Since I’ve had my baby (almost a year ago–wow), I haven’t had the time, energy, or mental focus to tackle writing a new novel. Hell, I’ve been struggling to read novels lately; I fall asleep after 5 pages. Anyway, I have been able to write some short stories. One that’s especially near and dear to — Read More
Category: Short Stories
My grandma, writer?
About a month ago (my how time flies), my grandma passed away. She took her health very seriously and we all used to say, “If anyone is going to live forever, it will be Grandma Helen.” So, on the day she died, we were surprised. Outsiders may think it wouldn’t be a shock because she — Read More
I’m in an anthology!
Remember when I asked you to vote for me for the America’s Next Author 2012 contest? Well, I kind of forgot about the contest. It came and went and then I got an e-mail saying I made it into the anthology! Best of all, you–yes YOU–can download the anthology for FREE! >> Download now!
A rare request: Vote for me!
I entered a contest. This is very, very unlike me. Plus, in this contest, winners are based on social media involvement, ie sharing on Facebook, tweeting, etc. I don’t even have a Twitter account and I get flush with embarrassment when it comes to promoting myself on Facebook. I’m that person posting, “Hey, vote for — Read More
On publishing short stories
Or, rather, on NOT publishing short stories. I’ve never had a short story published in a literary magazine. There, I said it. I’ve written tons, but I stopped submitting them. There was a time, when I was fresh out of grad school and full of enthusiasm, when I subscribed to Poets & Writers magazine and — Read More
A little Christmas story
When I entered the USC Master’s of Writing program, I’d never written a short story. I’d always worked on novels. I had the opportunity to take a class with the wonderful Shelley Berman (he’s an amazing comedian and you may know him best for playing Larry David’s dad on Curb Your Enthusiasm). That’s when I — Read More
Short stories vs novels, relationships vs flings
In the introduction to his short story collection, Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman, Haruki Murakami says this about writing short stories versus novels: “To put in the simplest possible terms, I find writing novels a challenge, writing short stories a joy. If writing novels is like planting a forest, then writing short stories is more like — Read More
New short story!
I think I’ve got this story in good enough shape for reading. It’s my plan to take the characters in this story and transplant them into a novel at some point. One day… *** People who knew me before 9/11 think I’m dead. I let them think that. On September 10th, I went to work — Read More