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”
Tag Archives: nonfiction
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”
Holiday shopping, literature, and a thousand lights in the coming night
Usually, around this time of year, I tell you all the books I’ve been reading, or all the books I’ve been buying, or all the books in the past year or so by friends of mine, and I suggest you make your holiday shopping list from it. It’s a way to support literature and my literaryContinue reading “Holiday shopping, literature, and a thousand lights in the coming night”
Creative Colloquy and the Tacoma writing community
Yesterday morning, I shared the news that I had a new story, “An Understanding,” at Tacoma’s literary site, Creative Colloquy. Last night, I was one of the four featured readers at Creative Colloquy’s monthly reading series. I read first, followed by Dianne Bunnell, Alec Clayton, and Kristine M. Smith. Because I wanted folks to bring a little web traffic to Creative ColloquyContinue reading “Creative Colloquy and the Tacoma writing community”
Booklist 2015, and the power of my students’ writing
This is long delayed, but finally, I’m sharing my annual reading list. Not that it’s anything spectacular; continuing a trend, 2015 was an even lighter reading year than 2014 was — even when I count collected runs of comics issues as “books,” I’m down from 60 books to 42. This was partly because I set aside all reading in November to focus on draftingContinue reading “Booklist 2015, and the power of my students’ writing”
Writing news
It’s been a busy several weeks, gang, which is why I’ve been relatively quiet lately. But a few cool things have happened since I last updated, and there are some more cool things coming soon: We’ve had not one but TWO issues of Jersey Devil Press go live: the special Sherlock Holmes issue (the coverContinue reading “Writing news”
Your 2015 holiday shopping list: books, books, and books!
It’s been a great year for books, y’all. And now that the crunch is on for gift-giving season, I wanted to share some books published in the past year by friends of mine! There is a LOT to love here — poetry, prose, anthologies, even a few adult coloring books! So I’ve included some blurbsContinue reading “Your 2015 holiday shopping list: books, books, and books!”
Hey poets, be good literary citizens. No more excuses.
My friend — and one of my favorite poets, which is why I’m friends with her — Brianna Pike has some deceptively simple but necessary advice for all us writers, especially as we all head off to the literary smorgasbord that is AWP (where I’m looking forward to seeing Bri at her panel discussion!): HeyContinue reading “Hey poets, be good literary citizens. No more excuses.”
Brilliant books by brilliant writers
And all these writers are women. I spotted this list of 30 books by women in my Facebook newsfeed — the always-glorious Lidia Yuknavitch shared it — and I loved the first line of the intro: “Let’s be real: You should be reading books, and books by women, every month of the year.” Amen! But yes, it’s Women’s HistoryContinue reading “Brilliant books by brilliant writers”
Your 2015 indie lit shopping list
Last year, I was honored to see Hagridden previewed in The Great 2014 Indie Press Preview, dreamed up and wrangled by the amazing Michael J Seidlinger and published at Electric Lit. (And many thanks to David S. Atkinson for his enthusiasm about my book!) So this year, it seemed only proper that I return the favor and previewContinue reading “Your 2015 indie lit shopping list”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 