tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12965319010920588592024-03-12T19:20:16.722-07:00Title TKI am trying to...Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.comBlogger430125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-74379657403067755762014-11-08T09:18:00.002-08:002014-11-08T09:19:02.990-08:00New Author Site<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Still in "coming soon" mode, but check it out:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<a href="http://andrewroeauthor.com/"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">http://andrewroeauthor.com/</span></span></a><br />
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<br />Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-54941753864302971412014-10-19T21:33:00.001-07:002014-10-19T21:33:08.697-07:00Galleys!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U5nABUpE_gc/VESQJb54HRI/AAAAAAAAAa4/g-8y4tP5cpg/s1600/galleys.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U5nABUpE_gc/VESQJb54HRI/AAAAAAAAAa4/g-8y4tP5cpg/s1600/galleys.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I got my first glimpse of the galleys for <i>The Miracle Girl</i> last night. I attended the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show and had a wonderful time. I'll be heading up to San Francisco next week to attend the Northern California version. </span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-10821668079367372022014-09-17T17:04:00.002-07:002014-09-17T17:04:40.848-07:00The Miracle Girl is now available for preorder<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I guess this is really happening: You can pr<span style="font-size: small;">eorder </span><i>The Miracle Girl</i> <a href="http://www.workman.com/products/9781616203603/review_quote.html"><span style="font-size: small;">here</span>.</a> </span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-9083230335102479312014-09-11T15:01:00.000-07:002014-09-11T21:12:54.298-07:00And we have a cover...<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Coming April 21, 2015:</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TUkkS796wLI/VBIbybNgTQI/AAAAAAAAAak/-LIn7xp_E-8/s1600/Roe_MiracleGirl_Jkt_rgb_HR%2Bcopy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TUkkS796wLI/VBIbybNgTQI/AAAAAAAAAak/-LIn7xp_E-8/s1600/Roe_MiracleGirl_Jkt_rgb_HR%2Bcopy.jpeg" height="640" width="420" /></a></div>
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<br />Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-42833225734328969492014-09-02T20:59:00.003-07:002014-09-02T20:59:42.880-07:00A novel update<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">First
of all, there's a new title: THE MIRACLE GIRL. It was hard switching
after having had the previous title (BELIEVERS) since the novel's
inception many years ago, but I truly believe this is the best title for
the book. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Second, the audio rights have been sold(!). </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Third, I've been
invited to attend some book seller conferences (in San <span class="text_exposed_show">Francisco
and Los Angeles) in October, which will help start promoting the book. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Fourth, galleys (preview copies that are sent out to reviewers, media,
etc.) are imminent. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">And lastly, there's now an official publication day:
April 21, 2015. It seems like a long way off, but I'm sure it will be
here before I know it. </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">In the meantime, I'm plugging away at a new
long-ish thing.</span></span></span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-32134407884588763982014-07-23T21:22:00.000-07:002014-07-23T21:22:42.515-07:00Blurbs!<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've been fortunate enough to get some very kind, very generous blurbs for my upcoming novel...<br /><br />“Look at Andrew Roe’s BELIEVERS from one angle and you’ll see a story of a family split apart by a devastating accident: a beleaguered and grieving mother, a guilt-stricken and adrift father, a comatose young girl who requires more from them than they know how to provide. From another, you’ll see an incisive and insightful critique of America at the millennium and today, investigating where we put our faith and why. From another—and this is, I think, the greatest of Roe’s achievements in this captivating and assured debut—you’ll see a memorable feat of intense and widespread empathy; Roe inhabits dozens of characters (principals and minor players both) who are desperate to believe, hears their voices, and reveals to us their deepest needs and wounds and hopes, and he does so with unfailing kindness, generosity, and wisdom. It’s a novel about what it means to be human, to be lost or broken, a little or a lot, and to seek connection and hope and maybe even transcendence in the world around us.” <br /><br />—Doug Dorst, author of <i>S</i>. and <i>Alive in Necropolis</i><br /><br />“To believe or not to believe—that is the question facing all who are touched by Annabelle, the comatose “miracle girl” at the swirling center of Mr. Roe’s dazzling debut. But BELIEVERS is more than an exploration of the mysteries of faith. It’s also the unforgettable story of one family’s struggle against tragedy. The result is an uplifting miracle of a book.”<br /><br />—Will Allison, author of <i>Long Drive Home</i><br /><br />“In Andrew Roe’s BELIEVERS, we’re reminded that the desire for miracles always connotes dissatisfaction, even as it articulates a hope. Roe deftly explores this paradox with clean, sharp prose; the novel’s intuitive, shifting structure (providing not only different character’s perspectives, but press releases, documents and, really productively, comments on web message boards) generates a multi-faceted exploration into what it means to believe. Also—through Anabelle, the child at its center—Roe’s novel examines the strange responsibility of being believed in. A stunning, confident debut.”<br /><br />—Peter Rock, author of <i>The Shelter Cycle</i> and <i>My Abandonment</i></span></span>
Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-3235771206188124532014-06-22T15:04:00.002-07:002014-06-22T15:04:52.765-07:00Colum McCann Quote<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">Quote of the day/week/year from Colum McCann: </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">"There is nothing more substantial to place against the cruelty of the world than language.”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;">More McCann goodness <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/22/books/review/colum-mccann-by-the-book.html?ref=books&_r=0">here</a>. (I'm currently reading his latest novel, <i>TransAtlantic</i>.)</span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-5256807060373432182014-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:002014-06-05T10:30:09.723-07:00The Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions 2014<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, it's already that time of year: Wigleaf has announced its annual <a href="http://wigleaf.com/2014top501.htm">top 50 (very) short fictions list</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of great writers included, such as Jim Ruland, Lauren Becker, Mary Miller, Ravi Mangla, and Jared Yates Sexton. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">My stories <a href="http://www.fwrictionreview.com/post/41940739589/how-to-talk-to-children-about-death-by-andrew-roe">"How to Talk to Children About Death"</a> (published in fwriction) and <a href="http://atticusreview.org/the-memory-thief/">"The Memory Thief"</a> (published in Atticus Review) also made <a href="http://wigleaf.com/2014longlist.htm">the long list</a>.</span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-28757768395511999142014-04-27T14:06:00.004-07:002014-04-27T14:08:59.262-07:00BELIEVERS Update<div class="MsoNormal">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent">Here's a quick book update…<br /><br />The publication date for my debut novel, BELIEVERS, is now scheduled for mid to late April 2015.<br /> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="usercontent">So in about a year from now, it will be officially out in the world. The copyedits have been finished, and I recently had my first meeting with the amazing Algonquin team (marketing, publicity, art direction, etc). I feel very lucky to be "debuting" with such a well-respected and caring publisher.<br /><br />Over the summer, we'll be looking at page proofs and covers. Galleys (preview copies for reviewers and booksellers) will be available in October. And some blurbs have already started to come in.<br /><br />So yes, progress!<br /></span></span></span></div>
Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-38971870196721036412014-04-11T09:45:00.000-07:002014-04-11T09:45:16.498-07:00New Story: "Later Then"<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hello long ignored blog! Did you miss me?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Today I have a new story up at Wigleaf (I heart Wigleaf). It's called <a href="http://wigleaf.com/201404later.htm">"Later Then."</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This story also happens to be an excerpt from my novel, <i>Believers</i>, which should be out a year from now, more or less. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I'll post an update on the novel soon. </span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-57155788648234379522014-01-25T07:49:00.000-08:002014-01-25T07:49:03.718-08:00The Rhythm of the Words<span class="userContent">"It’s definitely about the rhythm of the words
and how they sound together, writing one sentence and then another and
another and cutting something immediately if it doesn’t feel true. I
come from a family of musicians and—while I have no m<span class="text_exposed_show">usical
abilities of my own—I think I inherited a good ear. It’s also
obsessiveness. I’ll spend a lot of time working on a single sentence,
debating over a dash or a colon, etc. I want things to be perfect. I
know nothing will ever be as perfect as I want it, and this is very sad,
but sometimes I can get close."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent"><span class="text_exposed_show">Don't miss Matthew Salesses' <a href="http://therumpus.net/2014/01/the-rumpus-interview-with-mary-miller-2/">interview with Mary Miller</a> (via the Rumpus). </span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-15677670014585260072014-01-07T20:19:00.001-08:002014-01-13T20:20:59.572-08:00Babies<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All this week Five Chapters will be publishing daily installments of short story "Babies."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can get started with part 1, which is available <a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/2014/babies-part-one/">here</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy reading! </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Update: <a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/2014/babies-part-two/">part 2</a>, <a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/2014/babies-part-three/">part 3</a>, <a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/2014/babies-part-four/">part 4</a>, and <a href="http://www.fivechapters.com/2014/babies-part-five/">part 5</a> also now available. </span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-76879436467828559812014-01-02T17:58:00.003-08:002014-01-02T18:00:12.430-08:00Bob<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="cap" title="B">"B</span>ob worked at The Dairy.
Not a dairy dairy with cows and milking devices and such, but a place
we called The Dairy, because, I think, its official name was something
like The Something-View Drive-Thru Market and Dairy. This was the
mid-1980s, when there were still drive-thru markets..."</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I don't write much nonfiction these days, but I have a short essay-ish thing over at BULL. It's called "Bob, or When the Nights Are Both Long and Short," and you can <a href="http://bullmensfiction.com/salad-days-revisited/bob-or-when-the-nights-are-both-long-and-short/">read it here</a>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you went to high school with me, you might recognize some of the names and places. </span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-61099672480408180272013-12-30T16:10:00.002-08:002013-12-30T20:55:51.377-08:00Writing Year Recap <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It was a good year. It was a very good year…</span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I sold my novel, <i>Believers</i>, which is slated to come out in spring 2015 from Algonquin Books. (Foreign rights were also sold in Poland and Turkey.)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I did the final edits for <i>Believers</i> and worked with my wonderful editor Andra Miller (next up: copy edits). </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I wrote a new short story, which I sold to <i>Glimmer Train </i>(due out in November 2015). </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I started on a new novel (20K words and counting; fingers crossed). </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I attended my first AWP conference. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I published stories in the <i>Kenyon Review Onlin</i>e (<a href="http://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-fall/selections/andrew-roe-342846/">"The Riot and Rage That Love Brings"</a>), <i>The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review</i> (<a href="http://thedoctortjeckleburgreview.com/2010/12/20/winter-2011-fiction-job-history-by-andrew-roe/">"Job History"</a>), <i>Atticus Review</i> (<a href="http://atticusreview.org/the-memory-thief/">"The Memory Thief"</a>), and <i>fwriction</i> (<a href="http://www.fwrictionreview.com/post/41940739589/how-to-talk-to-children-about-death-by-andrew-roe">"How to Talk to Children About Death"</a>). An excerpt from <i>Believers</i> also appeared in the kick-ass anthology <a href="http://www.press53.com/24BarBlues.html"><i>24 Bar Blues: Two Dozen Tales of Bars, Booze, and the Blues</i></a>. </span></span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />Rarely do I stop and step back and appreciate what I've accomplished. I'm always on to the next thing, rushing ahead. But I have to say, this feels like a pretty damn good list. If I can lick this cold, I'll have some extra reasons to celebrate tomorrow night.<br /><br />Happy New Year!</span></span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-22170626517177833732013-12-18T15:07:00.002-08:002013-12-18T15:07:53.725-08:00Embrace Uncertainty<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">"When writers who are just starting out ask me when it gets easier, my answer is never. It never gets easier. I don’t want to scare them, so I rarely say more than that, but the truth is that, if anything, it gets harder. The writing life isn’t just filled with predictable uncertainties but with the awareness that we are always starting over again. That everything we ever write will be flawed. We may have written one book, or many, but all we know — if we know anything at all — is how to write the book we’re writing. All novels are failures. Perfection itself would be a failure. All we can hope is that we will fail better. That we won’t succumb to fear of the unknown. That we will not fall prey to the easy enchantments of repeating what may have worked in the past. I try to remember that the job — as well as the plight, and the unexpected joy — of the artist is to embrace uncertainty, to be sharpened and honed by it. To be birthed by it. Each time we come to the end of a piece of work, we have failed as we have leapt—spectacularly, brazenly — into the unknown." <br /><br />-- Dani Shapiro</span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-67618004882779338862013-11-27T17:20:00.000-08:002013-11-27T17:20:00.198-08:00Coming Sun. Mon. Tues.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And speaking of the Kenyon Review, they recently put an early (1966) DeLillo story on their website. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The story is called "Coming Sun. Mon. Tues" and it's one paragraph and there's a kind of manic energy to it that I really like. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here's a sample:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"The boy runs from one end of Chicago to the other. Then he looks for a job
to get the money for the abortion. He is interviewed by a series of tall men
with elegant fingers and they all tell him that they’ll let him know if
anything turns up. He insults one of the men, an old school chum of his
father’s who is the president of a management consultant firm and cannot
understand why the boy did not finish college. The boy insults him beautifully.
The man is so out of it that he is not even sure he has been insulted. Then the
boy and girl go to a store in San Francisco or Toronto or Liverpool.
They steal some groceries. They leave the store laughing with the groceries
under their heavy sweaters. Then the boy stops at a flower stand and steals a
flower for the girl. Then they go home and she cries. Then they go to a party.
Everybody at the party is a phony except for one guy who’s a West Indian or an
American Negro or a French Canadian. This guy tells them that they don’t know
the first thing about being bitter. They have no right to be bitter. He tells
them a thing or two about life and death. Everybody else is doing the freddy
and this guy is telling them about real suffering, real pain. Telling it like
it is. Then he rolls up his sleeve and shows them how he was wounded in Vietnam or Mississippi. Meanwhile everybody is doing
the freddy and talking about Andy Warhol or the Animals. The boy and girl go
home again."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And here's where you can <a href="https://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/don-delillo-342846/">read the entire story</a> (it's fairly short). </span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-9154767193305274942013-11-23T20:24:00.001-08:002013-11-23T20:24:03.024-08:00The Person Who Can Write a Good Story<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really like this from <a href="http://www.one-story.com/index.php?page=current">One Story's interview with Tom Paine</a>...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>One Story:</b> What is the best bit of advice about writing you have ever received?</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Tom Paine:</b> That you can't write a good story until you become the person who can
write a good story. I mean a change in your soul, not your sentence
structure.</span></div>
Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-1984867742887316272013-11-23T20:21:00.000-08:002013-11-23T20:21:18.947-08:00The Riot and Rage That Love BringsI have a <a href="http://www.kenyonreview.org/kr-online-issue/2013-fall/selections/andrew-roe-342846/">new short story</a> that was recently published by the Kenyon Review Online. <br />
<br />
There's also audio of me reading the story, if you dare.Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-34050450633103650482013-11-10T08:32:00.000-08:002013-11-23T20:24:39.818-08:00Paragraph<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->The sun slips into the blank sky, asserting itself like a flame sparking to life, just as the bus climbs and then descends a hill, also revealing the city spread out below. It’s a beautiful thing, coming upon this sight in such a dramatic fashion. She is either half-awake or half-asleep. But there is definitely some level of consciousness, an understanding of the moment. The bus driver gasses it to ensure they cross the next intersection in time. And they do, they beat the yellow, barreling forward. And it’s as if they’re heading straight for the light ahead and nothing will stop them. The driver is drinking coffee from a giant Thermos. The same driver who was eating the sandwich last night. Now chugging the caffeine with one hand and navigating the steering wheel with the other. How much longer before they change shifts and it’s another driver? Then he slows it down, breaking the spell of speed and momentum, and pulls over at the next stop. People are waiting there. He opens the door, and she watches the passengers silently board, the bus resumes its journey, the sunlight continues to color the sky, the day begins, and there is no other way.Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-40895333740676246122013-11-01T10:34:00.002-07:002013-11-01T10:35:19.164-07:00A Good Week<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Last Monday I woke up with a feeling. A writerly feeling. It's a feeling I get from time to time. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The feeling was this: I'm going to get some good writing-related news today. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now, usually (that is, 99.9 percent of the time) the feeling doesn't equate to something actually happening. The feeling and the day passes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But on this particular Monday, I got a phone call from Glimmer Train in the afternoon. The magazine accepted my short story "A Matter of Twenty-Four Hours" (a story, by the way, that had been rejected by multiple magazines). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then, on Friday, I wrapped up the final edits for BELIEVERS. And damn, that felt good.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A good week indeed. </span><br />
<br />Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-90314947011273024872013-10-02T21:57:00.000-07:002013-10-02T22:04:30.667-07:00Appreciation<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">When you read the sentences of a writer like Colum McCann, you can't help but wonder: How does he do it? Does he get into some kind of trance-like state to conjure such sustained, such devastating beauty? You wonder: What does it take to be able to achieve that? How does one apprentice his/her way to this level of clarity and vision and generosity?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">(I'm currently reading McCann's novel <i>This Side of Brightness</i>.) </span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-3912003473834418382013-09-10T22:11:00.002-07:002013-09-10T22:11:58.085-07:00Believers Pub DateWhen my novel <i>Believers</i> sold earlier in the year, the publication date was either going to be fall 2014 or spring 2015.<br />
<br />
Well, there's been a decision, and it's... spring 2015.<br />
<br />
Yes, the extra waiting will be hard (to quote my son: "Hasn't your book come out yet?"). On the other hand, there will be more time to generate prepublication interest among booksellers, reviewers, etc. Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-75304949429422622242013-07-12T11:13:00.000-07:002013-07-12T11:13:38.347-07:00New Story + Novel UpdateIt's been a while since I've posted anything here, I know. A couple quick things...<br />
<br />
My story "Job History" is in the latest issue of <i>The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review</i>.<br />
<br />
Here's what the cool cover looks like:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Oiw7fJKuw3I/UeBG-65iBsI/AAAAAAAAAXE/5uOv6ifWarM/s1600/eckleburg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Oiw7fJKuw3I/UeBG-65iBsI/AAAAAAAAAXE/5uOv6ifWarM/s320/eckleburg.png" width="258" /></a></div>
<br />
Other contributors include Rick Moody, Stephen Dixon, Steve Almond, Chad Simpson, Len Kuntz, and many others.<br />
<br />
You can buy the issue <a href="http://thedoctortjeckleburgreview.com/bookstore/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Lastly, I'm currently working with my editor on the final edits for my novel BELIEVERS. So far so good. Hoping to have everything wrapped up in the next couple weeks. I've also started another novel, so I'm looking forward to getting back to that.Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-61989797757711330762013-06-05T10:26:00.000-07:002013-06-05T10:26:06.796-07:00Open to the Mystery<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"I wish I could say to you that it all works out organically as planned,
but they never do, these books. Writers constantly—you know this—fly by
the seat of their pants, and you just go along. You’re open to the
mystery. You’re open to the possibilities."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Great interview with Colum McCann <a href="http://therumpus.net/2013/06/the-rumpus-interview-with-colum-mccann/">over at the Rumpus</a>. Can't wait to read his new novel, <i>TransAtlantic</i>. </span>Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1296531901092058859.post-40219078779783869412013-05-02T14:14:00.001-07:002013-05-02T14:14:32.089-07:00The Arrangement of the Words Matters<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">From Joan Didion:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Grammar is a piano I play by ear, since I seem to have been out of
school the year the rules were mentioned. All I know about grammar is
its infinite power. To shift the structure of a sentence alters the
meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position
of a camera alters the meaning of the object photographed. Many people
know about camera angles now, but not so many know about sentences. The
arrangement of the words matters, and the arrangement you want can be
found in the picture in your mind. The picture dictates the arrangement.
The picture dictates whether this will be a sentence with or without
clauses, a sentence that ends hard or a dying-fall sentence, long or
short, active or passive. The picture tells you how to arrange the words
and the arrangement of the words tells you, or tells me, what’s going
on in the picture. Nota bene.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It tells you.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You don't tell it. </span><br />
<br />Andrew Roehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05587923563922700199noreply@blogger.com2