Cold Night, Warm Book

Autumn shies from summer, one more time around, this Vermont, and I long for dark grey and cold air, the reading weather. Hunkered down on a chill night with this exquisite novel, Glaciers by Portland writer, Alaskan-born Alexis Smith, brrrrr…what’s not to love.   In keeping with the prose, crisp and lyrical like the weather … Continue reading »

Shaking Off the Grip I Love Most? Nah!

For the past two years, linked story collections as a sub-genre in fiction writing have seized me by the throat and won’t let go. I know that sounds a bit melodramatic, but that’s the effect I’m going for. It all started when I first entered an MFA program at VCFA and received advice that it … Continue reading »

Summer Reading

Summer reading got started a bit late, but the season’s official end stretches past the traditional school vacation date, and I will lean on that to reach my goals. July’s book list features volumes with the word “summer” in the title. Yesterday, on the shore of Atlantic waters, I finished Summer by Edith Wharton, relishing … Continue reading »

March Reading Challenge: Four Novels and Some Stories, Part 2

Books continue to pile up and teeter. Discussion on a potential office renovation turns from crafting new shelves to building an additional room. Anyone witness to my growing stacks may breathe a sigh of relief; as long as I have credit on my Visa card, paper books can not possibly be in danger. But, I’m … Continue reading »

Normal People

Dylan Landis tell us that she learns to write fiction by reading fiction. She holds up a well-used copy of Love Medicine, by Louise Erdrich, made thick by page-turning fingers. Dozens of multi-colored sticky notes protrude from the three edges. To a room packed with AWP 2011 conference attendees at a panel discussion on linked … Continue reading »

March Reading: Many Strong and Beautiful Women, Part 1

March is Women’s History Month and I need to get crackin’ if I’m to finish the six books by women authors I’ve committed to read this month. At least it will be easier to find more time than last month, when school vacation and unrelenting snow made me want to curl up with my daughter, … Continue reading »

In Need of a Shoelace

I admire the way William Kennedy’s Ironweed faithfully depicts a particular time and place, an era, and a universal sentiment that remains applicable today. How many of us wake in the morning refreshed, forming new aims, and quickly meet with practical challenges–personal, political, or both–then lie our heads at night to close our eyes against … Continue reading »

Heidi Durrow: The Woman Whose Story Soars

It is with great pleasure that I review author Heidi Durrow’s 2010 award-winning novel The Girl Who Fell From the Sky as the first in my Reading My Way to 50 series. After hearing the author speak on  a panel at the 2011 AWP Conference in DC last week, I was thrilled to see that … Continue reading »