Colum McCann Quote

Quote of the day/week/year from Colum McCann: 

"There is nothing more substantial to place against the cruelty of the world than language.”

More McCann goodness here. (I'm currently reading his latest novel, TransAtlantic.)

The Wigleaf Top 50 (Very) Short Fictions 2014

Yes, it's already that time of year: Wigleaf has announced its annual top 50 (very) short fictions list.

Lots of great writers included, such as Jim Ruland, Lauren Becker, Mary Miller, Ravi Mangla, and Jared Yates Sexton. 

My stories "How to Talk to Children About Death" (published in fwriction) and "The Memory Thief" (published in Atticus Review) also made the long list.

BELIEVERS Update

Here's a quick book update…

The publication date for my debut novel, BELIEVERS, is now scheduled for mid to late April 2015.
 
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.

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.

So yes, progress!

New Story: "Later Then"

Hello long ignored blog! Did you miss me?

Today I have a new story up at Wigleaf (I heart Wigleaf). It's called "Later Then."

This story also happens to be an excerpt from my novel, Believers, which should be out a year from now, more or less. 

I'll post an update on the novel soon.

The Rhythm of the Words

"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 musical 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."

Don't miss Matthew Salesses' interview with Mary Miller (via the Rumpus). 

Babies

All this week Five Chapters will be publishing daily installments of short story "Babies."

You can get started with part 1, which is available here. 

Happy reading! 

Update: part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5 also now available. 

Bob

"Bob 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..."

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 read it here.

If you went to high school with me, you might recognize some of the names and places.