Parenting and Writing

Over at the Quivering Pen, Shawn Vestal, author of the newly released collection Godforsaken Idaho, had some things to say about parenting and writing that really hit home. 

Here's a taste:

"I needed to be drawn out of myself and into the world, to be forced to consider my own existence in the context of someone who would look to me as an example, to be forced to confront, more gravely and less glibly, the parts of myself that might fall short of that standard, and all of this made me a more reflective, contemplative human being, and therefore a more reflective, contemplative writer."

You can read the entire essay (well worth your time) here.

A Thing or Two About a Thing or Two

More foreign sales news for BELIEVERS: This time it's Turkey!

So now in addition to English and Polish (see below), you can read my debut novel in Turkish.

When I tell people about the foreign sales, they always ask if I'll get to go to Poland and Turkey. I say I don't know but it sure would be nice.

Also related to BELIEVERS: I finished another revision of the manuscript and turned it in to my editor, and I recently signed the book contract (so I guess it's officially official).

At this point, we're looking at a fall 2014 publication date.

Not related to BELIEVERS: Here's a kickass short story by the always kickass Lindsay Hunter.

Nothing Has to Happen. Anything Can Happen.

Interviewer: What has to happen on page one, and in chapter one, to make for a successful book that urges you to read on?

Jess Walter: Of course, nothing has to happen. Anything can happen. The sound is what I’m aware of in the beginning—announcing to myself the voice of this book, like the opening riff of a song. I keep tinkering and tinkering until it sounds right. That’s all that has to happen: you just have to love the way it sounds.

Full interview with Walter (Beautiful Ruins) here.

(Today I read his fantastic short story, "Anything Helps," from the most recent Best American Short Stories.)