If
you’re having trouble with the
captcha code sticking, e-mail your piece and the prompt to me at
writersdigest@fwmedia.com, with “Promptly” in the subject line, and I’ll
make sure it gets up.

You've never seen anything like the tattoo. So, in the bar, you ask him what it means.

--

Ten writing experts, from Natalie Goldberg to Donald Maass, on the “rules” of writing (what does Show, Don’t Tell really mean?);
10 bestsellers, from Jodi Picoult to Chuck Palahniuk, offer top 10
lists on the writing life; 10 ways to use hurt and anger to fuel your writing; 10
Tips for Delivering a Killer Reading; 10-Minute Fixes to 10 Common Plot
Problems. Click here to check out the Big 10 issue of Writer's Digest magazine.

MORE RESOURCES FOR WRITERS

• Upcoming Webinar!
Get Published with Nina, The Writing Coach?
Are
you looking to get published? What’s stopping you? (You have great
ideas but have trouble getting started? You've been writing forever but
can't finish?
Time and schedules are getting in the way? No one
takes you seriously? You're lost in a sea of plot and characters? You
fear rejection?) Nina, The Writing Coach can help. Check out her webinar
here.

• Online
workshops for writers

• Get

Published with Writer’s Market

• Instantly download writing magazines, books, videos
&
more

• Sign

up for your
Writer’s Digest email newsletter & receive a FREE e-book