For about a year now, I’ve been struggling to revise a novella of mine. It has an interested publisher, and that publisher sent me some fantastic notes for kinks to work out in the story, but as I began tugging on burls in the knots I’d tangled, I realized how much more story there was to tell. AndContinue reading “The confidence of knowing your fictional universe”
Category Archives: writing
Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe
This coming Sunday evening, I’ll be at the Clinton Street Theater in Portland, OR, to close out the second annual Poe Show PDX* by reading Poe’s “The Raven.” It’s a tremendous honor, closing out the show this way, and I’m humbled by it not only because it’s the finale but also because I love Poe soContinue reading “Celebrating Edgar Allan Poe”
Bibliomania 2017
I’ve been meaning to share all the books I’ve been buying/reading since the year began, but every time I think I’m ready to put together this post, I wind up buying more books to add to it. I think I’ve hit my limit, though, or at least I’m ready to pause long enough to giveContinue reading “Bibliomania 2017”
DL Fowler and Abraham Lincoln
My late paternal grandfather was a deeply religious and compassionate man, had a tremendous and constant sense of humor, and stood six foot four and a quarter — the same faith, disposition, and height as Abraham Lincoln. Which is the reason I always felt an affinity for Lincoln: he reminded me of my Grandpa. Lincoln wasContinue reading “DL Fowler and Abraham Lincoln”
Terroir Creative Writing Festival, 2017
This weekend, I’ll be at a couple of writing-related events in Oregon, if you’re in the area and want to say hi. On Saturday, April 19, I’ll be down in McMinnville at the Terroir Creative Writing Festival, held on the Yamhill campus of Chemeketa Community College. I went last year in support of my friend […]
Writers gathering at the corner of Forest Avenue and Main Street
I’ve been a fan of Forest Avenue Press practically from the beginning (they received an Oregon Literary Fellowship in publishing the year after I received mine for fiction), and one of the things I’ve always loved about the press, publisher Laura Stanfill, and their authors is how mutually supportive they all are of the largerContinue reading “Writers gathering at the corner of Forest Avenue and Main Street”
New publication
A handful of years ago, I was so taken with Hosho McCreesh’s poetry collection, For All These Wretched, Beautiful, & Insignificant Things So Uselessly & Carelessly Destroyed…, that I decided to write a story about one line from each of the poems. I eventually conceived a story cycle, each poem-inspired story set in the same ecological apocalypse, andContinue reading “New publication”
“Standing Together” with Connotation Press
A handful of days ago, author Meg Tuite put out a call on social media for writers and artists to participate in a video about how we should not just survive the coming year(s) but also fight back against political and artistic oppression under a new regime. The result is “Standing Together,” a video I am proudContinue reading ““Standing Together” with Connotation Press”
How much is your book worth?
Earlier today, my writer and publisher friend Michael Seidlinger shared a Slate article on Facebook: “You Can Write a Best-Seller and Still Go Broke.” The piece is part opinion on the state of publishing today and part review of a new anthology, Scratch: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living.* The Slate piece opens with quotesContinue reading “How much is your book worth?”
Booklist 2016 and my reading goals for 2017
It’s been another slow year in reading. I could make excuses — I spent the early part of the year mourning my grandfather’s death, and then we moved in the middle of the year, and I’ve been writing full-time since fall, and the election knocked the wind out of me — but they’re just excuses.Continue reading “Booklist 2016 and my reading goals for 2017”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 