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THE LOSSES
A novel
"The Losses is a literary triumph for debut novelist Cully Perlman. The talented writer weaves a potent tale of a family split apart by betrayals and mistakes that reverberate from one generation to the next.
- Nancy Stancill
A Page a Day is a Book in a Year
Writing is a job. It's fun. It's trying. It's hard. But if you're committed to getting published, you have to put the work in. Come to Novelmasterclass.blog to get tips, read and watch interviews and book reviews, and learn how to write.
From Poetry to Prose: One Writer’s Journey into Middle Grades Fiction
Before I was a teacher, I’d been a newspaper reporter, and before that, I’d been a neighborhood snoop. Some of my adolescent interests involved using police scanners and CB radios. I knew things about our town and neighbors that few teenagers would have cared about: who’d been arrested, where the latest car crashes occurred, whose house burned down. This acquisition of semi-dark knowledge eventually motivated me toward journalism, where I could use writing and investigation s
John Davis Jr.
Nov 114 min read
WRITING THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END OF a NOVEL
Two days ago, I completed another full edit of a novel I’ve been working on for 23 years (yes, 23—that’s not a typo). I have a beginning I sort of like. I’ve worked on it again and again for over two decades. The beginning of my novel, which deals with the mental trauma experienced by a young boy in a small town, trauma that naturally follows him through the rest of his life, including during WWII and upon his return home, starts out with a lot of violence. Things change.
Cully Perlman
Nov 47 min read
A Letter to Writers
We live in a time when some of the greatest books every written have been “banned.” It’s a direct attack on the First Amendment under the guise of “protecting children.” Of course, this comes down from the top, and the top is a man who has had to pay a woman for having raped her. It comes from a man who calls his victims liars. A man who has created a country where if you’re not white and republican, you’re the enemy, and so he’s terrorizing anyone brown-skinned, or from othe
Cully Perlman
Nov 25 min read
IS FINDING TIME TO WRITE IMPOSSIBLE?
Finding Time to Write is up to You. We're all Busy. We all have Jobs. Ask Yourself This: Do I Really Want it? For some people, the answer is absolutely. For others, not so much. I bring this up today because someone in one of the writing groups that I’m a part of on social media made the comment that they weren’t able to start anything because they weren’t going to be able to finish it, or something to that effect. They have a full-time job (I don’t even think they have kids,
Cully Perlman
Oct 286 min read
5 Motivational Writing Tips to Get You Back to Work
So, on this beautiful Friday (it’s beautiful where I’m at and looks to be pretty nice all over the U.S., though Tropical Storm Melissa looks like it’s becoming a hurricane), I want to share 5 motivational writing tips to get you back to work.
Don’t Edit While You Write. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, and you know what it means. But it doesn’t have to be a full-on, abandon that adverb that sticks out like a sore thumb sort of “don’t edit.” Take that thing out!
Cully Perlman
Oct 245 min read
5 Writing Prompts to get You Writing
I rarely have any issues writing, not because I don’t struggle sometimes but because I don’t believe in writer’s block, as I know it’s just not being able to write what I want to write when I want to write it. Sit your ass in the chair and the muse will come, my friend the writer John Dufresne, says, and he’s right. The must doesn’t come to you and then you sit down to write. So, that’s what I do.
Cully Perlman
Oct 224 min read
7 Writers and the Jobs They Did Before Becoming Famous
We all have jobs, us writers, most of us before we write and after we've published. Most of the writers (some pretty well known) can't support themselves on writing along. So, they teach at MFA in creative writing programs, in business, in whatever. In America, writing doesn't hold the same weight as it does in other countries. It's just a fact of life.
What do you do while you try to become a fulltime writer?
Cully Perlman
Oct 215 min read
10 Self-Publishing Resources to Help You Get Your Novel Published
Today I want to provide a list of resources for you brave authors, you rebels heading out on the publishing journey all on your own. You’ll likely have heard of some of the resources I’m going to mention (KDP, IngramSpark, Scrivener, and more), but there’ll be some in here that you may not know about. I’ll try to provide as much of a descriptive blurb as possible so you know before clicking through to the site what to expect.
Cully Perlman
Oct 209 min read
THE UPS and DOWNS of WRITING FICTION
I read something funny one time about a writer, though I can’t remember who that writer was, but someone interviewing the author asked a question (and I’m paraphrasing) about what they thought when some other author got a novel published or received a high advance for their book. Naturally, the interviewer was expecting some nicety from the author or whatever, something like, “I love her!" But instead, the writer replied, "I hope she gets hit by a bus."
Cully Perlman
Oct 146 min read
Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections
Another novel I’m reminded of is City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg, as all three novels, in terms of scope and length (As a writer, I love me a good long book that’s captivating and just interesting all around; it’s a feat few writers are capable of), but also because, for me, it highlights the skill of the author, meaning they know how to write a long novel that keeps readers reading and not abandoning the book mid-read.
Cully Perlman
Oct 115 min read
How to Write a Book as a Subject Matter Expert
You need to know who your readers are, what solutions they’re seeking out, i.e., what problem(s) they’re trying to solve, and how you, as the SME, are providing them with the actions they can take based on the information you’re providing
Cully Perlman
Oct 811 min read
Why Artists Should Write Novels Criticizing Authoritarian Regimes
To mitigate the dangers of Trump and his ilk, artists can collaborate with international organizations, publish anonymously, or use digital platforms to reach global audiences—audiences who may be experiencing the same things that we are here in America. Solidarity among artists, readers, and activists is essential to protect creative freedom and ensure that dissident voices are heard. Be a dissident voice. Do what you can, before it’s too late.
Cully Perlman
Oct 69 min read
Mastering Dystopian Fiction: How to Write a Dystopian Novel That Stands Out
The best dystopian novels do more than entertain—they provoke thought. Choose themes that matter to you and weave them throughout your narrative.
Freedom vs. Security: How much freedom are people willing to surrender for the promise of safety?
Individualism vs. Conformity: Why do some people rebel while others comply?
Technology’s Role: Does technology liberate or enslave?
Environmental Concerns: What happens when nature is irreparably damaged?
Cully Perlman
Oct 26 min read
Magical Realism in Gabriel García Márquez's A Hundred Years of Solitude
Exploring a Literary Tradition That Blurs Reality and Fantasy Magical Realism is Tough to Pull Off. But the Possibilities are Endless...
Cully Perlman
Sep 285 min read
The Complexities of Writing Literary Novels
In literary fiction, plot often takes a back seat to character. The focus is on the interior lives of protagonists—their fears, desires, contradictions, and growth. Creating nuanced, believable characters is a complex endeavor. It requires empathy, psychological insight, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths. Literary novelists must avoid stereotypes and stock figures, instead drawing on memory, observation, and imagination to breathe life into their creations.
Cully Perlman
Sep 255 min read
New Journalism and Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song versus Capote’s In Cold Blood
Mailer’s opening goes straight into the characters. Capote’s straight into a description of the landscape. In Mailer’s opening, the key sentence is “That was Brenda’s earliest recollection of Gary.” Which immediately allows us to hypothesize that her “recollection” is likely faulty. Capote’s opening is much more based in objective fact, however adjective heavy. I’m not saying either is right or wrong; but Capote’s opening is more in line with “reporting” than is Mailer’s. Tru
Cully Perlman
Sep 239 min read
I Haven’t Written a Word of Fiction in Two Months, but It’s Not Writer’s Block
Norman Mailer said writer’s block was a “failure of the ego.” Hilary Mantel and others recommend getting away from the desk and engaging in other activities to get the juices flowing. (Hilary Mantel died in 2022, but she said it when she was alive!). Jack London said you must actively pursue inspiration rather than waiting for it. And Anthony Trollope made sure he stuck to a strict schedule so that he produced writing consistently. You do what you must.
Cully Perlman
Sep 165 min read
Isn't it Ironic? Maybe Not.
My daughter, who’s much more intelligent than I am, noticed the issue about two seconds in. “That’s not ironic,” she said, which 1) made me proud how quickly she picked up on the error, and 2) made me wonder how the lack of irony in those lines was allowed to make it past whoever was in charge of making sure the examples in the song were, indeed, ironic.
Cully Perlman
Sep 35 min read
Is the Publishing Industry Rigged?
People buy books. Publishers sell books. Literary agents are the middle people between authors and publishers. And while publishers ask themselves many, many questions, the most important ones are these: Will this author’s novel sell? And Will people buy this author’s book? Agents ask themselves the same questions prior to taking on a new client. The publishing industry is just that—an industry. Publishers are businesses. For profit businesses, for the most part.
Cully Perlman
Aug 276 min read
The Hunt for Your Literary Agent
Literary agents are the middlemen and middle women between you and the trade publishers, often referred to as the Big 5—Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and their imprints, meaning the smaller publishers beneath them (there are also . Of course, you can go a different route, e.g., self-publishing, using a vanity press, hitting the independent publishers like W.W. Norton, Graywolf, Akashic, Algonquin . . .
Cully Perlman
Aug 153 min read
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