Emerging Writers Network

Source of Lit - Hobart - Becky Hagenston

Becky Hagenston - The Lake

I thought Hagenston did a really nice job of developing the character of the protagonist, David.  I found my opinion of him changing throughout the story and in a more surprising way than I might have thought when I first started reading it.  Without giving too much away, I think she really deftly handled his relationship with his father and how the reader might feel about them both throughout.

Aaron Burch

I definitely agree. I'll echo your hesitation to give too much away, but I too think how she handled the relationship between David and his father is really what makes this story. The writing is obviously very, very strong and I found myself sucked in from the get-go but, especially on initial read, I remember thinking something along the lines of, "where is this going to go?" "The Lake" feels like it could have very easily become a well-written story that never quite fully stuck with me, or at the very least it wouldn't have seemed like a Hobart-story, but it takes a turn that is both surprising and that great kind of "almost over the top, did that really just happen?, moment while never actually snapping that line of believability" in a way that makes the story. I also love the possibility of some kind of monster-like creature and its kind of "does it/doesn't it?" existence and how that is handled in a similar nonjudgmental way. Hagenston really pulls a lot off here, a lot that I think probably feels so easy and natural.

Why the Best of the Web is Important

The Best American Series has a spiffy website up today that has separate pages for each of the anthologies under that moniker.  Each title has a details page which has two tabs, one that lists the pieces that will be fully included within the book, and the other listing the notable works, those that were considered, but not quite the favorites of the Guest Editor.

The series' most popular (I at least have heard this is the case, though have no sales figures to back this up) title, Best American Short Stories, was Guest Edited by Richard Russo this year.   If I understand the process, that is, if it's the same as when Shannon Ravennel was the Series Editor, than Mr. Russo was presented with 120 short stories.  He read them, selected his favorite 20, and boom, an anthology is ready to go with 20 short stories and 100 notable stories.  I know that some Guest Editors come to the table with a story or two in mind, I believe I've read that both Michael Chabon and Stephen King brought some to the anthology that may not have been in that original 120.

A look through the 20 stories selected for inclusion this year finds that 12 whole journals are represented.  Some shockers too:  The New Yorker has two stories, and The Atlantic has a trio.  Tin House is the big winner with four of their publishings being reproduced within the anthology.  McSweeney's is another repeat offender with a trio as well.  Continue looking through the names in the notables and you'll see each of these names appear again, along with a long list of journals--I didn't count, there is a great deal of repetition this year though, I'd venture to guess it's less than 100 total journals represented.

Narrative has a trio of notable stories.  This makes them the King of the Online Journals as not one other online journal has published a story worthy of cracking the Top 120 this year according to the folks behind this anthology.  Nothing from Guernica.  Nothing from failbetter.  No mentions of Storyglossia, or storySouth, or Joyland, or any of the 900 plus online journals you can find listed in the index of Best of the Web 2010.

Some visiting here will not have heard of BotW 2010.  Maybe you haven't heard of the journals noted above, or many online journals.  Here are two links to stories snagged from the BotW 2010 Table of Contents.  Give them a peek and then you two can question how awesome things must be these days if there were 120 better stories published last year.  Christine Schutt published "The Girl Needs to Be Kissed" in Blackbird and Stephen Graham Jones' "Modern Love" was captured by Everyday Genius.

The Best American Mysteries Stories major inclusions do not list the original source, so I have no idea how well they scan the online journal scene, but looking at their notables list (seemingly much lower than 100 stories), the only online only journal I could find listed was Thuglit, with two notable works.

None of the Best American Essays looked like they were from online journals either (though there were definitely some notable essays from online only journals).

This is not meant to be a slam on anybody that will find their name on any of the lists mentioned above (or in the Best Comics, Best Non-Required, Best Travel, Sports, Music, Poems, etc.), not at all.  Their work has gone through astringent process and not only found a publishing home but also drew enough attention to be noted again in these year end anthologies.  It's more a noticing and a reminder as to why the Best of the Web Series is important.  The numbers above are skewed so greatly that it allows me to conclude not that the works published in online journals are being read and dismissed, but that they still are not truly being considered for these anthologies. 

Source of Lit - Unsaid - Joe Wenderoth

Joe Wenderoth - Body Language

This seems to be genius to me--using Fight Nights, and the names promoters give them, as a tool to write a treatise on language itself, and its usage.  And it works great, too.  What was it about Joe's work that demanded that you include it in Unsaid?

 

David McLendon

Wenderoth is a kind of literary stand-up comedian. His subject matter is always unexpected and seemingly random, but Wenderoth always brings a kind of lasting significance and humor to his oddball objects. In the forthcoming number of Unsaid, he gives us an epistolary rant addressing his daughter’s teacher, venting on why he is unable to assist his daughter with her homework. Wenderoth takes what would otherwise be mundane points of American culture and makes them funny and alive and creatures of his own twisted making.

Source of Lit - Unsaid - Danielle Blau

Danielle Blau - A Story and Two Poems

The story, "Growth," is fantastic and I was caught up in it immediately.  The poems were great as well.  Early on in "Growth," Blau hyphenates a couple of words:  belly-rumbling, and spice-soft, and I thought I'd found what I wanted to talk about in regard to her writing.  It's a technique I enjoy when well done, as say a William Gay utilizes.  However, upon closer reading I realized that she didn't employ this nearly as often as I had thought.  What she does employ however, is the dash (and I'll be honest here, I have no idea what the differences are between dashes and em dashes and en dashes, etc.).  Rarely a paragraph goes by that is dash-less, and both poems contain them as well.  Is this something you notice when reading and/or editing?

David McLendon

Well, yes, the dashes are visibly there, and while every mark in a composition matters, I think the greater observation we can make of Blau’s pages is that whether she is writing fiction or non-fiction or a grocery list, Blau is ostensibly a poet. The physicality and content of her pages always come across as a kind of poem or song. She is a lyrical writer, extremely playful, and much of her playfulness seems beautifully unmapped and intuitive. Blau can take any object and make it intriguing, even magical, with her unwavering attention and lyrical way of hearing and seeing. She will always have a room in the house of Unsaid.

Steven Gillis' Book Notes up at Largehearted Boy

Steven Gillis wrote an essay and compiled an interesting set list for his hot off the press (available on September 21 in both hard and e-book forms) novel, The Consequence of Skating.  This is Steven's fourth novel and fifth work of fiction.

A tease from the essay:

The Consequence of Skating is my homage to the slippery slope. The majority of the book was written during the time my wife, Mary, was first diagnosed and then subsequently went through chemo, surgery and radiation for breast cancer. This was not a fun time for any of us - we have two school-aged kids as well - and the writing of my novel provided me with an anchor, gave me a place to hide and search for my sanity.

The novel revolves around Ludwig von Mises’ ideas of Human Action, the reason we make decisions, how we are always striving to improve our situation and cure a dissatisfaction. At the center of the narrative is Mickey Greene, an actor who has seen better days, has allowed a troubled affair and a sudden infatuation with drugs to undo him. Over the course of the novel, Mick winds his way through a course of actions which, if not designed to bring him redemption, offer him a reboot, a way to get his life back on track, even as the course he charts continues to unravel.

The rest of the essay gets a bit more into the book, Steven's thoughts when gearing up for publication, and his reaction to anonymous reviewers--it's all well worth your time and consideration.  Not to mention he gives us a damn good set list of music to listen to while reading the novel!

Source of Lit - The Lifted Brow 7 - Blake Butler

Another journal we'll be doing the editorial thought process interviews for is The Lifted Brow, issue number 7, with editor Ronnie Scott.  The Lifted Brow hails from Australia and this is the third issue I've picked up and they pack a ton of great writing into each issue (this issue is 276 pages long, but each most of the pages have two columns of writing apiece).

Blake Butler - excerpt from Ricky's Anus

Okay, to be honest, I somehow missed the title page the first two or three times I went through the journal, going right from this introductory piece to the Editor's Notes page.  That said, I still knew this was Blake Butler's writing and assume that I have it titled right, that it's an excerpt from the novel he's been writing, Ricky's Anus.

I love the energy behind Blake's writing.  I willfully admit that I don't always know what the hell is going on, and in some cases feel that I'm better off that I don't, but there's always an energy that draws me in and there's no difference this time around.  For example:

The bass trombone was really going now:  it blistered in his soles, it made the calluses the food had thought would remain buried underneath the outer lid forever come loose and open, rising up.  What was it about Ricky that he could never rest, why were the days so short and full of blather, why could Ricky not stand up now with the whole room seeming rushed with golden light.

And this is really one of the least energetic passages in this excerpt. 

Ronnie Scott - The Lifted Brow

For me, the energy is the thing with Blake, so I'm really happy that you pointed it out. I like his energy because although it's noisy and even messy - there are some fuck-ups in this piece that he wanted to leave intact - I tend not to lose the feeling that I'm trusting my time to an author who is in control. With his writing, I feel palpably that paragraphs, for example, are being used to shape something bigger and wilder than themselves. Which is a pretty cool illusion. It seems like it would be easier to make a paragraph read as though it's the thing that's being altered, whereas here it feels more like a wilder thing is being conducted, approximated, through the paragraph.

It usually feels sensible to discuss an author's control when there is a real precision in the writing. It's not like Blake can't do precise writing, and not as though he doesn't do so in this excerpt, but for me, his writing is more interesting for the blunter things, like, yup, paragraphs. There's not really anything cold going on here, just stuff you might not want to accidentally get on your hand.

Source of Lit - NY Tyrant V.3. N.2. - Ken Sparling

Ken Sparling - What Can the World Do for Elrond?

At first this story baffled me with names and facts and ideas changing rapidly throughout, but I ended up, after a couple of pages, just simply enjoying the writing, the short sentences, the odd facts facing me from the page.  I'm still not sure after having read it at least two times that I fully understand what Sparling was trying to do with this short story, but I've enjoyed the reading experience each time.

Where does plot fall into line when it comes to your editorial reading of a submission? 

Giancarlo DiTrapano - NY Tyrant

 

Man, I don't even know what plot is anymore. People have got my head so twisted by all the things they say that I just don't know. So, to answer your question, plot doesn't matter to me in my editorial reading. A lot of times I publish things because I just can't figure them out. And I don't mean just "weird" things because I can usually see right through those. I can see how the writer got from his original thought to the "weird" writing that they sent me and that's just boring. Like if a writer writes, "Allen had volcanos for eyes." I read that and can tell that the writer isn't really talking about "Allen" but he's talking about his mother who had blue eyes but who used to have a ceramic statue of a volcano by her bed where she died. And that that is where he got that line from. (That example is absurd, of course, but it's an example.) When I can't tell how in the hell they got to that point, then I am intrigued. Because I can tell that they are a little insane and that is always charming. I have a soft spot for Sparling. I like to think of him as Ken 'Starling' because he's like a bird to me. He has these great bird eyes (I mean that in the best possible way) and have you read Dad Says He Saw You at the Mall? Wow. That is a great book. He just seems so full of love and good intentions that it blows me away. I went down to KGB one night specifically to meet Ken in person. I felt like I was going to meet Lou Reed or Bernini or something, because I greatly admire him. I got there late and he was already leaving. And because I am kind of a fool, instead of shaking his hand I gave him a hug. I tend to overdo things. But he didn't seem to mind that much, I don't think. He had to leave immediately and I was supposed to go to his reading the next day. I stayed out late and had to spend the next day in bed and missed the reading (overdoing things again). So that is a big regret of mine. But back to the point: Plot doesn't really matter to me. I mean, sure it's great if it's there, so if a reader who needs a plot picks it up can enjoy it. But I have never thought, "But where is the plot in this?" Never. Maybe that's wrong.

Source of Lit - NY tyrant V.3. N.2. - Luke Goebel

Luke Goebel - The Adventure of Eagle Feather

Luke has a very interesting way of putting a sentence together, especially early in this story, where he'll add something right at the very end that seems as if it should have been found earlier in the sentence, yet for his writing it works:

I found a feather the other day, yesterday.  It was from a great Bald Eagle, Christ.  I had seen its nest at the top of a dead tree up top.

These three sentences, this paragraph, are the first in the story and I think it sets a tone that led to how I read the story.  They led to how I read each sentence believing that there might be more coming after the standard noun/verb combination at the beginning of each one. 

Did you find them having the same effect on you and your reading?  What was it about Goebel's story that grabbed your attention that first time you read it?

Giancarlo DiTrapano - NY Tyrant

 

That's an interesting point  It has me thinking that in the first sentence that he could be addressing yesterday as if it were a person, like, "Oh, hello Yesterday, I found a feather the other day."  And that in the second sentence he might be using Bald Eagle and Christ interchangeably (like he is obviously doing with "the other day" and "yesterday" in the first line), which is pretty cool if you like thinking of Christ as a pretty and rare bird that eats mice and is also kind of evil-looking (I feel this). Can you see that? I mean, probably obviously, he isn't doing that. But maybe he is. I'll have to ask him. I have a bit of a closer relationship to this story than to the others in this issue because I've seen it in many incarnations. I met Luke in this weird seminar called "Dealing with Constipation" which I wound up in by a couple of pure accidents, kind of stumbled into the wrong room, you might say. He wasn't supposed to be there either. We hit it off and he actually helped put this issue of the Tyrant together. What grabbed me about this story is the line where he asks for some "room in his coffee" and how he wants enough to "stick his head in there."  I died laughing at that and at other points in the story. I don't know. I think a lot of things I have published in the past have predetermined how people read what comes out next (this makes sense, of course). But no one is expecting "funny" from me, when a lot of times that may be all there really is to it. I found it funny. I did find this story funny, but it isn't just funny. It's other things, bigger things.  ("Hey Bigger Things, it's other things." Now I can't stop thinking like that!) I think Eagle Feather is mostly about the woman who was teaching the "Dealing with Constipation" class (she appears in this story as the old man). I think Luke and her might have had some romantic ties. So he wasn't there on accident, it turns out (and neither was I, maybe). Sure, I have problems shitting sometimes but not often enough to seek out a class (unless it was on "How to Shit On Your Keyboard with Your Fingertips: Your Fingertips Have Anuses" because I would take a class on that for sure). But, all that aside, Luke is a charmer. You'll continue to see great things from him.

Let the writing begin

Something is going on around here that rarely takes place--I'm writing fiction.

For the next four days I'll be setting some time aside from Dzanc, from the EWN, from my kids, etc. and trying my best to figure out how all you wonderful writers come up with ideas and actually create something worth somebody else's time.

It is beyond rare--the last time I sat down to do this was the Dzanc Write-a-Thon two years ago and that is the occasion this time around too.  Our prompt has just been sent out to this year's participants and so, off to it. 

If you'd be so kind to consider sponsoring my efforts this year--which gives you a) the satisfaction of helping out a great nonprofit publishing house and their/our efforts to setting up DWIRPs and continuing our annual Dzanc Prize, and b) the receipt in about two weeks of a special pdf of the work done by the participants this year--we have it all set up at www.dzancbooks.org/participants.html for you to simply click on my name and pay via Paypal.

Man, just look at that blank screen over in MS Word right now!