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RC: Hi everybody, Rick Chillot here. You know what I like? Free time, sanity, a pain-free spine, a good night's sleep, what's left of my hairline…the list goes on and on. So when I came across the one-month-novel-writing event Camp NaNoWriMo, from the people behind National Novel Writing Month, my horror could not have been greater. And yet, I kept thinking about it. Is it truly possible to write a 50,000 word novel in one month? What would that experience be like? Would I absolutely hate it, or just moderately hate it? In the end, it seemed the only way to punish myself for even considering this was to sign up and try it, with the hope that the emotional scars would prevent me from making similar decisions in the future.

For National Library Week, we asked some of our authors to reflect on the libraries in their lives. Here's Ben H. Winters (The Last Policeman) on his:

Last weekend I took this picture of the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, in Columbus, Indiana, about an hour from where I live in Indianapolis. Like a lot of buildings in Columbus—a small town with a  rich architectural tradition—this building is a masterpiece, built in 1969 by I.M. Pei.

Authors have a way with words, but these authors have a way with music, too, whether acting as the opener for a band or playing in one themselves. Here are six authors that have a musical side as well.

Hey there booklovers!

As the year comes to a close at the Quirk HQ, I’m looking to bring a few more freelance bloggers onto the Quirk Books website. I have a few on here already, writing about everything from recipes to books, pop culture to comics. Scope out some posts from Elizabeth Quirino and Thom Dunn for fantastic examples. Please note, it’s best not to click on Elizabeth’s recipe links before lunch.

I’m looking for bloggers interested in writing anything and everything, from quirky editorial on pop culture to delectable recipes, Top 10 lists to fun photo roundups, spotlights on crafts to music playlists… you get the picture. We’re also looking for bloggers interested in writing about parenting, for our Raising Quirk community. If the stories have a bookish slant, even better. I want them. Take some time to flip through the Quirk website to get an idea of what we like to post.

As for requirements, you should:

* Be passionate about books.

* Have a decent presence on major social media networks. Twitter, Facebook, etc.

* Be willing to promote your posts on those networks.

Yes, we’re paying bloggers for their posts. It’s not a lot, but it’s something. Pay varies depending on the sort of content you’re creating, whether you’re working on simple short posts (ie: recipe posts, craft spotlights) or in-depth featured pieces (top 10 lists, lengthy editorial). We will discuss.

Interested? Drop me an email at [email protected]. Tell me a bit about yourself, what you’re interested in writing about, and include a few links to some writing samples. No resumes please. Just a friendly email and links to clips will do.