Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i The Writer

I’VE JUST EMERGED, BLEARY-EYED, from one of the most productive creative seasons of my life. My autumn felt positively jam-packed with fruitful writing sessions, and my hard drive now brims with drafts I can’t wait to revise further this winter. Writing those sentences admittedly feels insufferable – who in the year of our lord 2022 is finding more time to write these days, and in a pandemic to boot? But the truth is that all productivity has very real costs, and anyone who tells you differently is lying (your present employer included). What I gained on the page, I paid for in other aspects of my life. I wrote pages and pages this fall, but when I consider how many I read, I start feeling very hot and itchy under…

I HAVE NEVER WRITTEN A ROMANCE novel, or even an amorous short story, and so with some trepidation, I visited the Romance Writing Academy’s pleasing pink website at romancewritingacademy.com and logged onto a course titled “The Five Essential Building Blocks of the Romance Novel.” In an engaging video lecture about characterization, founder and instructor Jeanne De Vita explained that successful main characters in romance novels need powerful goals that have nothing to do with falling in love. In her quiz about world-building, I learned that authors of romance/paranormal hybrid novels often keep a “bible” of complicated details about, say, the rules of shape-shifting in their story or the specific conditions under which ghosts emerge in a protagonist’s newly purchased centuries-old house. De Vita’s mother, Sharon, was a career romance author…

I make my first mistake with Professor Michaelsun Knapp, who teaches at Riverside City College and California State University, San Bernardino, about three-quarters of the way through our time together. We’re talking about where Native American literature is now and where it might be going next. He mentions the graphic novel and how Native writers are producing more of this kind of work. I get irrationally excited about this because the back of my brain is fizzing with an association I probably shouldn’t make, but I make it anyway. Out loud. “I’m thinking about the idea that there is a strong graphic history within the Native American storytelling tradition, right?” I say. “Does that have anything to do with this increased interest?” Knapp, who is of the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel…

We asked writer Brooke Blanchard, of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians, to talk to us about her five must-read books by American Indians. “This was such a challenging assignment,” she says, gesturing at the books stacked to one side. “There are just so many good books by Native Americans out now.” She chose a mix of nonfiction and fiction for us. Blanchard’s debut novel, The Peacekeeper, is out this summer from 47North. An alternate history police procedural, it follows Chibenashi, a police officer in a never-colonized Great Lakes region, as he attempts to solve two close-to-home murders. Future Home of the Living God, Louise Erdrich (Harper, 2017). “Every dystopian novel [gets billed as] like, ‘Oh, it’s The Handmaid’s Tale,’” says Blanchard. “This one is like that, and…

Our sources are often the hearts of our stories. Our conversations with them spotlight the real-world impact of an issue or provide valuable expert opinions about a topic. But why and how do we as journalists grapple with sharing ourselves with our sources? Do we have rules on how much we share? What’s too much or too little? For instance, several months ago, I was working on a story about power of attorney over health for a publication, a topic that came from my own recent experiences dealing with the issue. When I was talking with doctors for the story, I explained how I came to write the story. But when I asked my questions, I was worried that perhaps the doctor might interpret some of these questions as fishing…

ALASKA Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference Homer, Alaska, May 14-17. Offers daily workshops, readings, and panel presentations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and the business of writing. Manuscript reviews and academic credit also available. Keynote speaker: Jericho Brown. Contact: Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference. Erin Coughlin Hollowell. eshollowell@alaska.edu writersconference.homer.alaska.edu ARIZONA Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference Tempe, Arizona, dates TBD. Hosted by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University. Schedule includes craft talks, workshops, panels, and readings. Check website for details on 2022 format and dates. Contact: Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing, P.O. Box 875002, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287. 480-965-6018. dtribke@asu.edu piper.asu.edu/conference CALIFORNIA Digital Author and Indie Publishing Conference Van Nuys, California, dates TBD. For authors who want to learn about the new publishing…

In our December issue, we asked readers if they agreed with Nancy Pearl’s “Rule of 50,” a guideline that recommends giving up on a book if it still brings the reader no joy or fresh insight after page 50. Many of you wrote in and agreed with the rule: “If your book doesn’t grab the reader in 50 pages, it’s not doing its job,” Lori Hahnel told us on Twitter. Others emphasized knowing when the moment isn’t right to read a particular title. “Some books take time for me; others I know to put down (and maybe pick back up at a later time),” tweeted Korie Beth Brown. In a letter, Susan Batten reminded readers that there’s nothing wrong with deciding a book isn’t for us: “Why is it that…

Volney Road Review: Poetry and prose Screenplays, plays, novel excerpts, poems, and fiction and nonfiction stories are welcome for consideration in Volney Road Review’s issue 4.2. Submit by Feb. 1. volneyroadreview.com Lucky Jefferson:‘Gibberish‘ submissions This literary journal seeks poems, essays, flash fiction, art, and hybrid forms for its ninth issue, which has a “Gibberish” theme. Submit by Feb. 13. luckyjefferson.submittable.com Run Amok Crime: Crime fiction Run Amok Crime is on the hunt for stories for its upcoming anthology, Jacked: An Anthology of Crime Stories. Submit stories of any length up to 10,000 words by Feb. 15. runamokbooks.submittable.com 3rd Wednesday: Poetry Submit up to three unpublished poems to 3rd Wednesday’s annual poetry contest. Poems that do not win will still be considered for publication in the journal with the author’s permission.…

Debbie Reese’s “American Indians in Children’s Literature” (americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com). This blog, established by a Nambé Pueblo Indian, is a robust, definitive resource on Native American children’s literature. Reese’s site also covers basic information that will help anyone to navigate the world of Native American literature better. The Diné Reader, University of Arizona Press, 2021. This anthology of Navajo work is extensive, comprising interviews, poetry, photographs, and prose from Diné writers. (“Diné” is Navajo for, er, “Navajo.”) The volume includes a significant “Reader Resources” section, authored by Michael Thompson, that will help readers to interpret and appreciate this literature through multiple lenses. Elements of Indigenous Style: A Guide for Writing By and About Indigenous Peoples, Gregory Younging. (Brush Education, 2018.) Confused about how to write about Native populations? This guide, which Michaelsun…

• Do your research. Before you sign up for a conference, explore the faculty lineup and daily schedule to see which sessions will be beneficial to your work. Note the workshops you’d like to attend and find out what the protocol is for registering. And do so by the cutoff date. • Be prepared. If you are asked to bring a piece to workshop, make sure you have it. Likewise, pack all of the items you’ll need – notepad, pens, your tablet, a voice recorder – to ensure you and your work will continue to benefit from the workshop once you’re back at home. • Keep an open mind. Whether commenting on someone else’s work or hearing feedback on your own, be open to new ideas and different ways of…

1. “Nothing beats the smell of old books…except you,” reads this sweet illustrated card. $4.50, wonderflieshere.com 2. The library-inspired valentines from BookologyCo come printed in your choice of literary love quotes, including Dune’s “You know it’s love when you want to give joy and damn the consequences.” $5.50, etsy.com/shop/bookologyco 3. “You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known – and even that is an understatement” is just one of the literary quotes on the love notes you’ll find at Literary Emporium. $3.38, literaryemporium.co.uk 4. “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine,” reads this quote from Maya Angelou on a postcard from Monday Moon Design. $10, etsy.com/shop/MondayMoonDesign 5.…

JOKES REVIEW EDITOR PETER CLARKE used to work as a reader for a different literary journal that published a great deal of highbrow content. “I really enjoyed it,” he says, “but we could never publish the pieces I was most interested in because they were just too weird – or maybe they weren’t even good, but they were completely original.” Now, he looks for submissions that are unique and edgy and slightly off the deep end. “Maybe it falls short of some literary merit, but it’s got a strong voice that calls to me,” Clarke says. “That’s what I want to publish.” No topic is off limits in this five-year-old digital and print publication, based in Northern California. On the website, editors list their preferences, including: “outsider art, urban legends,…