Author Archives: Samuel Snoek-Brown

Photo blog 86

Not that everyone’s really all that curious, but you know that love story from my grandmother that I used as last week’s Writer’s Notebook? Well, this is what those two looked like early in their marriage (I don’t have a precise date, but this is sometime in the `50s): I asked my Grandma about thisContinue reading “Photo blog 86”

A Writer’s Notebook: more of Beth Locke’s “A Louisiana Girl”

This is more of my grandmother’s story. The year is 1945. My grandmother, Beth Locke, has just turned 20, and she works at the nearby Navy base, where troops are returning from the war. (I think you see where this is headed….) Along about this time, my social life was at a complete standstill. I hadContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: more of Beth Locke’s “A Louisiana Girl””

The novella is the Bigfoot of fiction

It’s both funny and somehow appropriate that it’s taking many of us until the middle of June to realize that June now celebrates the middle child of fiction: the novella. National Novella Month is something Dan Wickett (oh he of the grand and holy Dzanc Books) got started a couple of years ago, and I loveContinue reading “The novella is the Bigfoot of fiction”

Zot!, heroism, love, and the bravest story in comics

I’ve been a fan of Scott McCloud’s books on writing comics — books on writing in general, really, because his insights into narrative purpose and narrative structure are fascinating — but for some reason it wasn’t until a few months ago that I finally picked up McCloud’s own graphic fiction, Zot! When I did, itContinue reading “Zot!, heroism, love, and the bravest story in comics”

A Writer’s Notebook: Beth Locke: “A Louisiana Girl”

This is another exercise drawn from my tutoring, this time from a high school junior who’s been studying The Grapes of Wrath. I’ll explain more below, but before you start reading, a little context: What appears in the Notebook is not my own work but an edit of something my maternal grandmother, Beth Locke (néeContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Beth Locke: “A Louisiana Girl””

Yet another novel playlist

I’ve written so many times now on how music affects my writing that everyone must be getting sick of it. And I’m not the only one doing this — practically every writer with a blog has commented on his or her writing playlist at some point. I think it’s because we all wish we couldContinue reading “Yet another novel playlist”

Jersey Devil Press is going down the rabbit hole

But you’ll be lucky if it’s just rabbits you find down there. Seriously, this is a fairly dark issue, in some beautifully haunting ways. There are stories here that give me the chills, stories here that make me want to cry, and — lest you think we’ve lost our sense of humor — stories thatContinue reading “Jersey Devil Press is going down the rabbit hole”