John Koblin looks at the new advertiser-friendly glossies on the horizon—WSJ from The Wall Street Journal, FW from The Washington Post, Manhattan and others—and notes, "the traditional, cozily amorphous job of the editor—rumpled visionary, bold procurer, acid social critic, lover of words!—is starting to look very different. Sort of...crisper... As envisioned by businesspeople, the New Editor seems a kind of bland, affable and well-connected creature … much like, well, a businessperson."

Is The New Yorker's James Wood becoming a guru for writers? Leon Neyfakh checks out the tips offered in Mr. Wood's new book, How Fiction Works, and asks, "Who will heed them? And will the fact that Mr. Wood has laid them out so plainly in this succinct volume—something few literary critics, to say nothing of book reviewers, have the heart to do these days—increase the likelihood that aspiring writers will eventually absorb and adhere to his standards?" Plus: David Carr.

Plus: Madonna's brother... Issac Mizrahi... The New Old Gays.

Wearing jeans, black sneakers, a tight black T-shirt and a veil of cinnamon-inflected cologne, he was there to see aspiring Broadway star (and dear friend) Ryan Raftery’s one-man show, Ryan Raftery and Friends: A Solo Act.

“There are plenty of things I left out of the book, and things that the lawyers and editors took out,” Mr. Ciccone said. The thing he said he’d fought hardest for was the title. “I wanted it to be called The Queen and I,” he said. “They said it was too snarky. I still don’t know what that word means.”

In the book, Mr. Ciccone describes an incident at a nightclub in which he breaks up a fight between one of Mr. Ciccone’s gay pals, who had been sexy-dancing with the Queen, and a frothing Guy Ritchie, her Madgesty’s husband.

“I’m not a violent person,” he said. “And I don’t really care about Guy. I see him as a current distraction.”

Mr. Ciccone, who for years designed the look of Madonna’s concerts and mansion palaces, now lives in Los Angeles, where he’s currently at work on a “totally raw, design-based reality show.”

He said that his sister had responded to news that he was at work on a book with a frantic e-mail that read, “Call me.”

Did he?

“Hello? I don’t respond to commands anymore,” he said. She then apparently called their father, who, Mr. Ciccone said, also has long since stopped taking orders from the Queen. “I will admit to a guilty pleasure in watching her squirm,” he added. (Madonna’s rep didn’t return calls by presstime.)

Was writing the book like removing a giant weight from his shoulders?

“No, it was like a giant fucking orgasm,” he said, exhaling a large gust of smoke. “Therapy I already had; this was pure sex.”

Besides the book and the reality show, Mr. Ciccone has written a feature film that he hopes to direct. He also has a singer named Julien he’s been managing, and some ideas for a Broadway show, which may or may not include Mr. Raftery.

Of his friend’s show, he said, “I think it’s good; he needs direction.” Like he’d done so many times for his sister, he planned to bestow some words of advice on this young performer. He said that years ago he’d taught Mr. Raftery to dance. “All great talent needs managing.”

Mr. Ciccone said he also has plans for a follow-up book about the “sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll” period of his own life, which occurred between 1994 and 2004, documented with dirty Polaroids.

What’s the best picture? “I can’t tell you that!” he said.

He agreed to describe the fifth-best Polaroid, which depicts him in a squatting position, wearing 8-inch blue and white striped platforms and no pants. “All you can see is my ass,” he said, “and the platforms, and the tattoo wrapping around my leg.” Yep, he’s her brother!

smorgan@observer.com

Ben Kingsley's co-stars in The Wackness say he had to be taught how to properly smoke from a bong. [NY Daily News]

Patrick McMullan and son Liam, were scheduled to host a party at Dune on Friday night, but the event was cancelled after the younger Mr. McMullan and his music producer, Chris Young, handed out invitations depicting them smoking pot. [P6]

Lindsay Lohan may have an 11-year-old half sister that Michael Lohan fathered during an affair while still married to Dina Lohan. [Extra TV]

Christopher Ciccone, Madonna's brother, is reportedly pitching a reality show about his life. He'd previously shopped a tell-all book. [P6]

Meanwhile, Madonna's mother-in-law denies reports that Madonna and Guy Ritchie are getting divorced. [NY Daily News]

Twenty-year-old model Ruslana Korshunova, featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, Vera Wang, and Christian Dior, fell out of her Water Street apartment on a Saturday in a reported suicide. [NY Post]