Writer. Reader. Human. Managing editor of Forge LitMag. Winner of the Excellence in Prison Libraries Award.
Issue number two of the rather wonderful CRT is now up This edition includes “Slippery” from one of my favourite flashers Frances Gapper, and all fictions are accompanied by spot on visuals. Good, good stuff.
P.S I am so jealous. I wish I’d got to go to AWP and hang out with the cool kids (Rachel, Sean, Barry…) Sulk.
I read Swicks Rule by Kathy Fish over at Wigleaf today. Loved it. I have read a fair few stories by Kathy Fish, and they each have an indefinable something about them that makes me really enjoy. I’m gonna use a very crap analogy now, sorry, but if the story is a car, then Ms Fish is the smoothest, safest, most confident driver you have ever had.
Pondering more on why I rate this flash so highly, I think it’s because it is a perfect example of showing not telling, and it’s in the tiny details. I came away from it thinking, wow, now that’s how to tell a story.
So, um, yeah, read it. Let me know what you think.
I haven’t updated here recently. I think I am in a bit of a funk. I only just thought of that word “funk” but it seems to fit perfectly with my mood.
Random then:
I miss Matt, and I try not to notice just how much because it rips me to pieces. So I think a Matt thought, and I try to move away from it quickly.
I wrote a flash for a weekly thingy at the Fiction Workhouse. I am quite keen on it, but nobody else is.
I have had a sort of viral something since Christmas. It doesn’t ever quite evolve, but I am constantly tired, and ears pop in and out with swallowing. I have no energy.
I am re-reading Kate Pullinger’s guide on how to write fiction (given away with the Guardian last year) and it is so superb. I feel as if I have turned the key in my car, and I am gently revving the engine. I am going to finish the novel this year.
I just read Kate Atkinson’s “When will there be good news?” and enjoyed it. I was disappointed with her last novel, but this was a page turner that I loved reading. The character’s of Reggie and Dr Hunter are lovely, and I was rooting for them all the way. Occasionally I was surprised by how clunky a sentence was, but mainly I was in that gorgeous fictive dream. She makes it seem easy to plot juggle and switch perspective. I know it is not.
I wish I was full of energy. I have a permanent health problem anyway, so always operate from a below average start point, when a virus comes along it really does for me. I hope to be back at it soon.
Lee Rourke blogged yesterday about his book “Everyday” being sold in a branch of Waterstones. And he had the photo to prove it!
Yay! It’s “my” short story display case.
Today Tania Hershman also blogged about it, because her fantastic collection The White Road and Other Stories is there too.
I love the fact that I get to maintain a short story section in the shop. I change it often, try to keep it fresh and enticing, but I always keep Janice Galloway‘s collection “Where you find it” in there. You may or may not recall me blogging about how much I LOVE this book here and here. I am delighted to say that we have now sold 50 copies. How cool is that!
I also keep Sylvia Plath’s “Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams” there, because, well, it’s Sylvia.
You will currently find Tania Hershman, Lee Rourke, Claire Wigfall, William Trevor, Charles Bukowski, Katherine Mansfield, Richard Yates, Miranda July, Vanessa Gebbie, Ali Smith, Alison MacLeod, Neil Smith, Tao Lin, Sara Maitland, Jhumpa Lahri and Jay McInerney in the case. We have sold out of Lorrie Moore for now.
Short stories are coooool.
I sent a small piece of fiction to Dogzplot at 20.38 last night, and Barry Graham responded at 20.47. Nine minutes! Wow!
And it was an acceptance, so yay, both for the super zippy response, and for the yes.
Does anyone know of a good quality litzine run by women, publishing men and women? (but mainly women) A litzine where the editors are super cool, the kind of people you’d like to go for drink with? Where people return to the site loyally, knowing that the stories published will be of a high standard?
Serious question.
Edit: Of course Cella’s Round Trip and Pulp.Net are both off the scale cool, but I know about them!
I have been persuaded to sign up to Twitter, without having the first clue about it. I rather adore my facebook, and don’t know if it’s a bit like that, but less. Hmmm. Anyway, do any of you Twitter? Care to enlighten me?
I am so shit at subbing. Once in a while I’ll sit down and really devote time to the process, but mostly I just whine about being rejected, and totally ignore the “get it back out there” advice of writing pals. It’s like I’ll give it one shot, and if someone doesn’t fall on it and say yes, I don’t quite love it enough any more. I do have one story that I have sent out 8 times. That’s a major amount of attempts for me. But I have a rather rare to me self confidence about it. I think it is good, dammit. It’s come close a couple of times. I have had an editor ask me to change it a bit, and I refused, because I am CONVINCED that it is good as is. I had another Ed say that they nearly published it but at the very last minute they didn’t. No reason. Weird. Anyway, I sent it back out today, this time to a female editor, because it suddenly struck me that maybe that would help.
All the place I sent to today are zines that I read and consider chock full of good quality writing. And, I didn’t even sim sub. Ah, the heady feeling of hope mixes with the blah inevitability of rejection. I’ll get used to it eventually. Perhaps.
Please read Melissa’s letter to Ruth! especially, y’know, if you are Ruth Reichl.
There is a new magazine coming out of Chester University called “Flash”. I subbed a couple of shorts to them, as did a few of my writing pals. I (and one other) received rejections on Christmas Day. My boys are back at school today, it’s back to business now, so I have just sat down and opened my subs diary. And you know, I feel rather cross at the sheer mean spiritedness they have shown. You don’t have to celebrate Christmas, that’s your choice, but others do. It’s hard constantly putting your writing up for judgement, and rejections always cause a little disappointment, so to send one on christmas day? Well, that’s just being shitty. It could have waited eh? There was no urgent need to tell me no right then. So, no, I won’t be subscribing to this mag, or sending any more work to them. I can take a no, of course I can, but sheez!
Sara Crowley 