David Abrams's Blog, page 72

Trailer Park Tuesday: Perfect Days by Raphael Montes

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



Brazilian novelist Raphael Montes himself stars in the trailer for his English-language debut, Perfect Days , a wicked, twisted thriller about obsession. Here’s the setup for the book, as reported by Amazon:

Brazilian medical student Teo Avelar is not your standard protagonist: for starters, he lives with his mother and his best friend is a cadaver. He is also a psychopath, with...

My First Time: Sharon Guskin

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 Sharon Guskin, author of the debut novel, The Forgetting Time , published by Flatiron Books/Macmillan and recently named an Amazon Editors’ Top Pick for February. In addition to writing fiction, Sharon has worked as a writer and producer of documentary fi...

Sunday Sentence: “I Need, I Need” by Theodore Roethke

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


          I wish I was a pifflebob
          I wish I was a funny
          I wish I had ten thousand hats
          And made a lot of money.

“I Need, I Need” from Theodore Roethke: Selected Poems 

Friday Freebie: Winter by Christopher Nicholson

Congratulations to Beverly Sizemore, Bart Zimmer, and Abby DeBenedittis, winners of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: The Longest Night by Andria Williams.

This week’s book giveaway is Winter by Christopher Nicholson, a novel that has made its way onto my To-Be-Read list, if for nothing else than that gorgeous cover alone. But Nicholson’s novel is worth a peek for what’s behind the cover, too. Read on for more information...

A November morning in the 1920s finds an elderly man in his eighti...

Soup and Salad: Larry Levis peels the wallpaper, Story Prize finalists announced, Andria Williams pays attention to her characters, The Proust Book Club, Katey Schultz teaches you how to flash

On today’s menu:

photo by George R. Janecek1.  Before this year’s publication of The Darkening Trapeze: Last Poems , I wasn’t familiar with the works of the late poet Larry Levis. Shame on me, I guess, because Levis—who died of a heart attack in 1996—appears to have had many admirers: among them, Pam Houston, who was getting her doctorate degree at the University of Utah while Levis was teaching fiction writing there in the 90s. Over at the Graywolf Press blog , Pam has a wonderful story t...

My First Time: Rachel Cantor

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 Rachel Cantor, author of Good on Paper , a new novel published by Melville House. Rachel’s stories have appeared in such magazines as The Paris Review, One Story, Ninth Letter, Kenyon Review, New England Review, Fence, and Volume 1 Brooklyn. They have bee...

Sunday Sentence: Wilderness by Lance Weller

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


A Union man loses both eyes to a spray of hot shrapnel and staggers forward. Rebel soldiers part before him, do not touch him or allow him to be touched, as though he has become beloved of God.
Wilderness  by Lance Weller

Friday Freebie: The Longest Night by Andria Williams

Congratulations to Jacinda Power, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: Nothing But the Dead and Dying by Ryan W. Bradley.

This week, I have two copies of The Longest Night , the debut novel by Andria Williams, to give away to two lucky readers. I myself was once one of those lucky readers: several months ago, I received an advance reading copy of the novel and provided these words of endorsement:

It's hard to believe The Longest Night is Andria Williams' debut novel. Her command of la...

Front Porch Books: January 2016 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, independent bookstores, 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....

My First Time: Keith Lee Morris

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 Keith Lee Morris, author of the new novel Travelers Rest , now out from Little, Brown. Benjamin Percy, author of The Dead Lands, had this to say about the novel: “It won’t take long—a page, maybe two—before you feel wondrously disquieted by Keith Lee Morr...