The Red Pen of Doom Murders The Fountainhead

by Linda Rodriguez

I like to read other writers’ blogs, because I can often find out new ways of doing things, get tips on all aspects of the publishing game, and just find someone who understands what we're all going through. Sometimes, a writer will do unusual things with her or his blog that really sets them apart and causes me to place them high on my list. 

Such is The Red Pen of Doom, the blog of Guy Bergstrom, a journalist and speech writer. Bergstrom has valuable writing tips, random reviews of books, movies, and TV shows, social media wisdom, and weird news of the publishing and real worlds. I find this eclectic mix amusing, useful, and always interesting.

https://redpenofdoom.com/the-red-pen-of-doom-murders-the-fountainhead-by-ayn-rand/

I must admit that my favorite post on his blog, however, is “The Red Pen of Doom Murders The Fountainhead.” This is part of a series of posts where Bergstrom takes on well-known novels as if he were the English 101 professor and they were freshmen themes. They can be absolutely delicious fun, but none of them is as hilarious as this one, which looks at Ayn Rand’s famous novel, The Fountainhead.

My favorite line in his post, I believe, is “Otherwise, I don’t hate her writing per se. I merely despise it.” It's tough to choose, however, because this post is loaded with zingers. 

So enjoy, and when you finish, check out the rest of his blog for some actually good practical advice on writing and publishing, as well as other interesting tidbits. He's also around on Twitter @speechwriterguy. Give him a follow.

Linda Rodriguez's 11th book, Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology (edited), was recently published. Dark Sister: Poems is her 10^th book and is a finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Plotting the Character-Driven Novel, based on her popular workshop, and The World Is One Place: Native American Poets Visit the Middle East, an anthology she co-edited, were published in 2017.  Every Family Doubt, her fourth mystery featuring Cherokee detective, Skeet Bannion, and Revising the Character-Driven Novel will be published in 2019. Her three earlier Skeet novels—Every Hidden Fear, Every Broken Trust, Every Last Secret—and earlier books of poetry—Skin Hunger and Heart's Migration—have received critical recognition and awards, such as St. Martin's Press/Malice Domestic Best First Novel, International Latino Book Award, Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, Midwest Voices & Visions, Elvira Cordero Cisneros Award, Thorpe Menn Award, and Ragdale and Macondo fellowships. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

Rodriguez is past chair of the AWP Indigenous Writer’s Caucus, past president of Border Crimes chapter of Sisters in Crime, founding board member of Latino Writers Collective and The Writers Place, and a member of International Thriller Writers, Native Writers Circle of the Americas, Wordcraft Circle of Native American Writers and Storytellers, and Kansas City Cherokee Community. Learn more about her at http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com