David Abrams's Blog, page 133

Three Writers and a Mermaid

For a good time....call Jamie Ford.

Last night, the bestselling author ( Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet , Songs of Willow Frost ) introduced me to a mermaid.  You might say Jamie really likes to make a splash when entertaining out-of-town visitors.

(rimshot)


Late in the evening, Jamie and I found ourselves holding a couple of gin-and-tonics while watching a brunette mermaid swim past the aquarium glass behind the bar at the Sip 'N Dip , a Great Falls, Montana landmark and a must-stop f...

Friday Freebie: The Promise by Ann Weisgarber and The Fountain of St. James Court by Sena Jeter Naslund

Congratulations to Carl Scott, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Afghan Post by Adrian Bonenberger, Friday Was the Bomb by Nathan Deuel, and Seriously Not All Right by Ron Capps.

This week's book giveaway is a repeat duo of two previous Friday Freebies: The Promise by Ann Weisgarber, which has just been released by Skyhorse Publishing; and The Fountain of St. James Court by Sena Jeter Naslund, from William Morrow.  Quivering Pen readers had the chance to win these in e...

Re: Writing the War at The Strand

The Rare Book Room at New York City's Strand Book Store was buzzing with mil-speak Tuesday night.  Military terms like COIN, AO, First Sergeant and, yes, Fobbit were tossed around like flash-bang grenades.  The audience was stunned into happiness--or, at the very least, thoughtfulness.

The room , lined floor to ceiling with amber-colored book spines, was the scene of a panel convened, in part, to celebrate the release of Adrian Bonenberger's new memoir Afghan Post .  The occasion...

My First Time: Laurie Lesser

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 Laurie Lesser.  A native New Yorker, Laurie went to Paris “for six months” after graduating college – and stayed more than 25 years.  Back in the States, she now lives in Washington DC, where she works as a writer/editor for a government...

Sunday Sentence: The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye

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


The kitchen table was so small the rims of their bowls touched.

The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye

Three from Copper Canyon Press for National Poetry Month

Briefly,

April may be the cruellest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land , but....

It is also a 30-day chunk of calendar full of the slow-boil beauty of language, the compression of stanza, the squeeze of sestina, the reduction-sauce of haiku.

Yes, April is aka National Poetry Month , inaugurated in 1996 by some very compassionate, smart-thinking academicians (who may also have had a bit of the ol' armpit-stain of sweaty desperation common to hoarse-voiced prophets crying in the wilderness,...

Friday Freebie: Afghan Post by Adrian Bonenberger, Friday Was the Bomb by Nathan Deuel, and Seriously Not All Right by Ron Capps

Congratulations to Sarah Yaw, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Orion's Daughters by Courtney Elizabeth Mauk.

This week's book contest is a trio of must-read war memoirs: Afghan Post by Adrian Bonenberger, Friday Was the Bomb by Nathan Deuel, and Seriously Not All Right by Ron Capps.  One lucky reader will win a copy of all three.  Afghan Post and Friday Was the Bomb are softcovers and Seriously Not All Right is a hardcover (and signed by the author).  Here's a little more a...

Trailer Park Tuesday: The Wax Bullet War by Sean Davis

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




When the guns fall silent, the air fills with the sound of stories.  Veterans returning from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan are, each in their own way, trying to make sense of an often-nonsensical duet of wars.  Many will hold their silence, some will try to work it out in therapy or conversations with loved ones, and a few will find their path through storytelling....

My First Time: Brenda Bevan Remmes

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 Brenda Bevan Remmes, author of The Quaker Cafe, a novel about secrets from the past that threaten to unravel the delicate fabric of racial harmony in an easily-divided Southern town.  Brenda has written for Newsweek and university journals, an...

Sunday Sentence: Redeployment by Phil Klay

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


The trigger was there, aching to be pushed.  There aren’t a lot of times in your life that come down to, Do I press this button?

“After Action Report” from Redeployment by Phil Klay