Say It In 53 Words
As some of you might know, I have an odd relationship with the short-short prose structure. I love to read those that are stunning, remarkable, odd, moving, magic, entrancing, curious, and and and. (Think: Vanessa Gebbie here. Meg Pokrass. Tania Hershman. Dinty W. Moore. Carrie Etter. Katey Schultz. Stuart Dybek. Tom Hazuka.) I have written […]
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 […]
All I Want For Christmas ~ Books I Will Buy For Myself If I Have To
My Christmas gift exchange list gets shorter every year, but still I dream of the presents I would like to receive. (I am a bit of a present baby, truth be told.) So below I am making a short list of the books I would like for Christmas–and if I don’t receive them from anyone, […]
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 […]
Echoes and Echoes ~ Vanessa Gebbie on Endings
As we near the conclusion of this series “Why The Short Story? ~ A Conversation Among Writers,” Vanessa Gebbie—during a complicated time in her personal life—generously and graciously considers the question of endings. Vanessa: I will start my contribution on short story endings with an apology for holding up the end of this wonderful discussion—although there is a […]
Prizes and a Patron ~ Vanessa Gebbie on Earning as a Writer
Vanessa Gebbie is the first of our story writers in conversation to answer the questions Gina Frangello posed in her last post to our series “Why The Short Story?” A Conversation Among Writers. Just to remind you, here are Gina’s questions: “What role, if any, does money play in your decision to write and what to write? How has […]
Is the Short Story Training Ground for the Novel? Vanessa Gebbie says “No.” Er, “Yes.” Er, “No – Yes.”
A short while back Vanessa Gebbie posed a question to our writers in conversation, and now it is time for her to answer her own question. Vanessa? I do get a bit tired of hearing that the short story is a ‘training ground’ for the novel? Is it? I posed this question initially without really […]
The Hits Just Keep On Coming ~ Congratulations, Vanessa!
A bit ago I wrote a short post about my colleagues in conversation Gerard Woodward, Gina Frangello, Dennis McFadden and Vanessa Gebbie and all the well-deserved attention their work (especially their short story work) has received since we started collaborating on “Why The Short Story – A Conversation Among Writers.” Well, the good news keeps […]
“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 […]