Open to the Mystery

"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."

Great interview with Colum McCann over at the Rumpus. Can't wait to read his new novel, TransAtlantic.

The Arrangement of the Words Matters

From Joan Didion:
 
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.

It tells you.

You don't tell it.

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.)

Adopt a One Story Story

Amazingly, One Story is about to turn 11. 

For more than a decade now, they've been publishing individual short stories every 3-4 weeks. 

I was lucky enough to have my story "America's Finest City" published there a few years ago. 

To help secure the magazine's future, the One Story crew has undertaken a novel fundraising approach: allowing people to "adopt" a story.

Here's Sam the dog enjoying "America's Finest City," which was adopted by his owner:

 
There are still some stories left to adopt if you'd like to support this wonderful magazine. 

Farewell Transmission

I'm always suspicious when something begins "There are two kinds of people..."

But here goes anyway.

You might say there are two kinds of people: people who listen to music and say they like music and occasionally go to concerts and listen to the radio as they drive and so on.

And then there are people for whom music means something more, something deeper. It's part of the texture of their days, their nights. Not just a soundtrack. But more. Much more. More like a lifetrack.

William Boyle is the latter type of person. He wrote this article after hearing the news that Jason Molina (Songs: Ohia, Magnolia Electric Co.) died at the very young age of 39.