Leo Cuellar recently interviewed me for Mary. We talked about process, making the move from writing short stories to novels and vice versa, and research, among other things. My favorite question of Leo’s and one I’ve never been asked before was: Can you say something about what your new novel is about without mentioning characters; just setting, feeling/idea(s) and comparisons to other works of art? I’ll mention Nick Cave’s album “The Boatman’s Call”, in particular a song called “Brompton Oratory”. The original title of the novel, A Little Bit Later, is from a Wilco song. I’ll also mention the...
On Writing
Lurid secrets revealed!
I recently stopped by The Writers’ Block over at KQED to read my essay from Kevin Smokler’s anthology Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times. The essay is called “From Somewhere Down South to South Beach: Raw Takes on the MFA,” and it is filled with essential information on how to get the most (i.e….sex! sex!) out of your MFA program. You can hear the podcast here. While you’re there, check out Jennifer Traig reading from Devil in the Details, Karl Soehnlein reading from You Can Say You Knew Me When, Julie Orringer reading her story “Flores,” Mary Roach reading...
What We Are Doing
What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing. ~Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Of course it is a rather stupid thing to spend one’s morning reading a book about writing instead of writing the book one is supposed to be writing, the book that has been paid for, the book that a very kind and conscientious editor is waiting for, kindly and conscientiously but possibly inpatiently, because she has every right to be...
Borges on Criticism & Compulsory Happiness
“I have tried to disregard as much as possible the history of literature. When my students asked me for a bibilography, I told them, ‘A bibliography is unimportant–after all, Shakespeare knew nothing of Shakespearean criticism. Why not study the text directly? If you like the book, fine; if you don’t, don’t read it. The idea of compulsory reading is absured; it’s only worthwhile to speak of compulsory happiness…if a story doesn’t make you want to know what happened next, then the the author has not written for you. Put it aside. Literature is rich enough to offer you some...
Borges on enchantment
I have read almost all of Croce, and though I am not always in agreement with him, I am enchanted by him. Enchantment, as Stevenson said, is one of the special qualities a writer must have. Without enchantment, the rest is useless. ~from “The Divine Comedy,” the first lecture in Seven Nights I love what Borges says here, by way of Stevenson. As authors we try so hard to enchant, but it is impossible to do so without being, by turns, enchanted–not only with language and narrative, but also with the complexities of human nature and the intricate mysteries...
The international bestseller about one woman’s search for a missing child…
"Mesmerizing." ~Library Journal, starred review.
Stop dreaming, start writing!
