Earlier this week, I joined a group of fun writers and poets at a bar in downtown Portland for a little drinking, a little laughter, and a lot of literature, because we were all reading as part of the Salon Skid Row series. Hosted by Josh Lubin at The Corner Bar, the series is oldContinue reading “Reading at Salon Skid Row”
Category Archives: fiction
NaNo(Re)WriMo: the first big rewrite
Well, I’ve done it at last. A while ago, I mentioned that I was feeling revolutionary, that I wanted to throw away everything I’ve written on this novel and start again, that I wanted to make such drastic and dramatic changes to the book as to change the narrative structure, the POV, the purpose. I triedContinue reading “NaNo(Re)WriMo: the first big rewrite”
NaNo(Re)WriMo: the next several days
Last week was a busy one — I got sick, put out Jersey Devil Press, finished judging the flash fiction for the creative writing contest at Indiana University Southeast, raked leaves, did a lot of reading — so re-starting my current novel proved slower going than I’d hoped. Then, at the end of last week, I attended a literaryContinue reading “NaNo(Re)WriMo: the next several days”
The Hagridden character quiz!
You guys! This is TOO COOL! Shenice, a staff member at Columbus Press, has gone onto the quiz site PlayBuzz and made a character quiz for Hagridden! You know the drill: Which house from Harry Potter do you belong in? Which of the Avengers are you? What Game of Thrones woman are you? (Gryffindor, Thor, and Daenerys Targaryen,Continue reading “The Hagridden character quiz!”
60 issues of Jersey-style Devilry
That’s right, folks. Jersey Devil Press has reached its sixtieth issue. And it’s full of the usual absurdity: a splinter becomes a surreal launch through space and time, atomic science speaks in hip-hop, dental issues become profound, fish are so much more than mere fish, scarecrows burst into flames, and apples — well, you knowContinue reading “60 issues of Jersey-style Devilry”
NaNo(Re)WriMo: the first few days
So, I’m not formally participating in NaNoWriMo this year. Not because I’m not writing a novel — I am — but because I’m actually REwriting a novel. And that’s not what NaNoWriMo is for, so I’m out. But I’m still writing, reworking the post-Civil War outlaw novel I started (and failed to finish) last year.Continue reading “NaNo(Re)WriMo: the first few days”
Reading from Hagridden at Chemeketa Writes
Yesterday, I drove down I-5 in the rain to Salem, Oregon, where I joined students, faculty, and community members at Chemeketa Community College for their Chemeketa Writes program. They’d invited me to read from my novel Hagridden. Almost a year ago, on November 12, I did almost exactly the same thing, except at the time, HagriddenContinue reading “Reading from Hagridden at Chemeketa Writes”
NaNoWriMo and my first published novel
Five years ago, I embarked on my first real attempt at National Novel Writing Month. I signed up, planned my schedule, roughed out an outline, and buckled down. November 1, 2009, I began writing. Two weeks later, I raced past the 50,000-word mark. The ending was rushed and the details were hazy and the charactersContinue reading “NaNoWriMo and my first published novel”
The book that made me a writer
The other day on Facebook, as a fun twist on Throwback Thursday, author and publisher Michael Seidlinger asked a “throwback” question: “The first book you read that blew your mind?” The question elicited a few hundred responses, many of which felt nostalgic for me: Kafka’s “Metamorphosis,” which remains one of my favorite long stories ever; Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451,Continue reading “The book that made me a writer”
EJ Runyon’s new book, A House of Light and Stone
My friend EJ Runyon published a book last month and I’ve been meaning to tell you about it! It’s called A House of Light and Stone: Told in uncompromising clarity through the eyes of a child, A House of Light and Stone is at once full of heartbreak and hope, offering respites of warmth inContinue reading “EJ Runyon’s new book, A House of Light and Stone”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 