Tag Archives: regionalism

I’ve just received an Oregon Literary Fellowship

I can hardly believe I’m typing this. Every time I look at the letter, which I received in the mail last Thursday, I have to read the first paragraph two or three times just to make sure it’s real. But it’s true: I’ve been awarded an Oregon Literary Fellowship. This is huge news. This is momentous:Continue reading “I’ve just received an Oregon Literary Fellowship”

Hatfields & McCoys & scapegoats & baptisms

(UPDATE — 8-31-2014: I mentioned while writing this series of posts that I was revising my Civil War novel at the time and was watching this miniseries for atmosphere. That novel I was revising is Hagridden, and it’s out now from Columbus Press. If you like this miniseries, you might like that novel. Click here for moreContinue reading “Hatfields & McCoys & scapegoats & baptisms”

Hatfields & McCoys — episode 2

(UPDATE — 8-31-2014: I mentioned while writing this series of posts that I was revising my Civil War novel at the time and was watching this miniseries for atmosphere. That novel I was revising is Hagridden, and it’s out now from Columbus Press. If you like this miniseries, you might like that novel. Click here for moreContinue reading “Hatfields & McCoys — episode 2”

Hatfields & McCoys (and play-pretties)

(UPDATE — 8-31-2014: I mentioned while writing this series of posts that I was revising my Civil War novel at the time and was watching this miniseries for atmosphere. That novel I was revising is Hagridden, and it’s out now from Columbus Press. If you like this miniseries, you might like that novel. Click here for moreContinue reading “Hatfields & McCoys (and play-pretties)”

11-11: Memoir review (Elmer Kelton)

A short while ago I mentioned that I plan to read new types of books this year — eleven new categories of books, in fact — and so far, I’ve read a lot of graphic novels. Which isn’t really new for me, and which certainly isn’t on my list of eleven categories. But I just sneakedContinue reading “11-11: Memoir review (Elmer Kelton)”

“The United States of Texas”

I’ve written a lot about Texas, both in my fiction and in this blog (most notably in my blog post on Texas regionalism), partly because Texas is so diverse it leaves room for a lot of literary exploration.  But many people outside Texas–and probably many people in Texas, as well–might not realize that Texas isContinue reading ““The United States of Texas””

A Writer’s Notebook: The great outdoors

This is a fairly old-school, simple exercise, but it’s one I keep returning to again and again.  But as usual, more on that below. I’ve never seen the skies in other vast states, like, say, Wyoming or Montana, but I’ve seen skies in California, skies in New York, skies in Wisconsin and Florida. And itContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: The great outdoors”

A Writer’s Notebook: Collaborative fiction

My friend Ryan Werner and I are involved in a work of collaborative fiction, the old Round Robin exercise.  I’ll describe the general rules and what we’re up to below, but you probably already know something about this sort of exercise as it is.  It’s been my turn to contribute for longer than I canContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Collaborative fiction”

New publication

Just a quick note to say I have a new publication online. Something like two years ago, a friend of mine in Wisconsin, Russ Brickey, had the idea to start a regional literary magazine, which he decided to call Driftless Review after the geological region where our little town lived.  He also kindly enlisted myContinue reading “New publication”