The definition of the short-story cycle is something along the lines of “an interconnected collection of stories.” The definition is a bit vague and people can argue which works are considered a “short-story cycle,” but some of the ones that are usually agreed on are In Our Time, Dubliners, Go Down, Moses, and Winesburg, Ohio. I would include a few of my favorites: What We … Continue reading The Short-Story Cycle
What a great week it’s been. The preorders of Native Moments started getting shipped almost a month early and the first three Amazon reviews have been posted. The first picture someone tagged me in on Facebook was a good friend living in Kenosha, WI and he was holding a copy of my book. It came as a surprise, and then more pictures started popping up. … Continue reading First Amazon Reviews In and Books Are Being Shipped
Hate to promote drinking especially when it has had such a negative impact on so many lives. But could it have possibly extended Hemingway’s life and art? Was alcohol something that could have made his life bearable up to that point it was no longer bearable? Would he have lasted so long without self-medicating? We don’t know, but it’s possible. Regardless, alcohol played an important … Continue reading How to drink like Hemingway
For some reason every time I see Pensacola in a book I’m reading, a sense of hometown pride swells in me. For instance, I’m currently reading Tom Robbins’s Another Roadside Attraction and came across this line on page 61: “Despite his silly grin. He was accepted for pilot’s training and was graduated from the Pensacola air school, third in his class.” This line is from Barry … Continue reading Seeing Your Hometown in Novels
I’ve finally put together a reading list for my upcoming creative writing class. Whatchya think? The Art of Fiction, John Gardner On Fire, Larry Brown What we talk about when we talk about love, Raymond Carver The Essential Etheridge Knight, Etheridge Knight For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Ntozake Shange Fences, August Wilson Continue reading Reading List
In preparation for my first creative writing course I visited Open Books, a “non-profit, volunteer run book store. Proceeds from the sale of books and donations support the Prison Book Project.” I haven’t given poetry the full attention I should have and knew that the staff there would be able to help me select some important books to familiarize myself before the fall semester. … Continue reading Currently Reading
I’ll be teaching my first creative writing course in the fall at a university. I’m still learning to be a better writer and I’m expected to pass on knowledge to other young aspiring writers? Although I won’t be teaching Charles Bukowski during the semester, I figured I’d start the class with one of his poems. It may be a little melodramatic, but there is an … Continue reading So You Want to Be a Writer?
When starting the first book, all that’s wanted is to finish it. When it’s finished, all that’s wanted is for it to get published. When it’s published, all that is wanted is for people to read it and like it. Then it’s on to the second book. How do you write a second book? It has to be better than the first, yet you have … Continue reading Writing Your Second Book
Reading Dr. Allen Josephs’ book On Hemingway and Spain: Essays and Reviews 1970-2013, I came across a great little nugget of information that Josephs has observed about how Hemingway wrote. These were 5 keys to Hemingway’s method: 1) inventing from experience 2) omitting 3) visualizing 4)making the reader feel it 5)secretly writing poetry I try to remember these things when I write. Not because I … Continue reading Keys to Hemingway’s Writing
Beware: NOT SAFE FOR WORK or the FAINT-HEARTED. To celebrate St Patrick’s Day I thought I would share some of the Irish Wordsmith James Joyce’s love letters to his wife Nora, love poems really. But seriously, if you are unfamiliar with these, they will make Larry Flynt blush. Read at your own risk. Enjoy! http://arlindo-correia.com/joyce.html Continue reading James Joyce’s Love Letters
Nic Schuck 