#pamela painter

[kathyfishblog]

Announcing Forthcoming Collection, Wild Life: Collected Works, from Matter Press + Cover Reveal! I'm thrilled to announce that Matter Press is re-issuing my 2011 collection, Wild Life, including flash and prose poetry from my previous collections as well as new work.

[narrativemag-blog]

"

All day Bucknell obligingly lounges by Jackson’s drafting table as he sketches dazzling new kitchens, designs cunning granite countertop arrangements for upwardly mobile tract-home McMansions. While he and Bucknell take long walks in the burgeoning woods across the street, he tells Bucknell about the importance a well-designed kitchen plays in the family dynamic. Bucknell makes proper use of these walks, stopping at trees and fire hydrants, staking out new territory of his own. That night Bucknell jumps onto the bed, clearly intending to sleep with them.

'Not on the bed,' Jackson’s wife says, tying her silk pajama bottoms with a double knot.

So Bucknell lurks around the edges of their king-sized mattress, a solid alert presence. At 5 a.m., still on Jackson’s father’s schedule, the dog starts to pace around and sniff. Even with his eyes closed, Jackson feels Bucknell watching them sleep, feels the breeze from his wagging tail . . .

"

—Pamela Painter, Put to Sleep

See the Story of the Week Guidelines.

(Image from Melanie Anderson)

[expositively]

Writing Prompt

The Exercise

Write the first sentence of a story about a birth. Now write the first sentence about a death. Try other pairs, such as falling in love and filing for divorce. Try pairs that are not in opposition, such as spring and summer.Then invent your own pairs.

The Objective

This is a way to sharpen skill by working for a specific kind of clarity. It is about naming essences.

Student Example

A birth and a death

I won't be doing any bonding with either one of them for quite a while; I knew I shouldn't have gone into the delivery room.

He doesn't look peaceful or tortured or saintly, and no, he doesn't look 'just like himself'; he looks like some dead thing that I never knew, and I don't know why I'm here.

From What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers