Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

New Byline

I had a feeling that the article I published on Literary Hub Monday morning might receive a fair amount of attention. But I had no idea how many of you would read, share, and tell me your thoughts about it.

13Qs

If you haven’t yet seen it, the article is “13 Questions to Ask Before Submitting to a Literary Journal.” (That’s what the editors titled it: I was partial to “13 Ways of Looking at a Litmag.” You can probably guess why, although I suspect that someday we’ll run into a backlash against “13 Ways” titles as we have with “What We Talk About When We Talk About” headlines. Or maybe we’re there already, and the Literary Hub editors know something that I don’t.)

In any case, I hope that you’ll take a look at it—and maybe even find it helpful.

ShakespeareandCoNew-Venue Visit

Last week brought my first visit to a reading held at the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore here in Manhattan. I’ve dropped by the store before, but somehow, I hadn’t yet managed to attend any events there. I was lured in, finally, by Midge Raymond’s appearance in conjunction with the release of her debut novel My Last Continent.

I’ve been a fan of Midge’s work for a long time. You can read my 2009 review of her story collection on Fiction Writers Review (my emphasis there on one story, “The Ecstatic Cry,” was perhaps prescient given that piece’s echoes in the new novel). And longtime Practicing Writer readers may recall these interviews with Midge, too.)

It was lovely to hear Midge (pictured here on the right, answering a few questions from the store’s Françoise Brodsky) read from her beautiful new book and get to know another great literary space here in Manhattan in the process. Definitely one of the past week’s highlights.

New Newsletters

Well, there sure is a lot of “newness” in my week. Yesterday brought the latest issue of the newsletter that I produce for Fig Tree Books. Please it out–you’ll find within a cover reveal for FTB’s next book and a lot of other cool stuff.

And if you’re a Practicing Writer subscriber, you’ll be receiving the July newsletter right on time–I’m finishing up the final proofreading!