Pinckney and I have been collecting signed books for many years. We got a good start when we joined Square Books’s Signed First Edition monthly program, and always pick up books at readings and signings. I love stories in any form–audio, live storytellers, e-books, paper books–but there’s just something special about having a book in …Read More

  The other night I watched The Dead, John Huston’s  film adaptation of Joyce’s story The Dubliners. I don’t know why I didn’t take notice of this poem the first time I watched the film years ago. It’s an 8th century ballad adapted by Lady August Gregory, a great Irish playwright of the last century.I …Read More

Some people are better than others at hiding things. There have been many times in my life when I’ve known or done business with people who truly disturb me. I’m not talking about a cynical salesperson or someone who’s simply socially awkward. I’m talking about people I wouldn’t want to be alone with on a …Read More

I’ve always wanted to go to a really big parade, like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade or the Rose Parade, but I’ve never had the chance. Growing up in Louisville I went down to the Kentucky Derby Festival’s Pegasus Parade every year I could. But I had never been to a small-town parade until P and …Read More

Focus is a big issue for me. I often don’t do it so well. When I was finally diagnosed with ADHD last year, I felt a huge sense of relief because I no longer felt like a moral reprobate for the fact that I can hardly sit still for a 1/2 hour t.v. show, a …Read More

Have you ever felt like you were being watched? Or felt like evil was hanging around, waiting for you? Last week I finished the edits on a short story, Five Revelations Concerning Jenny L. As Told to Maura C. by a Compassionate Angel, that will appear in Surreal South 2009. For days afterward, I was …Read More

Borrow a book from the library…free. Borrow a book from a friend…free. Receive a book as a gift (or promo)…free. Download an illegal torrent mp3 or .doc file from the Internet…free. It occurs to me that the actual dollar value of storytelling has decreased exponentially of late–specifically since the advent of the Internet. Everybody writes. …Read More

Not everyone has been as lazy as I’ve been this summer! Last week Megan Kelley Hall released The Lost Sister, a follow-up to her 2008 YA suspense novel about mean girls, Sisters of Misery. But before you read Megan’s amazing path to publication, you should know that she started out writing freelance for Elle, Glamour, …Read More

Earlier this month I was in California and had the most amazing chance to indulge in one of my childhood wishes: to visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. I expect it isn’t a surprise to anyone who knows me (or who has read my fiction) that I adore scary stuff–scary books, films, …Read More

Last Thursday night, I had the privilege of being a part of the celebration for Josh Woods’s new VERSUS Anthology. The party wasn’t in NYC, and neither Paris nor Perez nor Page Six were in in attendance. Josh developed his totally fresh anthology idea when he was teaching at SIU’s Young Writers Workshop last year …Read More