I love FRiGG. It’s one of my favorite ezines. So no surprise that I also love this interview with FRiGG’s excellent editor, Ellen Parker: Oh, one thing, though. Maybe leave out the handguns. Stories that involve handguns are almost always dumb. Is there any other way you could tell that story without including a handgun? I’ll bet you can. Since we’re on the subject, … Read More Interview with Ellen Parker of FRiGG
A story that starts with this line can be nothing short of great–and this one is for sure: Don Chaon’s new story in VQR—Shepherdess.
We watched Grey Gardens last night and were completely transfixed–it seems most people who watch this film feel the same way. On the surface, this film is a documentary about Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edie (first cousin to Jackie O.), underneath, though, it is about mothers and daughters and wealth and poverty. It’s a movie about class structure and mental health. It … Read More Grey Gardens
The entire time I was reading Francine Prose’s brilliant novel, Blue Angel, I had one constant emotion: fear. I even woke up in the middle of the night feeling it–fear, dread, anxiety. With each page I read, I said in my mind, “Don’t do it, Swenson! Stop! Can’t you see what she is? Listen to Magda! Think of Sherrie!” Oh man, oh man! Poor … Read More Blue Angel, by Francine Prose
Stewart O’Nan’s Wish You Were Here follows the week in a the life of a family at their cottage on Lake Chautauqua, NY for the last time. The patriarch of the family died the previous winter after a long illness and the matriarch decided to sell the camp–and no one stopped her (not even her sister-in-law, whose family owned the camp). O’Nan takes us … Read More Wish You Were Here, by Stewart O’Nan
Here’s an enlightening interview–Morgan Entrekin on Publishing, Partying and Promoting, by Suzanne Dottino. I loved this bit: And if you set yourself up as the media so frequently does, it only focuses on these big advances only on those big successes. I think it perverts people’s expectations. What I try to do is to manage their expectations by saying, “Go through this experience, if … Read More "As a publisher I try to be optimistic but you also have to be realistic."
Today is the first day of autumn but my mind is still on summer, of days and nights at the lake. The Greek theater is back in the woods, across the main road. And where was the hut where we found the spilled ketchup that we thought was blood? Where my sister lost her toy mousey? Gone. There was only moss on stone. In … Read More let evening come
Me and You and Everyone We Know: Could this movie be any more captivating? I don’t think it could be. From when the father sets his hand on fire to the end, the rising sun, I was completely taken. It’s quiet and gorgeous and fucked up and I love everything about it. So true to life and honest are those dark, disturbing portrays of … Read More )) << >> ((
Your First Novel arrived in my mailbox yesterday and by last night I had finished reading it. I have already written my first novel and yet I found this book useful–indeed, invaluable. Dennis Lehane is winningly honest as he dishes out tough love in his inspiring foreword, leading into the first half of the book (written by novelist Laura Whitcomb) which focuses on the … Read More Your First Novel, by Ann Rittenberg and Laura Whitcomb
Oh MAN! You will not want to miss this The Night I Met Neil Gaiman and Confirmed I am a Dork, by Robin Slick Thanks to Ellen for the link.
capote is about as good as it gets for me. Watched it last night and remain speechless about what this movie means to me other than it started a bit of an ugly little fire in my writing heart. Poor Allen just wanted to get to sleep last night but I kept on raging long after the movie was over.
myfanwy collins 