December 2011
39 posts
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“Perhaps my fav[orite] fwriction : review issue to date…”
– Karen E. Sikola, editor of TrainWrite, on the new issue, Sarah Flynn’s “Goodbye To All That”
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“My goal in life is to be as good a writer as Drew Brees is a quarterback.”
– Bill Loehfelm, author of The Devil She Knows, via Twitter
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Last Night On Oil Street, by Nicolette Wong →
fwrictionreview:
The Commune
Spray paint ecru to heat searing through my fingers I’m leaving this block of farce we’ve inhabited and lost: the rights to sleep facedown on canvas, away from red taxis and men shuffling in and out of banks, briefcases in hands to waste their lives…
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I love this: Sara Lippmann Interviews Julie Innis
SL: I’m also always struck by your restraint. So much of the emotional weight in your more realist stories, “Heller”, “Big Angel” and “Room With A Partial Ocean View” arise from what’s left unsaid. It brings to mind that Hemingway quote – “If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows.”
JI: Forgive me as I take myself way too seriously with this question, but what you call ‘restraint,’ I call ‘struggle’: show/don’t show, tell/don’t tell, what’s the right combination that will bring a character to life on the page, etc. etc. As a reader, I’ve always been a big fan of writing that elucidates through a careful balance of description and omission as opposed to narratives seeded with so many explanatory details that all nuance and mystery is lost. I think, and I say this as a former English teacher of fourteen years, one of the worst things to happen to “literature” is the demand from readers for analysis at the expense of empathy. When we teach young readers to hunt for clues to character, specific lines or gestures that are meant to reveal some sort of “deeper meaning,” I think we’ve pretty much fucked the whole thing up. Which, for some reason, brings to mind the ending of the original Planet of the Apes movie. I read somewhere recently that all interviews about one’s writing should contain at least one Charlton Heston-esque outburst. So there you have it.
SL: Three Squares a Day with Occasional Torture. The title’s a line from “My First Serial Killer,” and functions brilliantly as a metaphor for the collection. It also sounds a lot like my writing process. What was your process like in compiling this collection?
JI: First, I am forever indebted to Stephen Marlowe at Foxhead for approaching me for a collection in the first place and for his patience with me through the process of selecting and arranging the final mix of stories. It took a lot of sifting to find the ones that I felt, when placed together, told the overall story of a life. Once I had this “life” in mind, the title seemed to sum it all up pretty nicely.
(Read the rest of the interview at Necessary Fiction.)
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“It’s not Christmas without you…”
– Emily Sarita, “It’s Not Christmas Without You”
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The special High School Writers' Issue of... →
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From 'The Philadelphia Story'
Tracy: Don't tell me you've forsaken your beloved whiskey and whiskeys.
Dexter: No, no, no, no. I've just changed their color, that's all. I'm going for the pale pastel shades now. They're more becoming to me. How about you, Mr. Connor? You drink, don't you? Alcohol, I mean.
Mike: Oh, a little.
Dexter: A little, "little." And you a writer? I thought all writers drank to excess and beat their wives... You know one time, I think I secretly wanted to be a writer.
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“Keep an eye on that Sharline Dominguez. She’s something else.”
– Karen E. Sikola, editor of TrainWrite, via Twitter
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The very special High School Writers' Issue of... →
To help celebrate fwriction : review’s first birthday (Dec 14), we wanted to do a special issue, something that would reflect beyond the brilliant work we normally publish. As a high school English teacher, I felt the strong desire to showcase some of the amazing writing being produced by very young writers, particularly in high school. Thus, the High School Writers’ Issue was...
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Happy Birthday, fwriction : review!
Today is fwriction : review’s very first birthday, and I couldn’t be more excited. Thank you to everyone who has supported and continues to support this literary journal week in, week out. It means the world.
One year ago today, we launched our very first issue: New Orleans writer Casey Lefante’s “Love Letter.” Check it out here.
And, as a birthday present to...
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“‘He’s not unpleasant. Or Norwegian. He’s going to offer me a job.’...”
– Ashley Stokes, “Ultima Thule, Part II”
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“The only solution to feeling anxious about my work is to write more. Feels good...”
– Laura van den Berg, via Twitter
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fwriction : review: Ultima Thule, by Ashley Stokes →
fwrictionreview:
(Part Two of Two)
Later he found the bar at the rear of the hotel, an array of dark green padded alcoves and stained glass partitions that wheeled around a circular serving area. No one was drinking here, no other reps or lorry drivers. Kay was standing behind the counter in front of a wall…
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Amazon’s Jungle Logic by Richard Russo →
A must read, for all those who love books, writing, reading, and the interaction that the three inevitably need to be whole.
Though it’s under siege, such real-life literary culture exists in unexpected places. A few miles down the road from where I live on the coast of Maine, a talented young bookseller named Lacy Simons recently opened a small bookshop called Hello Hello, and in her...
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“Browse at Amazon, buy at a local bookstore.”
– Sarah Malone, via Twitter
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Visit fwrictionreview.com to read Part I and II of... →
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Longreads - Writer Elliott Holt: My Top 5... →
longreads:
Elliott Holt is a Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer who is almost finished with her first novel. (See her Longreads page here.)
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I love short stories, so I decided my picks should be mostly short fiction.
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“But let’s not talk of old things that couldn’t be helped.”
– Eugene O’Neill, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
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“I watched as he sang and danced and laughed at his own lyrics. He seemed, at...”
– from “Based on True Events,” in Mixer
(via dannygoodman.me)
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fwriction : review: Ultima Thule, by Ashley Stokes →
fwrictionreview:
(Part One of Two)
Ansbro crossed a deserted market square, wary of slush and ice, the weight of his overnight bag and The Product drawing down on his shoulders. In what he assumed was the city’s main drag he passed pubs and bars, all empty. Behind the windows of pizzerias and restaurants…
Check out Ashley’s pick for the Waffle-Rocking Playlist (part one this week,...
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“He said that he wanted to take care of me and protect me forever, and I just...”
– Molly Laich, “Where The Boys Are”
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Linked: The Ben Stories
dannygoodmanwriting:
From my collection, here is the first set of showcased linked stories. I call them The Ben Stories. I hope you enjoy:
√ Greenpoint (in Paper Darts)
√ It Was the Light (in Metazen)
√ Late Night, Local Stops Here (in TrainWrite)
√ Somehow There Was More Here (in Found Press)
Supplementary stories (with slight link):
√ Based on True Events (in Mixer)
...
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Unrelieved Responsibility & Permanent Distraction:... →
dannygoodmanwriting:
I like to think of my fiction collection as both—the stories themselves stand alone (I hope), and when read as a whole, the collection has a very novelistic feel. I aimed for both over the years of writing these stories, and whether I was successful or not, I suppose, is in the hands of the reader now…
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"Based on True Events" - in the Spotlight at... →
dannygoodmanwriting:
Very excited to have my short story, “Based on True Events,” in the Spotlight at Mixer Publishing. Thanks to everyone for the support. Footnote Boosh!
(A follow-up story to “Based on True Events,” which focuses on Andre’s father, Dennis, after Andre’s death, was published by Assisi: “We’re Grownups After All.”)
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