Boldtype #30

The latest issue of Boldtype is now available.

Steven J. McDermott

I just love reading his discussions of various stories and with the latest story he dissects on his blog, Brock Clarke's "The Ghosts We Love, he invites readers to consider the art of telling.

The Latest Installment of LitMag Roundup

is up on Moorishgirl!

Katie Weekley

Has an essay up at Moondance. She's a very special writer who always makes me laugh.

Thanks to Myfanwy Collins for the original link.

New Markets

Here are a couple of links new-to-me print lit journals:

Silk Road

Golden Handcuffs Review--picked this one up in a bookstore on Sunday--looks really nice.

Subtropics This one has glossy pages inside.

Five Fingers Review

Fairy Tale Review

Upstreet--picked issue one up the other day as well. It looks very nice; I haven't read the contents yet.

New Contest from EWN

Here's the link--it sounds fabulous!

Tin House Workshop

Tom booked the flights for me today!

Magic Bee

Yesterday I showed my youngest son a bee that had fallen asleep inside an iris. Later when we were talking about what bees do for flowers, spreading pollen etc., this is what he said: "When I grow up I'm going to have a nice bee to spread pollen over my house to make a new house for the next year."

Spring

Two hours before the sleet and rain came, my four-year-old and I picked these violets. Even the cold and nasty weather can't stop spring from coming.

Storyglossia

Issue 12 is now live!

*And one of the contributors, Jonathon Scott, is in my real-life writers' group! Congrats, Jody!

And I see Steven Gullion is in the same issue--congrats, Steven!

Robin Slick

Thanks to Myfanwy Collins for pointing out Robin Slick's new story at Juked.

Laila Lalami

Listen to Laila discuss her book, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits. It will broadcast live at 3pm Pacific time, but if you miss it you can stream it.

Sorry--I forgot to add the link to the live version in time.

Emerging Writers Network

Dan Wickett at Emerging Writers Network is doing a fabulous thing: showcasing some of the Notable Online Stories of 2005. So far two have been discussed. Take a look!

SmokeLong Quarterly Issue #12

is LIVE and it's amazing!

Word Riot

Word Riot celebrates their fourth anniversary this month!

They have a brand new issue up and a nifty addition to their journal: comment boxes for each story.

Here's a Treat:

The fabulous Sue Henderson interviews Ron Currie Jr., author of the forthcoming novel-in-stories, "God is Dead."

Online Notable Stories of 2005

The Notables have been announced!!

I'm happy to see some wonderful writers I know on there:

Girija Tropp
Mary Miller
Mark Budman
Avital Gad Cykman
Jim Ruland
Claudia Smith
Miriam Kotzin
Grant Bailie
Patricia Parkinson
Felicia Sullivan
Roy Kesey
Pia Z. Ehrhardt
Daniel Olivas
Rusty Barnes
Dennis Mahagin

Congrats and good luck to everyone who was honored with a notable story this year!

Storyglossia

I'm delighted to announce Storyglossia has accepted my story "Here's My Hand, Take It" for publication in May!

Gambara

The new issue of Gambara is live with gorgeous work by Kim Chinquee and many others!

More Lit Mag Talk

Cliff Garstang has read and reviewed more lit mags on his blog.

Signs of Spring:

Seventy-seven degree weather and forsythia blossoms.

SmokeLong Quarterly

I'm excited to announce that SmokeLong Quarterly, one of the hottest literary journals featuring flash fiction, has invited me to be their guest editor for issue 13!

I hope you will consider sending something!

(I like things that make me cry, or laugh, or nod my head in amazement, or get up from my chair and dance from the joy of it.)

Confrontation

I've had one of those Ah ha moments lately, thanks to some astute readers. Throughout my life I've been uncomfortable with confrontation. I've avoided it, often at my own expense. Recently I've noticed that same pattern showing up in my work. I take characters to a certain point and don't allow them to break through the barriers. To let them rip. To allow them to have their confrontations and resolutions.

I find as I get older I'm less afraid of confrontation in real life. I'm no longer afraid to stand up for myself or take a stand for something I believe in, even if it means disagreeing with every person in the room.

I think it's time I allow confrontation to show up on the page as well.

It's Official!

Congrats to the talented Ron Currie Jr. for his deal with Viking!!!

His book "God is Dead" slated for publication in May 2007 is a must-read. (I see awards in this man's future...)

Jai Clare's "Bone on Bone"

is the featured story on Storyglossia today.

It's a gorgeous story.

Review

Laila Lalami reviews Tahar Ben Jelloun's "The Last Friend" in The Nation.

Hobart--March 2006

Take a peek. It's a good thing.

I was surprised

and very honored to find Steven J. McDermott has featured one of my stories on his illuminating blog at Storyglossia.

Thank you, Mr. McDermott. You made my day.

If you're looking...

...for something good to read this spring, Dan Wickett has written about some of the books he's looking forward to reading in Scott Esposito's Quarterly Conversation.

I already have Gina's Frangello's book and Nic Kelby's book. I've ordered Kellie Well's "Skin," and am eagerly awaiting Chimamanda's Ngozi Adichie "Half of a Yellow Sun."

Some pleasant surprises: Liesel Litzenburger has a novel coming out! (I just finished her novel-in stories and loved it!!) and T.C. Boyle is also coming out with a new novel.

"We're in Trouble"

I couldn't think of a more fitting title for this group of seven stories. "We're in Trouble," by Christopher Coake will make you hold your breath from the tension and will claw at you with its brave glare at death.

The title story is a group of three shorter stories with characters all haunted by death--either the impending death of a loved one, or the death of a stranger.

"Cross Country" tells two stories in one: a boy is traveling back east with his father and at a truck stop he sees another boy in a truck. The boy is disturbed by what he thinks is a boy in trouble. Coake then tells the story of the boy in the truck. Coake does this so brilliantly the reader doesn't quite know what to make of the situation right up until the end.

"Solos," is the story of one man's obsession with climbing and the affects it has on his family.

"In the Event," is a heartbreaking story of a young man on the night he learns his best friends have died in a car crash and left him in charge of their three-year-old son.

"A Single Awe," tells of the one event that holds a tenuous marriage together.

In "Abandon," a young couple breaks into a cabin on the Upper Peninsula. One of them is sure she wants to choose her own death and the other is an ex-con. They're unprepared for the cold weather and storm that hits and for the emotional ride of love.

The last one, "All Through the House," if I could have read it with my hand over my eyes I would have. It's the story of a house that once held a tradegy: a man kills his family. But Coake skillfully layers information so that the whole picture sneaks up on the reader and is not without surprises.

If you're not afraid of the scary places in the lives of people, and I'm not talking about ghosts or the supernatural, this is a must read. Coake writes with one eye on the ugly and one eye on the beautiful until the reader can't tell which is which.

Christopher Coake's website

Per Contra

The Spring 2006 issue of Per Contra is live with amazing fiction, nonfiction, interviews and more!

Christopher Coake

I've started reading his collection"We're in Trouble," and the title story, which also happens to be first in the collection, ripped my chest wide open. It's a set of three stories all connected by death and they left me raw, absolutely raw. I'm looking forward to reading the rest.


Luan Gaines interviews Christopher Coake.

Emerging Writers Network

Dan Wickett has begun something new at Emerging Writers Network/ He's reading a story, a poem, a memoir piece a day and offering his comments.