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For the amount of time she’s been blogging about books, words, and the particular perils of growing up in Florida and living in Brooklyn, we’re a little scandalized by how few interviews of Maud Newton there are on the Web. We aim to rectify that situation.

Since starting her site in 2002, Maud’s credits have bloomed. Her journey from blog to being featured in The New Yorker or writing book reviews in the New York Times, among other outlets, has been a inspirational testament to the power of personal publishing.

According to the MaudNewton.com legacy, this is how you make a lit-blog: build credibility by posting frequently and sanely about books you love, writers you respect, issues you are passionate about; prove that what ultimately makes the reading experience, and dare we say a literary community, is revealing the human being behind the blog. Maud does that in a way we have yet to see anywhere else, with modesty and honesty. Sincerity may be her trademark, and it loops us back to pay attention to the books she loves.

Sure, we love the interviews with writers, and the scoop on the latest fires burning in the land of literary fiction. But what keeps us coming back are the Ruminations on Writing (oh, that 10-year-novel), the Weekend Ancestry, her obsession with Mark Twain, and whatever future fascinations lie ahead.

As further testimony on Maud’s appeal: Maud was once asked by another interviewer, “Where do you summer?” In response, she was heard to say:

I can tell you’re not paying off student loans. “Summering” to me means a cold beer, sunglasses, a grill, and a hot breeze blowing over the factory and into my Brooklyn backyard.

This is why we love Maud. Read the full profile...