Hot on the heels of Pia’s great interview with Ron Carlson I posted about earlier, here are two other interviews I enjoyed reading today:

My dear friend, Katrina Denza interviewed by Susan DiPlacido

And

Over at LitPark, Sue Henderson has a wonderful interview with Jim Tomlinson, winner of the 2006 Iowa Short Fiction Award.

This is one interview you will not want to miss: the incomparable Pia Z. Ehrhardt interviews Ron Carlson over at Quick Fiction:

Today, my writing day felt like pushing a big rock that was flat on every side, and heavy. Oosh. All I can say is: here’s my shoulder once again.

Today is a beautiful and hopeful new day. As results poured in from yesterday’s election, one could almost feel the entire world heave a collective sigh of relief. The tied is turning.

The only word that comes to mind is this one: Peace.

Congratulations to Roy Kesey for his collection All Over, which will be published by Dzanc Books in October 2007:

Dzanc Books is proud to announce we have found the book that will become our first title: Roy Kesey’s extraordinary debut short story collection, All Over. Dzanc Books will publish All Over in October 2007.

Roy Kesey has been hailed as one our best young writers, and All Over presents 19 of his most original and provocative stories. George Saunders called Kesey’s writing, “beautiful and powerful … mythic, vivid, heart-rending.” Roy’s work has appeared in over 50 top flight journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Mississippi Review, and The Georgia Review. Several of the stories in All Over have previously appeared in journals such as Kenyon Review, McSweeney’s, Other Voices, and The Iowa Review.

here’s a great interview with AGNI‘s Senior Editor, William Pierce:

It’s easy to find new writers—they’re everywhere—but finding exciting and thought-provoking new writers is not easy, and whether readers know it or not, whether they understand the way careers rely on magazine publication, whether they know how faithfully agents and editors troll the small magazines for new talent, those readers rely on lit mags for the quality of almost every new book they encounter.

Great, informative interview–everyone should read it: writers, readers, lit journal editors and publishers.

Storyglossia issue #16 features the winner, runners up, and finalists of its recent contest. You will not want to miss out on reading these fine stories. Special shout out to my pals, Katrina Denza and Theresa Boyar. Well done, you two!

You will want to head on over to Kathryn Koromilas’ blog today and check out her fun five minute interview with Ellen Meister. Kathryn’s going to be posting a new interview each week, so you’ll probably want to bookmark her blog and check back often.

I think everyone oughta read this–Letter from Mike Stark:

My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.

One thing I can promise you for sure, is that you will not soon forget Ree Dolly, the ass-kicking heroine of Daniel Woodrell’s brilliant new novel, Winter’s Bone. This book is almost unbearably good; the language alone would almost carry the book for me, but then there’s a riveting plot, and fascinating cast of characters as well. In short, this book has got it all.

Ree Dolly’s father is not only the best crank cooker in their neck of the woods, he is also missing, leaving Ree behind to take care of her checked out mother and two younger brothers. When Ree learns that her father put their house and land up for bail, she sets out to find him or find what happened to him.

What I loved most about this book is that Woodrell is so skilled at letting the reader feel exactly what Ree is feeling: when she is cold, we are cold. When she is beaten and in pain, we are in pain. When she is scared, so are we. And when she feels hope is gone, we do as well.

Tough, earnest, with a strong sense of self and morality, Ree uses every ounce of her strength to do what’s right for her family, which includes putting her own dreams of joining the Army (which is her only option and truly the only option for so many American young people, as hopes of a higher education are entirely out of their grasp) and escaping a certain future of either insanity or running a meth lab of her own or both. All the while, she teaches her two young brothers how to survive and tend to their mother should anything happen to her. She is desperate that these two boys live a different life, even at the expense of her own freedom:

“Yes’m, girl, you oughta go’n get yourself good’n drunk one night and have you a kid. I mean it.”

“No thanks. I already got two. Not countin’ Mom.”

Floyd’s arc of piss slackened until he shook the last drops loose.

“Nobody here wants to be awful,” he said. He hopped a little as he zipped up. “It’s just nobody here knows all the rules yet, and that makes a rocky time.”

One part coming-of-age, one part mystery, one part thriller, one part literary–this book truly defies classification.I don’t want to give you any more of the plot away because you should discover it for yourself. That is to say, read this book. You’ll regret it if you don’t.

And a HUGE thanks to my pal Katrinawho passed this book on to me. Man, I just loved it. Thanks, Kat!

Kathryn Koromilas has a thoughtful post on the horrible, despicable torture, which turkeys undergo one of North America’s largest food packaging plants.

The generous and talented Paul Toth, recorded me reading my piece, Prey, for his podcast series this week. If you have a minute, please check it out–Myf Reading.

Here’s more info:

1. An I-Pod is not required. Any PC or Mac will do.
2. Go to: http://tothnews.libsyn.com/
3. On the main site, right-click the “Direct Download” link for the episode of your choice and save “file,” “link” or “target” (label depends upon browser) to desktop.
4. Double-click the downloaded file. Listen using any media player.
5. I-Pod users should drag the file into their appropriate I-Tunes folder or subscribe via I-Tunes.
6. Tap “podcasts” in upper-left menu of the main site to access older shows.

Last Saturday, I planted over 100 spring bulbs (to add to the hundred or so daffodils and tulips I already have). I planted: narcissus, crocus, and hyacinth bulbs.

We have about 1.5 acres of property–most of it is wooded, but here and there we have spots for shade plants and one mess of a “garden” (the previous owners had tried to create a small pond by the looks of it–which is a horrible idea in prime mosquito country. I have since filled it in and planted over it). Some of the bulbs I planted in expected places. For instance, we will be able to see the crocus from the kitchen window–this will be nice. Others, I planted in flowerless spots, wild tangles I’ve been beating back and taming.

My husband is amused that something which takes such long planning and such patience pleases me. He knows I like to know how things are going to turn out. That I’m something of a control freak. That I work on fastforward.

But for this case, when it is about nurturing, about growing, about waiting until you are your most strong before you reveal yourself, I’m all about patience. All winter long I will think of the bulbs, imagine them warm beneath the earth in the beds which I prepared for them. Imagine their tender shoots pushing up through the cold ground. Some of them will be a surprise to me as I will have forgotten where I planted them.

Instead of being a hindrance, patience will now be a comfort to me. At night when I cannot sleep listening to the wind, I will think of the narcissus blooming in batches on the hill out by the mailbox.

Susan DiPlacido is conducting interviews with several Rebellion: New Voices of Fiction writers on her blog. This week, I am fortunate to be the interviewee.