Sunday Sentence

by Erika Dreifus on
1
Alan Cheuse
Alan Cheuse

In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

You may have read about an imaginary Southern piece of turf where the past presses on the present with such force that characters find themselves transformed with the pressure of it, where the landscape comes alive, where human beings seem sometimes like gods and sometimes like devils, and the language of the story lights up your mind: William Faulkner’s half-historical, half-fabulized Yoknapatawpha County, yes?

Source: Alan Cheuse, review of Steve Stern’s The Pinch, for NPR.

Friday Finds for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled

Treasure Chest
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend.

  • Useful Brevity blog post on writing residencies by Allison K. Williams. Nice mix of personal account and resource information.
  • Revision tips on the Story Prize blog, from novelist and short-story writer Karen E. Bender.
  • On my weekend viewing agenda: “Book TV’s tour of the New York Times Book Review included an interview with the section’s editor, Pamela Paul, and a look at the department’s weekly ‘headlines’ meeting, where the upcoming edition of the Book Review is discussed.”
  • Speaking of the NYTBR: Last week’s “Bookends” page, with contributions from Mohsin Hamid and James Parker, addressed a topic in which I am invested both as a reader and as a writer: whether “more is necessarily more” when it comes to page count.
  • And some literary humor on BuzzFeed, from Shannon Reed, who imagines “If Jane Austen Got Feedback From Some Guy In A Writing Workshop.” (popular online, but I first saw it thanks to Nick Kocz)

    • Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Day-Job Doings

    Much of my time lately has been consumed by my work for Fig Tree Books. It has been exceptionally busy, with lots of good things happening.

    Among the latest goings-on: an announcement about the company’s expansion to new genres; the launch of Safekeeping, Jessamyn Hope’s gorgeous debut novel (pictured below at a local bookstore); and, ahem, the drafting and polishing of the latest Fig Tree newsletter, which should be out this week.

    Safekeeping Shelfie (more…)

    Sunday Sentence

    by Erika Dreifus on
    2

    Unknown
    In which I participate in David Abrams’s “Sunday Sentence” project, sharing the best sentence I’ve read during the past week, “out of context and without commentary.”

    “Who knew an accordion tune could come so close to sounding like a symphony?”

    Source: Jason Hess, review of Jessamyn Hope’s Safekeeping: A Novel (NewPages.com)