Friday Five: winter solstice reads

There’s something about this time of year that makes me want to spend more time with a book. Maybe it’s the shorter days and lengthening hours of darkness, which translate into less time outdoors and more time inside. Or maybe it’s the chill in the late autumn air, the bare trees, the transition into midwinter, and the weariness that arrives with the end of a long year.

Whatever it is that puts me in the mood to read, I’m thinking I’m not alone and that you, too, might be looking for some worthwhile reads. With that in mind on this winter solstice eve, I offer you five pieces that celebrate the coming day, our shortest of the year in the northern hemisphere. So build a fire, grab a cup of coffee or hot cocoa or mulled cider, crack open that screen, and enjoy these reads.

Continue reading “Friday Five: winter solstice reads”

Friday Five: Labor Day weekend reads

Happy weekend, readers, and happy Labor Day weekend to my fellow U.S. Americans. I hope you’re all able to get some down time this weekend, unless you, like me, are taking part in Jami Attenberg’s Mini 1000 writing exercise this weekend, in which case, I hope your labors are fruitful.

If you’re in need of some fresh reading material to wind down your summer and move into fall, here are five goodies I’ve selected just for you:

Continue reading “Friday Five: Labor Day weekend reads”

New work in ‘Club Plum Literary Journal’

A piece I wrote called “The Things My Father Used to Eat” is included in the latest issue of Club Plum Literary Journal. The latest issue went live last Friday. Huzzah!

Image: screenshot of list of contributors to Club Plum Literary Journal, Volume 5, Issue 3

Friday Five: Hippocampus Magazine editor Donna Talarico on creative nonfiction

‘Like fiction, good memoir can also allow people to get lost in another world.’

Portrait photograph of Donna Talarico, founder, publisher and managing editor of Hippocampus Magazine
Donna Talarico, Hippocampus Magazine founder, publisher and managing editor

The literary genre known as creative nonfiction (CNF) has grown in popularity in recent years, and one brilliant and consistent source of great CNF is Hippocampus Magazine. The online literary magazine has been going strong since its debut in 2010.

In today’s Friday Five, Donna Talarico, the magazine’s founder, publisher and managing editor, provides her insights on CNF and the magazine she founded.

Continue reading “Friday Five: Hippocampus Magazine editor Donna Talarico on creative nonfiction”

Friday Five: Thoughts on Steve Almond’s ‘Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow’

Why Steve Almond’s new book about the craft of writing is worth a read.

Cover image of the book "Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow," by Steve Almond.

I’ve read my share of books about writing in my time, and most of them have given me at least a nugget or two of wisdom or inspiration. A new entry to the craft genre by Steve Almond, Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow: A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories, which came out in April, is one of the best I’ve read in a while.

If you’re a writer, you should read this book. Here are five reasons why:

Continue reading “Friday Five: Thoughts on Steve Almond’s ‘Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow’”