Thursday’s Post-Publication Post: Introducing Jane Roper & EDEN LAKE

by Erika Dreifus on
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I know. By now, you may be accustomed to Thursday posts about my story collection, Quiet Americans. But today is special for Last Light Studio, the collaborative micropress that published my book in January. And that’s because today is Pub Day for the next LLS book: Jane Roper‘s novel, Eden Lake.

I was lucky enough to read Eden Lake in manuscript, and I snagged a signed copy of the finished book a bit early when I was in Boston just about two weeks ago. I recommend it to you especially as we approach summer and you start thinking about your summer reading list. It’s a lively, engaging story that takes place at a summer camp in Maine, and it’s bound to bring back some of your own summer-camp memories. It’s also a story about a family.

Here’s a more “official” description:

In 1968, newlyweds Clay Perry and Carol Weiss founded Eden Lake, a utopian children’s summer camp. Thirty years later, their marriage is long over and the camp has become a pricey playground for entitled suburbanites. When tragedy strikes, the Perryweiss children have to decide what role Eden Lake—and all that it stands for—will play in their lives.

Abe, the eldest and heir apparent, has never been able to commit to a career—or a woman. Jude, entangled with a married man, must confront her turbulent relationship with her past. Eric, the youngest, who has never strayed far from Eden Lake, stands at the precipice of a new life. Idealism and infidelity, childhood memories and the hard truths of adulthood collide and coalesce in the summer of 1998 at Camp Eden Lake.

Sounds juicy, doesn’t it?

It has been a pleasure to follow along as part of Team LLS in these months leading up to Eden Lake‘s debut. One of the pre-pub elements I’ve most admired is the Camp Eden Lake website. It does such an excellent job building on the book’s premise, characters, setting, etc., that you may want to sign your kids up for a summer there right away (or enroll yourself)!

Congratulations to Jane on her novel’s pub day. I know that Eden Lake is going to be a big success! And here’s the icing on the cake: If you become a Jane Roper fan now, you won’t have long to wait for the author’s second book. Her memoir “about the ups and downs of her first three years as a mother of twins” will be published by St. Martin’s Press next year!

The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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  • Are you keeping up with Short Story Month? Be sure to check the #ssm2011 hashtag on Twitter!
  • Another segment of Short Story Month: the Collection Giveaway Project on the Fiction Writers Review (FWR) blog. Check out the ever-growing list of participating bloggers (and the titles that are available for YOU to win!).
  • Also on FWR: tremendous story-focused content. Among my faves: Laura Furman on choosing the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories; Anne Stameshkin on Lesley Dormen’s “The Old Economy Husband”; and yours truly on Five Ways to Celebrate Short Stories.
  • Speaking of short stories, I’m proud to announce that my story, “The Kiss,” is now live on Literary Mama.
  • More wonderful writing exercises from Midge Raymond.
  • Dinty W. Moore recommends six memoirs.
  • And while we’re on the subject of nonfiction: Linda K. Wertheimer shares lessons learned at the recent Grub Street Muse & the Marketplace conference in Boston.
  • More from Massachusetts: This weekend will bring the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. Although I can’t attend, one of my poems will be there, stitched within The Poetry Dress. (Thanks to Chloe Yelena Miller for bringing this project to my attention.)

    • Quotation of the Week: Sarah Stone

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled

    I met Sarah Stone many years ago at a conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs, and she has long impressed me as a very smart writer. So I wasn’t surprised to see this words of wisdom show up on her Twitter feed sometime this past week:

    #writing note: put your people between a rock and a hard place. Don’t put them on a rock and then have them think about it.

    SO TRUE!

    Monday Morning Markets/Jobs/Opportunities

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Richard Hugo House (Seattle) is taking applications for writers-in-residence. “Applicants for the position should be practicing, published (or produced) writers of poetry, fiction, plays or creative nonfiction and accomplished and dedicated writing teachers with experience working with writers of all levels in a traditional workshop setting and on a one-on-one basis as a mentor offering criticism and professional development advice. Applicants should have a specific artistic project they are working on during their residency (i.e. developing a manuscript for publication) and should have a special interest in the role of writing as a means of engaging people of all cultures and in all sectors of society.” Applications are due by June 6, 2011, and there is no application fee. Check the website for more information (including information on compensation).
  • Nashville Review‘s current submissions window closes June 1. “Nashville Review publishes the best in literary fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and comics. Both distinguished and emerging writers are encouraged to submit. Nashville Review also publishes lyrics and audio by up-and-coming musicians. Fiction, nonfiction, and comics contributors are offered a flat fee of $100. Poetry contributors are offered $25 per poem. All submissions may be made through our online submissions manager. Nashville Review has three reading periods: January 1 – February 1, May 1 – June 1, and September 1 – October 1. Fiction, poetry, and nonfiction submitted outside of these reading periods cannot be considered. Comics and music may be submitted at any time.”
  • Reminder also that Graywolf Press is now currently open for manuscript submissions. “Graywolf Press is a literary press that publishes about twenty-seven books annually, mostly collections of poetry, memoir, essays, novels, and short stories. Our editors are looking for high quality literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that combines a distinct voice with a distinct vision….We accept submissions in the months of January, May, and September. Submissions received outside of these months will not be considered.”
  • All hail Tania Hershman, source of this extensive list of “UK and Ireland Lit Mags Which Publish Short Stories.” The list is annotated and indicates which mags pay contributors.
  • “The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts is looking for, as you might guess, ‘compressed creative arts.’ We accept fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media, visual arts, and even kitchen sinks, if they are compressed in some way. Work is published weekly, without labels, and the labels here only exist to help us determine its best readers. We pay writers $50 per accepted piece and signed contract.” (via Pam Casto’s Flash Fiction Flash newsletter)
  • “The Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences, Loyola University Chicago (LUC) seeks qualified candidates for a newly authorized position for a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing- Poetry, for the Academic Year 2011-2012 and pending the approval of funding. The appointment will be for one year….This non-tenure-track, full-time position comprises teaching poetry writing in the core curriculum and in the Creative Writing Concentration within the English major, mentoring students, assisting in administration of the Creative Writing Program, and continuing to publish poetry in recognized venues.”
  • Columbia Magazine (New York) is looking for a Managing Editor, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (Washington) seeks a Publications Specialist, and Rice University (Houston) is advertising for a Science Writer.