Edward Champion's Return of the Reluctant

Insomnia-Charged Roundup

• Audrey Niffenegger confesses that she wrote the sex scenes in The Time Traveler's Wife last. Niffenegger is also penning a a writing book called You'll Only Finish Your Novel If You Save the Best for Last.
• Thomas Harris has finished yet another Hannibal novel, which will not only describe how Lecter developed his appetite for evil, but include a metafictional subplot involving how Harris developed his appetite for beating a dead horse.
• Ten writers have won Whiting Writers' Awards, including Dan Chiasson, Alison Glock, A. Van Jordan and Tracey Scott Wilson. Each will receive $35,000, a Tijuana vacation for two, and the keys to Tina Brown's Beamer for one weekend.
• J.M. Coetzee tackles Philip Roth.
• Susanna Clarke has nothing on Lula Parsons. Parsons took 50 years to write her novel. She's 92.
• Frank Darabont's script for Indiana Jones 4 was rejected by Lucas. Now it's Jeff (The Terminal) Nathanson on hand and an almost certain temple of doom.
• The Flaming Lips are publishing a photo book.
• Michiko's verdict on Charlotte Simmons? A flat-footed new novel. The Sun also calls it "Wolfe's worst novel." This does not augur well.