Beautiful Sentence #11 ~ Dennis McFadden
“The May sunshine was cold and sterile, contrary to everything God intended May to be, but then everything on the drive to Cranberry, the drive he’d made hundreds of times before, was foreign and unfamiliar, including his own heartbeat.” – Dennis McFadden, “Forget-Me-Nots,” Jimtown Road
White Boys Can Write
Once again, let us honor National Short Story Month–this time with five fine and recent story collections by the endangered species, the White Male Writer. WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT MEN, by Michael Burke AS IF WE WERE PREY, by Michael Delp THE WORLD OF A FEW MINUTES AGO, by Jack Driscoll CARRY EACH HIS BURDEN, by James Goertel […]
Why The Short Story? ~ A National Short Story Month Remix
[Excerpted from this blog’s long series “Why The Short Story?” For full text, click here.] Like so many writers, I loved to read when I was a child. I remember SRA books—do you remember those? You’d have to be of a certain age, and maybe of a certain region of the world. Anyway, SRA was […]
They Talk, We Listen ~ A Brief Collection of Author Interviews
Author interviews. I have to admit, I like them quite a lot. A glimpse into what makes them think, write, rewrite, enjoy life, and so on and so on. When I read of their concerns, their vulnerabilities, their insecurities, I recognize that the authors I admire are just people, people like me, maybe. And sometimes […]
“When It’s Miller Time” ~ Dennis McFadden on Short Story Endings
As we come to the last questions of the series “Why The Short Story? A Conversation Among Writers,” we dig into the ideas and possibilities set forth by endings. Seems appropriate, doesn’t it? Dennis McFadden begins the end here with his answers to Gerard Woodward’s questions set forth a few days ago. Gerard: What’s the best way […]
Gina Frangello’s Plan B ~ On Writing and Earning
Continuing with “Why the Short Story?” A Conversation Among Writers, author of Slut Lullabies and My Sister’s Continent, Gina Frangello answers her own questions about making money as a writer. Gina: Recently, I posed the question to this group about how our writing lives are impacted by financial concerns. We are a diverse group of writers, […]
Dennis McFadden’s Working Man’s Quarters ~ Another View From the Keyboard
As promised, here is the writing space of Dennis McFadden, author of the very fine short story collection Hart’s Grove, and participant in this blog’s “Why The Short Story?” A Conversation Among Writers. You’ll find here, too, an excerpt from another of his wonderful stories. Dennis: This is where I do most of my writing and watch […]
Sheep Herding and Shrimp ~ Dennis McFadden on Earning as a Writer
As part of our on-going Conversation Among Writers “Why The Short Story?”, Dennis McFadden takes on Gina Frangello’s questions about the financial implications of a writing life. Dennis: Man, talk about déjà vu. How many times has something like this happened to you? Standing around at the old writers’ conference cocktail party, having wormed your way into […]
“The Grand Symbiosis.” Dennis McFadden on training…
In the last installment of “Why The Short Story?” our conversation among writers, Vanessa Gebbie asked us to consider whether or not we thought the short story is training ground for the novel. Here then, is Dennis McFadden’s response: Dennis: Is the short story a “training ground” for the novel? Unquestionably. Undeniably. Until the cows […]
Since we’ve started this conversation…
Our short story conversationalists have had a few rather lovely things happen in their writing lives since we started chatting about writing. Dennis McFadden, up next with his response to the question “Is the short story a training ground for the novel?” has had “Diamond Alley,” one of his stories from Hart’s Grove, chosen for […]