• 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.

Nature: “A new human-like species – a dwarfed relative who lived just 18,000 years ago in the company of pygmy elephants and giant lizards – has been discovered in Indonesia.”

• It’s never too late to stop thinking about the next Booker, particularly with Ian McEwan’s Saturday in the pipeline. Officially, the book has been completed, with more than a few articles on this day-in-the-life-of-a-neurosurgeon offering.
• Alice Munro, recently profiled in the NYT, has been nominated for a Governor General award. She won her first GG award 36 years ago.
• The big literary sensation in France is Suite Francaise. The novel was written in 1942 by Jewish author Irene Nemirovsky right as she was waiting for the Nazis to come. The book was transcribed by Nemirovsky’s eldest daughter. Some folks are even comparing this with Anne Frank.
• Here’s something interesting: Kong Ji-young has written a short story collection about Koreans living in Berlin. Wonder if she and Rachel Seiffert would ever do a double-bill reading?
• And speaking of Germany, Gerhard Schröder’s younger brother is set to publish embarassing stories about the Chancellor. And get this: they’re going to be sold on paper handkerchiefs.
• Dick Morris knows how Clinton’s mind works. It has three buttons: ON, OFF and REMEMBER OBSCURE PERSONAL DETAIL OF PERSON YOU’RE TALKING TO.
Despite this easily comprehensible triage, Morris has written a damn book on the subject and hopes that Bush voters will buy it. Dick Morris is also oiled every night, just before bedtime.
• Sidney Sheldon has a passion for the written word? Who knew?
• The Black Table talks with Mary Roach.
• Peter Benchley still packs a full house.
• I had no idea that Updike was once a stutterer.
• Damn. Wordsworth Books, yet another independent bookseller, is closing.
• Penguin may be screwing authors over.

Unlike other esteemed litblogs, given Dr. Strangelove‘s 40th anniversary and the Coke v. Pepsi presidential race we have to look forward to on Tuesday, I firmly believe that the next week is prime time for Strangelove references. I hereby proclaim it Strangelove Week. Each entry shall contain a Strangelove-related subtitle until the polls close.