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(via Janet Jackson’s Concert for the Pantsuit Nation: Field Notes from a Dance Interpreter)

#janetjackson pantsuitnation dresslikeawoman janfam nastywomen

Central Mexico, early 1990s. I don't remember which town, or the name of the church; I was young and didn't think about labeling photos. But I remember the feeling of sitting in a pew, surreptitiously taking a picture. And the mystery of film cameras and what they would reveal.

#tripthroughyourwires

Enter to win a prize pack that includes a signed paperback, Audible.com code for the recently released audiobook version, and a souvenir.

#TripThroughYourWire #Goodreads #Giveaway #Guanajuato #Mexico

Ten things I found while searching for the mean postcard from a famous (now deceased) priest

1. A box of journals I chose not to open, because THAR BE WORMS, MATEY, in that thar can. Ain't got time for worms tonight. 2. An article for a news writing class, covering campus reaction to the O.J. Simpson verdict. I included a quote in which one student called the trial "a fucking farce," because college. Glaring error: I didn't use Nicole's last name on first reference. 3. Grades for the library science classes I took while trying to find a path, post-college. Books, yes, but not as a librarian. Solid A- Library Science student, what what. 4. An email printout from my dear friend, following my rejection from an MFA program, with the subject line: YOU ARE ACCEPTED. I'd also written, in my email to her, what my mother said about the form letter rejection: "You'd think a creative writing program could come up with something a little more creative!" 5. A piece of writing for a class in undergrad, with the following line: "As a teenager, I was too uncomfortable with myself to allow others to be comfortable with me." That seems insightful for that time in my life. 6. Photos I took for a community college photography class, while trying to figure out my path. My baby-faced husband, working at his desk with a pencil behind one ear. My sister with her ex. Two teenage boys in hoodies on the back of a park bench, on a freezing Syracuse night, who said "Sure," when I asked to take their photo. 7. A rather snide reference to a band I was (favorably) reviewing: "a bunch of middle-aged men from Ohio." Let the record show that this now-middle-aged woman from Indiana is mortified at herself. 8. Several pieces of writing that repeat the same thought: I want to write books. I want to write things that matter to people. I don't want to exist without leaving something behind. 9. Short stories I scarcely remember, which were my first attempts at writing fiction. They are simultaneously terrible and not that bad, as things can sometimes be. 10. A binder full of instruction sheets from line dancing class, which I signed up for while trying to figure out my path. (Kick-ball-change, kick-ball-change. It's a path, of sorts.)

#fiction #Genghis Khan #Boston Review #sarah layden

mttbll

For a long time, I resisted the idea of making deliberate plot moves that seemed manipulative of the characters; the events as they occurred often were coincidental or seemed surprising in those drafts because they were a surprise to me. Eventually, I made peace with the artifice: all of it is manipulated, all of it designed to form a cohesive whole. And then I really began to figure out potential connections between characters and events.

Sarah Layden (via mttbll)

Sarah Layden is the author of Trip Through Your Wires, a book that Michael Martone, author of Four for a Quarter, calls “a patient, powerful, and profound emotional unraveling”; and Kyle Minor, aut...

andrewscottonline

For my MFA class this semester—a literature course called “Fictional Forms”—I’m asking students to choose one debut story collection and one contemporary novel from the following lists:

STORY COLLECTIONS

Alan Heathcock, Volt

Amber Sparks, May We Shed These Human Bodies

Chad Simpson,

Forthcoming from Engine Books, early 2015.

samreads

Synopsis: In these stories of no more than 1000 words, well-known and emerging American authors spotlight crucial moments of change during coming-of-age. Their young protagonists face matters of great consequence, such as the death of a parent, unwanted pregnancy, and bullying, as well as...

andrewscottonline

Pretty excited that this anthology (something I’ve wanted to edit since 1999) is going to the printers on Friday. It will be ready in time for AWP, so look for Press 53 at Booth 766 on the main floor. Stories included:

Lee K. Abbott, “As Fate Would Have It”

Rusty Barnes, “Barely Light”

Victoria Barrett, “Better as a Wish”

Robert Boswell, “Sleeping in Bars”

Karen Brown, “Beautiful”

Eugene Cross, “Hunters”

Jennine Capó Crucet, “Men Who Punched Me in the Face”

Murray Dunlap, “The Black Oyster”

Roxane Gay, “Girls at the Bar”

Becky Hagenston, “Good Listener”

Holly Goddard Jones, “The Right Way to End a Story”

Victoria Lancelotta, “In Bars”

Sarah Layden, “Marv’s 11 Steps”

John McNally, “The Memoirist”

Kyle Minor, “The Navy Man”

Debra Monroe, “Have a Ball”

Darlin’Neal, “Once Upon a Time on Bourbon Street”

Michael Parker, “Muddy Water, Turn to Wine”

Victoria Patterson, “The Alcoholic Case of Miss Violet Louise Stokes”

Andrew Roe, “Lonely Man Sitting at Bar”

Jared Yates Sexton, “A Man Gets Tired”

Chad Simpson, “Tell Everyone I Said Hi”

Anne Valente, “Where There is Rain”

Richard Yañez, “Good Time”

sadchimpson

This is one of about twenty books on my nightstand right now. Still can’t believe I’m part of a roster of writers like this one.

*Probably*

#Dinosaur of probability

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