Small accomplishment, but it means a lot to me in my writing journey. On this day, 03/06/2020, Native Moments reached #1 bestseller status in the Central and South American Travel and Tourism category on Amazon. I think what’s really surprising to me is that this happened nearly 2.5 years after it was published, which lets me know that it is surviving in an era of … Continue reading #1 Bestseller
Really pleased with this review that came out today in Emerald Coast Magazine. Nearly a year after its release, Panhandlers still finding readers. Read the review here: https://issuu.com/rowlandpublishing/docs/linked_19econ_final_web/70 Purchase a copy or three of Panhandlers here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1641368608/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_1641368608 Continue reading New write up for Panhandlers
In six months my second novel, Panhandlers will be published. I’m really proud of this one. I was really proud of Native Moments, too, but I feel I’ve grown as a writer since then and I really look forward to sharing this new story with you. I’m looking for advanced readers that will share their review of it on their blogs or on Amazon and … Continue reading Advanced Readers needed for Panhandlers
Woke up today to a great 5 star review. I’ve heard there is a magic number, 25 maybe, that once you reach that many reviews Amazon will start promoting your book. I’m not sure how true that is. What I do know is that reviews make writing feel like you didn’t completely waste your time. It makes you feel like writing is a worthwhile endeavor. … Continue reading Amazon Reviews
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
Fuck this book. I made it about 140 pages before I put it away and decided to reread McCarthy’s Cities of the Plain. I’ve read War and Peace, Don Quixote, Moby Dick, Ulysses. But this book can kiss my ass. There are so many goddamn words and the plot is seemingly not going anywhere. Is there someone out there that can convince me this is really … Continue reading Book Review: Infinite Jest
About 6 years ago, while still in school, I wrote a paper on Suttree. I think it was the best academic paper I’d written. A couple weeks ago I was looking for a short story I had written and stumbled across it. I decided to look it over and tighten some areas up. And I was still proud of it. I’ve decided to write an … Continue reading Suttree: Spiritual Emergency to Spiritual Emergence
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
Reblogged from Faulkner House Books in New Orleans, one of my favorite book stores anywhere: William Faulkner came to New Orleans early in March 1939 for three days of fishing with local friends. (The Deutches? Hermann was the model for the reporter in his novel Pylon.) Someone from the newspaper spoke with Faulkner at the friend’s home and soon after published an article in the … Continue reading Faulkner in New Orleans
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
Nic Schuck 