How to Write a Novel

Praise

“In the vein of Graeme Simsion’s The Rosie Project, Sumner’s quirky story about an unconventional family is charming and precocious, like Aris herself.” —Library Journal

“[A] tour de force. . . . Sumner brings a knowing, tongue-in-cheek sparkle to discussions of writing workshop chestnuts . . . never losing sight of the humanity of her characters or the unpredictable nature of reality.” —Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“I have long been an admirer of Melanie Sumner’s fiction—the fierce wit and sharp intelligence and trained eye when locating the pulse of compassion—and How To Write A Novel, her brilliant new novel, offers all this and more.  I love the narrator, Aris Thibodeau, twelve-and-a-half going on eternal, and I love the references to writing—the parallels to real life that lead to those moving moments that cannot be edited.  A beautiful and accomplished novel by an extraordinarily gifted talent.” —Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life       

“If someone were going to make a novel out of your no doubt complicated life, you’d definitely want your narrator to be Aristotle Thibodeau, the precociously wise (though never annoyingly so) tell-it-all behind Melanie Sumner’s hilarious and warm-hearted novel.” —Will Blythe, editor of Why I Write and author of To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever

“Sweet, clever, and fun.” —Kirkus Reviews