Adapted from my first novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back – publishing in May, 2023.
A short story adapted from the novel, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back — coming 2023 from Unsolicited Press.
I’ll drop the link tomorrow. In the meanwhile, a video trailer made by moi. (Could be loud. Attention to the volume!) Click and be transported:
Creative Nonfiction Magazine is the seminal publication in the world of creative nonfiction, the genre. Under founding editor Lee Gutkind, CNF literally established the field of creative nonfiction writing. For me, an essay there was my first “big” publication — I’m looking at you, 2005!
As of last week, I became a front-line reader for CNF. (We’re called “first readers.”) Good to be back!
This is the fourth lit mag I’ve read for, in varying capacities. Two are Very Important. One is Very Important in the small corner of literary fiction that it dominates. The final is a good, solid, lit mag.
I have found that while the number of submissions to the more impressive magazines cut into a writer’s chance of being published, the basic percentages of what is excellent work worthy of publication remains about the same. Out of every ten, there might be one that stands out as good to go. Another one, maybe two, might work if the editors had the time to get their hands all up in it. (Which some mags do, and some don’t.) The rest are just not good. It’s not so much that the authors can’t write. It’s that more often than not, I’ve seen that they are not writing about anything with enough tension to keep me interested.
One piece that I just recommended go forward was not well-written because it was all show, no tell. Usually, the death knell sounds. However, the writer was able to bring such tension into the piece that I had to send it forward. I wish she could bottle that talent. I’d buy some.
I read this on Facebook:
My son asked if the letter W started with a D.
I wanted to do a gift book with quotes such as these, entitled Tell the Frankenstein because my son thought those were the words to, “Celebrate good times (C’mon).”
2. Wins The PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.
3. Wins The National Book Award.
4. Wins The Booker Prize.
5. Wins The Oranger Prize.
6. Excerpted in The New Yorker.
7. Tops The New York Times’ Bestsellers list for 50 weeks running.
8. A great review by Dale Peck in NYT.
9. An HBO, Amazon, or Reese Witherspoon mini-series. (She’d be perfect for Carlie’s mother!)
10. No one in my family reads it.
