Win a New Handbag Filled with Fiction!
Something about Fall always makes me want to go out and buy a new wardrobe… and a new handbag to go with it. Hhm, how about a great satchel filled with a library of books for my Fall reading? Sign me up!
This month you can win exactly that in the Sakroots and William Morrow Paperbacks Book in a Bag Sweepstakes, featuring the Sakroots Artist Circle Satchel stuffed to the brim with the latest fiction from William Morrow Paperbacks: Call Me Irresistible by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Little Black Dress by Susan McBride, plus the first two books in the 666 Park Avenue series, 666 Park Avenue and The Dark Glamour.
You have until October 20, 2011, to enter. Good luck…and if you win the bag, please tweet a photo of yourself holding the books and the bag to us at @WilliamMorrowPB!
Filed under Romance | Tags: fiction, Filled, Handbag | Comment (0)New Yorker fiction (Aug 1) – “Reverting to a Wild State”
I listened to Nigel; I watched him cry; I rummaged around inside myself and tried to find a memory, a hurt, that would enable me to cry as well. I’d been a dick, dicked around, throughout the long near-decade of our relationship, countless men, often, though not always, for money. In penance, I wanted to cry for him now. I rummaged and rummaged, but I was dry.
The unnamed narrator is dry-eyed and empty-hearted as he leaves behind his boyfriend Nigel and ten years of history that deepened that one summer, when they were nineteen and working together on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Justin Torres’ short and poignant story unfolds in reverse order, tracing the relationship, in four quick steps, from its end to its beginning. The final lines of each brief section sketch out a sad and predictable trajectory:
… we’re on the slope of a minor mountain, in the dark, wondering what in hell we’ve signed ourselves up for, and how’s it all going to play. … “It’s over,” Nigel said. “You’re free.” … He sneered, huffed a crazy laugh, and kicked the door shut. … So, more than anything, I want to say this: in that moment I was happy.
The narrator doth protest too much; I wouldn’t put too much stock in his notion of happiness. He’s always been the transgressor in this relationship, the one with an overly generous understanding of boundaries and a wariness of being moored — all this, in contrast to his strait-laced boyfriend’s integrity. “People steal, I told him. People lie, people cheat. Except that [Nigel] didn’t steal, lie, or cheat.”
If you have one who regularly overreaches and one who falls short (in their own variously immature and dysfunctional ways), then what common ground could they ever claim? Can you build a decade-long relationship on an initial spurt of youthful exuberance wrapped up in a hot summer celebration of same?
Of course. People have shopping lists not even as long.
But, it’s still sad at the end, especially when it ends in such a splintery way. Among the resulting debris and illusions, there is more than enough here to mull over, and perhaps some of the pieces may be uncomfortably close. “I looked at me in the window: half disappeared, slim, and young.”
In an accompanying interview, Torres provides a refreshing insight:
Everything I write has autobiographical elements. Even minor characters … began as composites of men I have known. A lot of writers, even writers I respect and admire, look down at this, or at least my admitting it. They ask, why write fiction if you want to write about yourself? But something magical happens as you filter personal experience through imagination and language: the composites become characters, and the scraps of lived experience morph, and what you end up with is wholly transformed.
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Justin Torres is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop (MFA 2010) and is currently a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Lambda Literary called him a “new queer voice to watch out for.” His first novel, We the Animals, will be published later this month.
(“Tears” from TimOve / cc by-nc-nd)
At Word & Film: Tobe Hooper’s ‘Midnight Movie’ and 13 Horror Films Somewhere Between Fact and Fiction
We’ve got the scoop on Tobe Hooper’s new novel ‘Midnight Movie’ and a run-down of thirteen creepy horror flicks that walk the line between fantasy and reality. Live now at sister site Word & Film!
Suvudu » Science Fiction and Fantasy Books, Movies, Comics, and Games
New Yorker fiction (Jul 11/18) – “Aphrodisiac”
The New Yorker has made the story available online only to subscribers.
If you’re up for a story about a very dysfunctional family, then you’ve come to the right place.
Just as the spices in chicken tikka masala are plentiful, potent, and mysterious, so too, in this story, are the ways of manipulation and betrayal. The whole thing is a mess. Nothing worthwhile seems to have any good effect. The ways of desire and greed and jealousy win the day. (It’s no coincidence that “aphrodisiac” anagrams into “chop a sari id”.)
It’s not a tightly written story. It’s not easy to determine why people act as they do. Motives are cluttered; emotions are dusty. Disillusionment rules the day. Many Hindi words appear throughout the narrative — when they bunch up in a paragraph, though, they tend to further obscure the momentum. It’s not long before you feel like Kishen, the younger ne’er-do-well brother (with his squandered literary dreams):
He wanted to leave, too, he thought, to be in a cool green place, to collect and recollect everything in its complexity, which was impossible here with it all pressing down on him. Yet, at the same time, he felt guilty–maybe he had no right to go, maybe his place was here, even if he hated it.
This story leaves you thirsting for relief.
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The brilliant screenwriter of Merchant Ivory Productions, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is also a celebrated writer of novels and short stories. Her most recent story collection, A Love Song for India: Tales from East and West, will be published in the UK this October.
(“glass and water” from Isaac Leedom / cc by-nc)
New Yorker fiction (Mar 21) – “Rollingwood”
The New Yorker has made the story available online only to subscribers.
Against an array of characters and circumstances roiling with indifference, hostility, and blank walls, a father is trying hard to take care of his young son who is afflicted with asthma. Things aren’t going well.
In an interview accompanying this story, author Ben Marcus acknowledges that Kafka was probably an inspiration for the writing of this dispiriting narrative, but notes that his prime energy was drawn from his worries for the well-being of his own family:
A whole new array of terrible things can go wrong once you have a family and maybe within all that there’s the sickening sense—unfortunately convincing—that your kid might not really love you. He’ll see you as a stranger. Sometimes, on a dark morning with a howling baby, these things don’t seem so far-fetched.
A bit later in the interview, he responds to a question about the absurd elements of the story by declaring that his intention was to write one that was “Realistic.” I’m not so sure he’s accomplished precisely that. The chronological development of the story feels disoriented and askew in a way that is not completely accounted for — like a river that is clearly obstructed, but by something dark and not fully known.
I do think, though, that Marcus has offered something even more powerful. Rather than presenting itself as a bleak and straightforward narrative, this story seems to be a distillation of a father’s fears and experiences, an indirect look at his piercing inadequacies. I think this piece is more like a compressed version of any parent’s thoughts while lying awake at three in the morning, staring wide-eyed and terrified at the ceiling.
There is a poignant image early on, where father and son are sitting on the lawn of the father’s workplace. The father looks wistfully down the hill into his own past:
It’s a bright, clear day, and Mather can see all the way down to Rollingwood, the neighborhood where he grew up. . . . His old elementary school’s clock tower rises high out of the trees. The clock stopped at three-fifteen a long time ago, and unless you stand beneath the tower you’d think the little hand had fallen off, because it’s perfectly hidden behind the big hand.
In the movement from childhood and adolescence into adulthood, a line is crossed — some things are made clear and others become obscured. Some kind of time does indeed stop.
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Ben Marcus is an associate professor on the Writing faculty in the Columbia University School of the Arts. His most recent work of fiction, The Flame Alphabet, will be published in January 2012.
(“Granite” from d_flat / D S / cc by-nc-sa)
Why I Write Amish Fiction
Until we moved to southern Ohio almost twelve years ago, I had never seen a buggy. Actually, I had never thought much about the Amish. All that changed when my husband and I went on a Sunday drive just a few months after we moved here.
Just an hour from my house is a small Amish community in Adams County. Right on Highway 32 is Keims Market, an Amish Country Store which has become one of my favorite places to visit. There, you can sit on the front porch, eat cinnamon rolls, buy furniture and baskets, and instantly feel your body relax. It’s a wonderful place.
Nestled in the midst of this area is an English (not Amish) owned inn. I’ve stayed there a few times when my girlfriends and I have writing retreats. Though it looks nothing like the inn in my Sisters of the Heart series, it is what I based the Brenneman Bed and Breakfast Inn on. The people there are friendly and heart-warming … just as how I wanted to depict the Brennemans in my books.
When I was anxious to break into the inspirational market, my agent suggested I try writing an Amish novel. After all, I had already told her how much I enjoyed the community near me. When I began this journey, it felt ‘right’. I’ve always yearned to incorporate my faith into my novels, but I hoped to do it in a way that wasn’t too preachy. Writing about the Amish- where much of what they do is because of their faith-seemed like a good fit.
When I told some friends I was researching the Amish, a man who serves on a church committee with me introduced me to his wife. She grew up Mennonite in a town called Sugarcreek. She, in turn, eventually introduced me to one of her best friends, an Old Order Amish woman named Clara.
When I first met Clara, I was really nervous. Though I had visited Amish stores and areas, I had never sat down for lunch and asked specific questions about their lives. I imagine she was pretty curious about me, too! But soon, Clara and I found we had much in common. We both love books and puzzles. We also both enjoy baking and traveling…and find ourselves sharing stories about our kids and husbands-just like many wives and mothers do.
Since that first visit, I’ve visited Sugarcreek many, many times. Clara’s introduced me to more people, and I feel so lucky to have their friendship.
As I’ve written my novels, I’ve tried hard to depict the relationships that are common to the Amish I know. They have many friends, both Amish and English. Few of the Amish I know farm in Sugarcreek. Instead, they work at the brick factory, or one of the other businesses in the area.
I’ve found that their community is as diverse as any other community I’ve known. No one is perfect, and no one tries to be. Most of the Amish I’ve talked to are just going about their day to day lives and raise their children the best they can. Just like all the folks in my neighborhood.
I try to write the best novels I can about heart-warming people in exciting situations who just happen to be Amish. Because this is my goal, I find that there are many new stories just waiting to be told! I feel truly blessed and thankful for the opportunity to write about the Amish and am humbled by the many fans and readers who love to read them.
Shelley’s lastest novel, The Caregiver, is on sale now. And don’t miss The Protector, coming this June. To learn more and get the lastest news, follow Shelley on Facebook!
Filed under Romance | Tags: Amish, fiction, Write | Comment (0)The 2010 Stoker Nominations for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Today we’ll look at nominations for Superior Achievement in the Long Fiction category.
What is “long fiction”? According to the Horror Writers Association’s Rules for Bram Stoker Award, long fiction is defined as “a work of prose fiction at least 7,500 words in length but no more than 39,999 words in length”.
Generally works that are labeled novellas and novelettes fall in this category.
By labeling it long fiction and assigning it a specific word count, the HWA avoids problems that sometimes creep up by the sometimes random assignment of the terms novella and novelette.
Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the store icon below the summary to order it from an online bookseller through an affiliate link.
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The Painted DarknessAuthor: Freeman, Brian James |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction When Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his terror by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually, Henry’s mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon. Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son, and life couldn’t be better . . . except there’s something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There’s something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler. A winter storm is brewing, and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down in the darkness. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child — and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness. But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him . . . or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first? Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief — and what happens when we’re finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well. |
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“Dissolution”Author: Mannetti, Lisa |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction Deathwatch, the explosive new novel-length collection from Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author Lisa Mannetti. In Dissolution, Stuart Granville is a would-be medical student from the South who’s been expelled for drinking and believes he’s heading north to Hyde Park, New York to tutor twin girls. Instead, he discovers that his charges, Abby and Eleanor, have never been to school of any kind. They are also Siamese twins and their father, a doctor with grandiose dreams, means to separate them surgically. He intends to take advantage of Stuart’s expertise and vulnerability; but unbeknown to both men, the supernatural force in the house has an agenda — and a will — of its own. In The Sheila Na Gig, Tom Smith is on a ship in steerage and bound for New York from his native Ireland after facing down the constraints imposed by his family, overcoming the loss of his first love, circumventing his grandmother’s wiles and occult knowledge, and trying to save his younger, mentally challenged sister, Delia, from both witchcraft and sexual abuse. “In a genre glutted with soulless practitioners, grinding out “product” like sausages, Lisa Mannetti’s continues to be a refreshingly personal voice. Her work is idiosyncratic, erudite, intense . . . and authentically nightmarish.” Table of Contents:
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“Monsters Among Us”Author: McDermott, Kirstyn |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction Explore Australia’s dark literature past, present, and future all in one landmark anthology! From the very earliest colonial ghost stories through to grim tales of modern life, Macabre will take you on a journey through the dark heart of Australian horror. With classic stories from Australia’s masters of horror alongside the best of the new era, Macabre is set to be the finest dark fiction anthology ever produced in Australia. |
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The SamhanachAuthor: Morton, Lisa |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction On a Halloween night 300 years ago, something rose out of a Scottish bog to curse the McCafferty clan. Now, in 2010, single mother Merran McCafferty finds her suburban Halloween celebrations torn apart by the arrival of the Samhanach, an ancient trickster demon. When the Samhanach tries to steal Merran’s young daughter, Merran is forced to put aside reason and accept that magic is real, and bogies really do exist on Halloween night. The second in Bad Moon Book’s annual Halloween novella. |
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Invisible FencesAuthor: Prentiss, Norman |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction Do you see the point of the story, Nathan? We all cut parts of ourselves away, but we never lose them. Things stay with us — souvenirs with memories attached. We can’t always choose what to keep, what to throw away. Nathan’s parents devised cautionary tales for him and his sister — gruesome stories about predatory cars racing along the “Big Street” at one end of their neighborhood, or dope fiends lurking in the woods behind their house and ready to plunge hypodermics into the skin of foolish young trespassers. These stories served their purpose during Nathan’s gullible childhood, essentially constructing an invisible fence around the yard and keeping the boy close to home where he’d be safe. Such barriers are not so easy to discard in later life. As an adult, Nathan no longer believes his parents’ stories, and yet they still confine him. He lives cautiously, avoiding serious relationships, avoiding risk. But despite his efforts, something from his parents’ cautionary tales threatens to creep beneath that invisible border . . . and the enclosed yard might not be as safe and secure as it always seemed . . . This is book #19 in the Novella Series. |
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December 2010 (Hardcover — Cemetery Dance)
December 2010 (Kindle — Cemetery Dance)
January 2011 (Signed Limited Hardcover — Cemetery Dance)
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Horror Books with the Undead Rat
New Yorker fiction (Feb 28) – “Paranoia”
The New Yorker has made the story available online only to subscribers.
You write with your hand. You watch over your shoulder for the long arm of your past to catch up. You tousle your fingers through a youngster’s hair, soothing his anxious brow.
Author Saïd Sayrafiezadeh elbows all of these elements into his story. In an accompanying interview, he talks of friendship, illegal immigration and loss, of individual and family identity, the tribulations of childhood poverty, and the anxieties of a nation heading into war.
There certainly are a lot of issues here that need unpacking and more considered reflection. I’m not so sure they receive that depth of attention in this particular story. This narrative never felt compelling to me — I didn’t feel much sympathy for the characters and their troubles. The story appeared to me as much more of a sketch, a draft, introductory action taken on behalf of a cause, the bare bones of a narrative conjured into the open air.
One issue seemed to run into another one and even when they connected in sequence, no great amount of momentum was produced. In a way, of course, this is a key quality of early writing where a necessary first mixing of characters and situations takes place. It’s a bald, naked type of time:
The sky was cloudless, and I could feel the undiluted sun beating straight down on the top of my head. There were various empty buildings surrounding me, and I had the sensation that I was being watched by someone. I felt exposed in my shorts, as if my whiteness were made manifest by the paleness of my legs.
So, there wasn’t a firm and settled place from which to grasp this story; its lessons seemed vague, still being formed. A case, perhaps, of having to ‘talk to the hand’ because the mouth and ears aren’t yet fully prepared.
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Among his other works, author and playwright Saïd Sayrafiezadeh has written a memoir, When Skateboards Will Be Free, and a previous New Yorker story. He has a desert-island reading plan.
(“hand” from sochacki.info / jakub / cc by-sa)
The 2010 Stoker Nominations for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
Today we’ll look at nominations for Superior Achievement in the Short Fiction category.
What is “long fiction”? According to the Horror Writers Association’s Rules for Bram Stoker Award, short fiction is defined as “a work of prose fiction no more than 7,499 words in length”.
Generally works that are labeled short stories and maybe a few novelettes fall in this category.
By labeling it short fiction and assigning it a specific word count, the HWA avoids problems that sometimes creep up by the sometimes random assignment of the terms short story and novelette.
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
Remember, if you are interested in this book, click the mouse on the store icon below the summary to order it from an online bookseller through an affiliate link.
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“Return to Mariabronn”Author: Braunbeck, Gary A. |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over. Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow and award-nominated author and editor Nick Mamatas recruited Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they’ve written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers. |
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“The Folding Man”Author: Lansdale, Joe R. |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over. Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow and award-nominated author and editor Nick Mamatas recruited Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they’ve written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers. |
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“1925: A Fall River Halloween”Author: Mannetti, Lisa |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction 2010 Halloween Issue Edited by Kevin Lucia I’m not sure of the exact date that talented author (and friend) Kevin Lucia approached me and suggested a themed Halloween Issue. What I remember is that Kevin offered to “guest edit” it and I was thrilled by the prospect of seeing Kevin’s creative vision manifest. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been delighted to see the names that have slowly made their way to the Halloween Issue’s table of contents. Rio Youers, Lisa Mannetti, Jeremy Shipp, Nicholas Grabowski, Kelli Owen, Norman Partridge, Dan Keohane, Jodi Lee, Brian Hatcher and so many more. Not only did Kevin put his absolute best effort into this issue, but he also suffered the rigors related to editorial management with class and aplomb. His efforts also served as proof positive that the guest editor idea — along with the themed issue — was something that we believe could work out well for Shroud‘s readers. Better yet, we ran into one of our favorite artists at Context in August, Steven Gilberts. Steve has done a number of covers for Shroud and they are among our most popular. On the night of our fabled Context Shroud Party, Steve showed us a painting he had done onsite that day. We fell in love with it and immediately contracted Steve to do the Halloween issue cover. I asked Steve to take his pumpkin man concept and place them in “literary positions.” The masterful work you see above is what he came up with. After Danny Evarts finished several beautiful original wood and linoleum cuts for spot illustrations, then edited and designed the issue, we felt that this is perhaps our best issue yet. Perfect for our favorite holiday. 108 Pages of fantastic fiction, articles, reviews, and art. |
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“In the Middle of Poplar Street”Author: Southard, Nate |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction Editors Michelle McCrary and Joe McKinney have brought together twenty original tales of the end of our world from horror’s brightest talents. Within these pages you’ll find a madman longing for the good old days of Hometown America, a company that deals in the dead, a radio DJ who holds the living together with her voice, and a soldier haunted by the living and the dead alike. This is the end of the world as you’ve never seen it before. Featuring stories from Lisa Mannetti, Lee Thomas, Bev Vincent, Harry Shannon, David Dunwoody, Nate Southard, Boyd E. Harris, and a host of others, Dead Set will take you on a guided tour through the ruins. The zombie story has finally come of age. |
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“Final Draft”Author: Worthen, Mark W. |
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Nominated for the 2010 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Short Fiction Darkly thrilling, these twenty new ghost stories have all the chills and power of traditional ghost stories, but each tale is a unique retelling of an urban legend from the world over. Multiple award-winning editor Ellen Datlow and award-nominated author and editor Nick Mamatas recruited Jeffrey Ford, Ramsey Campbell, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin Kiernan, Catherynne M. Valente, Kit Reed, Ekaterina Sedia, and thirteen other fine writers to create stories unlike any they’ve written before. Tales to make readers shiver with fear, jump at noises in the night, keep the lights on. These twenty nightmares, brought together by two renowned editors of the dark fantastic, are delightful visions sure to send shivers down the spines of horror readers. |
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Like This Article? Then Please, Pass It On!
Horror Books with the Undead Rat
Good to read about the Science Fiction & Fanta…
Good to read about the Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars,also post is also good,
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Dissertation research proposal
Marooned – Science Fiction & Fantasy books on Mars