Last night I went to sleep thinking about Denis Johnson, the news of whose passing was among the last things I read before turning in for the night. This morning, I woke to find everyone else thinking about Denis Johnson, too — many hadn’t seen the news until daybreak. One writer I know shared the newsContinue reading “Denis Johnson told us what he dreamed, and he told us what was real”
Category Archives: writing
Part 1 – Mark Russell, writer of DC Comics’ Flintstones and Prez – Book Club Discussion
Originally posted on Stargazer Comics, Toys & Games:
– Our recording missed a bit of this first question, but this transcript picks up very early in the conversation. – For the sake of not typing a lot of sound effects, imagine that we were all laughing, almost constantly, throughout this talk! ST: Can you tell…
The long-awaited debut from memoirist Jenny Forrester
Next week, my dear friend Jenny Forrester will release her first book, the already-lauded memoir Narrow River, Wide Sky, from Portland’s acclaimed Hawthorne Books. On the Colorado Plateau between slot canyons and rattlesnakes, Jenny Forrester grew up with her mother and brother in a single-wide trailer proudly displaying an American flag. Forrester’s powerfully eloquent storyContinue reading “The long-awaited debut from memoirist Jenny Forrester”
A couple of Southern transplants around the Puget Sound
Last Thursday, I joined novelist Alec Clayton for a reading and book signing at the Timberland Regional Library in Lacey, WA. Alec read a couple of passages from his most recent novel, Tupelo, with a perfectly timed emotional shift: a bit of humor and then a wonderfully nostalgic teenage make-out session that takes a sudden turn at the end intoContinue reading “A couple of Southern transplants around the Puget Sound”
Attic treasures: found poetry
We’re having our roof redone, and today, while the roofers were stripping off the old skin but before they’d had a chance to begin re-plywooding the surface, it began to rain, a light sprinkle through the shiplap of our old house. Most of our attic storage is in plastic bins, but to be safe, IContinue reading “Attic treasures: found poetry”
The music I listen to as I write
As is my wont, I’ve been been listening to music as I work on my current novel, and I’ve begun building a playlist of songs that are either keeping me in the mood of my book or else directly inspiring passages or even whole chapters of my novel. So I thought I’d share some ofContinue reading “The music I listen to as I write”
“It’s a real privilege to have talented friends”
Back in spring of 2015, I was looking for fresh material to bring into my composition classroom, and I happened to have a batch of students who were itching to break out of the essay rut and write in response to some literature. So I shared some widely-anthologized essays and some interesting editorials from major newspapers, butContinue reading ““It’s a real privilege to have talented friends””
The Watchman that Harper Lee set for me
This weekend, I read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. I’m not going to revisit the speculation or controversy about its discovery and publication — I’ve written about that elsewhere — except to concede that this does feel like the unpolished draft of a novel, just as most of us expected it would be. ButContinue reading “The Watchman that Harper Lee set for me”
Portland book porn
This afternoon, I sojourned once again into Portland. My destination was the Another Read Through bookstore, where I gave a reading with some of my fellow writers in the current issue of The Timberline Review. But by happy (or, more accurately, bittersweet) accident, this is also the final weekend for Portland’s beloved Reading Frenzy indie bookstore — theContinue reading “Portland book porn”
Upcoming events this spring
I’ve got a few events coming up on the calendar, folks, if you’re in America’s Pacific Northwest and want to come out to say hi. The first isn’t so much an event of mine as an event I’m attending: my local arts and literature community, Creative Colloquy, is celebrating their third anniversary this coming Monday. I’mContinue reading “Upcoming events this spring”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 