On Alice Osborn’s Writer From the Inside Out blog, contributor Belea T. Keeney shares a favorite how-to writing book: Jeff VanderMeer’s Booklife.

Is your “Booklife” taking over your real life? Do you struggle to find the time to write amid busy weekdays and even busier weekends? Have deadlines whizzed past you and left you scrambling? Do you spend more time marketing your work than you do writing it? Then your Booklife is probably out of balance, and author and editor Jeff Vandermeer can you keep your Booklife seesaw from tipping.

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I found Vandermeer’s clear thinking and prose about the various topics very inspiring. You can be a writer and be a social person; you can be an artist and run a household effectively. Vandermeer doesn’t buy into the myth of the addicted, struggling, dysfunctional artist. Vandermeer says take control of your private and public Booklives, and your both your writing and your peace of mind will improve.

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If you’re working to balance your writing time and your responsibilities and obligations, if you’re struggling to manage marketing and creating, then Booklife could help you find that sweet spot on your seesaw of life.

To read the rest of Keeney’s review, visit the Writer From the Inside Out.

For more information on Booklife, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by John Coulthart