David Abrams's Blog, page 173
February 24, 2013
Sunday Sentence: The Sensualist by Daniel Torday
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I've read this past week, presented to you out of context and without commentary.
My father pulled the photographs down off the walls. My grandfather's young face crossed the room and then went silently into a box.
The Sensualist by Daniel Torday
February 23, 2013
The Next Big Thing: Dubble
My friend and fellow novelist Laura Harrington recently invited me to participate in the blog-tagging "Next Big Thing" which is currently making the rounds among writers. Since I'm knuckling down on revising my own NBT (or will be when I'm not writing this blog post), I figured I'd join the party. At the end of this post, I'll tag-team a few other authors in hopes they'll tell us about their own works-in-progress. Here are the standard questions:
What is the working title of...
February 22, 2013
Friday Freebie: Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie Jr. and The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns
Congratulations to Jennifer Spiegel , winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Canada by Richard Ford and The Tell by Hester Kaplan.
In this week's book giveaway, one lucky reader will win a copy of both Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie Jr. and The Burn Palace by Stephen Dobyns. I've previously written about them here at the blog and it's pretty obvious that both of these novels have top slots in my To-Be-Read pile. Here's a little more info about each of them:
Chris Bohjali...
February 21, 2013
From Montana to L.A.: Fobbit's Good Fortune
Some pleasant things have been happening with Fobbit this month and I thought I'd share the good news with you here at the blog.
First of all, Fobbit was named an Honor Book in the Montana Book Awards which are given to books written or illustrated by someone who lives in Montana, are set in Montana, or deal with Montana themes or issues. It was founded by the Friends of the Missoula Public Library in 2001 and the awardees are selected by a committee of individuals represe...
February 19, 2013
Trailer Park Tuesday: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday , a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies. Unless their last name is Grisham or King, authors will probably never see their trailers on the big screen at the local cineplex. And that's a shame because a lot of hard work goes into producing these short marriages between book and video. So, if you like what you see, please spread the word and help these videos go viral.
I missed this trailer for Karen T...
February 18, 2013
My First Time: Rita Leganski
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 Rita Leganski, author of The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow , the story of a boy “who didn't make a peep when he was born.” Booklist praised Leganski's debut novel by saying, “This mystical fairy tale set in a 1950s-era Louisiana rife with relig...
February 15, 2013
Friday Freebie: Canada by Richard Ford and The Tell by Hester Kaplan
Congratulations to James Stolen, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash and Dolls Behaving Badly by Cinthia Ritchie.
This week's book giveaway is another literary duet: new paperback copies of Canada by Richard Ford and The Tell by Hester Kaplan. The copy of The Tell is signed by the author.
Canada--
one of my favorite books of 2012
--opens with two stark, compelling sentences: "First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then abou...
February 14, 2013
Front Porch Books: February 2013 edition
Front Porch Books is a monthly tally of books--mainly advance review copies (aka "uncorrected proofs" and "galleys")--I've received from publishers, but also sprinkled with packages from Book Mooch, Amazon and other sources. Because my dear friends, Mr. FedEx and Mrs. UPS, leave them with a doorbell-and-dash method of delivery, I call them my Front Porch Books. In this digital age, ARCs are also beamed to the doorstep of my Kindle via NetGalley and Edelweiss. Note: most of t...
February 13, 2013
2013 Academy Awards Prediction Contest
Welcome to the annual Oscars prediction contest at The Quivering Pen blog. Once again, I'm rolling out the red carpet, giving you the opportunity to predict who will take home the little golden statuettes so coveted by anyone who lives in a 25-mile radius of Los Angeles. This makes the third year in a row where I've given blog readers the chance to win prizes (see below) while dazzling us with their cinematic acumen--or really, really good luck as the case may be.
Before I get to...
February 12, 2013
We are Scripted by War: Fire and Forget
Some of the best fiction is written from the inside out. That is to say, its authors have "been there, done that." Nothing against great writers like C. S. Lewis who, to the best of my knowledge, never set foot in a land called Narnia; or Charles Frazier who, I'm certain, never walked across the cold mountains of a Civil War landscape; or even Mary Shelley who, I hope, never assembled a new man from spare body parts--their imaginations have transported us in remarkable ways. But...
