David Abrams's Blog, page 115

Win a copy of A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny

Roger Zelazny's 1993 novel A Night in the Lonesome October is perfectly suited for a Spooktober read-along.  The book, which is split into 31 chapters, is a mix of humor, horror, mystery, and fantasy.  It’s considered by many (from Kirkus to George R. R. Martin) to be Zelazny’s best novel, and there is a tradition among its fans to read the book, one chapter a day, each day in October.

That's why I'm giving away a paperback copy to one lucky Quivering Pen reader who'd like to join m...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Neverhome by Laird Hunt

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.




Unless you're allergic to Civil War novels and/or luminous prose, you'll be adding Laird Hunt's new novel Neverhome to your reading list after watching this short, gorgeous video.  Perhaps you've already bought the book; maybe you've even read it; and chances are you agree with Paul Auster when he says "its sentences seem to rise up from the earth itself.  Laird Hunt...

My First Time: Wendy J. Fox

My First Time is a regular feature in which writers talk about virgin experiences in their writing and publishing careers, ranging from their first rejection to the moment of holding their first published book in their hands.  Today’s guest is Wendy J. Fox, author of the short story collection The Seven Stages of Anger , winner of the 2014 Press 53 Award for Short Fiction.  She holds an MFA from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers and has contributed to numerous literary journals...

Sunday Sentence: The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan

Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.


“Don't be fooled by that smile, Val, or him being an old man.  You've seen those hands.  He could squeeze juice out of a stove log.”

The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan

Visions and Voices: "Hawk" and "Arm"

I'd stared at the painting for more than three months, willing the words to come.  They were there--the vowels and syllables and sentence-patter--but they were tantalizing me, dancing just out of reach.  I was certain I'd eventually touch them.  It was just a matter of time.

Trouble was, I'd run out of time.

I was on deadline to provide a short piece of prose to go along with the painting, "Fox Hawk: From the Lost Ornithology Series" an acrylic on wood panel by Christine Martin,...

Friday Freebie: The Drop by Dennis Lehane

Congratulations to Pamela Balluck, winner of last week's Friday Freebie, which included the following books: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott; Auto Biography: A Classic Car, an Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream by Earl Swift; This is the Story of a Happy Marriage  by Ann Patchett; A Case for Solomon: Bobby Dunbar and the Kidnapping That Haunted a Nation by Tal McThenia; An Appetite for Wonder: The Making of a Scientis...

One Perfect Ending

by Lee Upton

It’s a wonderful and rare event to come across a perfect ending.  Recently I discovered one: the six words that conclude “The Faber Book of Adultery,” the opening story by Jonathan Gibbs in The Best British Short Stories 2014 .  I admire the story’s ending not only because it closes the narrative in a wonderfully gasp-worthy way, but because it’s a perfect little story in itself:

This can’t be what it’s like.
What precedes those words is a sex scene.  The story’s prot...

Bookstore of the Month: Bookworks in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Blvd NW
Albuquerque, NM
(505) 344-8139
Bookworks on Facebook
Bookworks on Twitter
Bookworks on Instagram

In 1984, Apple introduced the first MacIntosh PC, Michael Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial, the Soviets boycotted the Summer Olympics, stonewashed jeans went on the market, and thousands of people went to their local bookstore to pick up a copy of George Orwell's forward-looking novel .

One of those bookstores might have been the newborn Bookw...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.




If I wasn't already maniacally interested in reading Lauren Beukes' new novel Broken Monsters , this book trailer would have sunk a rusty hook into my flesh and reeled me in.  I'm a fan of The Shining Girls , Beukes' previous novel about a time-traveling serial killer; so I was already standing in line for Broken Monsters.  In a series of images that look like the love...

My First Time: Mary Vensel White

My First Time is a regular feature in which writers talk about virgin experiences in their writing and publishing careers, ranging from their first rejection to the moment of holding their first published book in their hands.  Today’s guest is Mary Vensel White, author of The Qualities of Wood .  Mary lives and writes in Orange County, California, with her husband and four children.  Her short fiction has appeared in The Wisconsin Review and Foothills Literary Magazine.  Her...