Clifford Garstang's Blog, page 181

The Missing Link Project

I've been thinking a lot lately about linked short story collections (or story cycles, or novels in stories), partly because my recently published book, In an Uncharted Country, is a linked story collection, and I've written an as-yet-unpublished novel in stories, but also because it's a topic on which I'll be speaking at a conference next month.

As I gather my thoughts--what are these different animals?--and what are the strategies that various authors have chosen for linking their stories?--...

Book Talk with Kevin Wilson

Book Talk Video - Kevin Wilson from stephen usery on Vimeo.

Artistic Entrepreneurship

Last week I attended a FREE seminar on Artistic Entrepreneurship sponsored by the Staunton Creative Community Fund and the Staunton Augusta Arts Center. The seminar, which was held in the beautiful R.R. Smith Center, was very well attended--I was sitting up front so didn't get a head count, but all the chairs in the room were filled and I'd say there were at least 40 people there.

It turned out not to be terribly relevant to my current work. As a fiction writer, the extent of my entrepreneurs...

Novel in Progress

I'm working on a novel. (I know: Who isn't?) I've just published a collection of short stories, my agent is working to sell a novel-in-stories (or so I insist on calling it; it may just be another collection of linked stories), and I've got a novel languishing in a drawer that one day I would like revisit, now that I sort of know what I'm doing. In the meantime, though, I'm working on a shortish novel that has themes and characters that attract me. I've given myself a deadline of the end of t...

The New Yorker: "Procedure in Plain Air" by Jonathan Lethem

Jonathan Lethem's Chronic City, from which a story was excerpted in The New Yorker earlier this year, was recently released, so presumably the current story is not part of that book. It could be though, from what I know about it. Here we also have a portrait of New York City that is slightly off its axis—a little bit weird, but not alarmingly so. The protagonist, Stevick, is unemployed and hangs out near his favorite coffee shop, but not inside because he might run into his ex. While sitting ...

Writers at the Beach

I've just confirmed that I will be a speaker at the Writers at the Beach conference in Rehoboth Beach, March 26-28, 2010. This is a terrific conference that has a charitable focus; 100% of conference proceeds will be donated to the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children.

It's not only a worthwhile charitable effort, it's also attracted a terrific lineup of speakers, including Robert Bausch, Steve Luxenberg, C.M. Mayo, Michael Blumenthal, Sheri Reynolds, Carolyn Parkhurst, and many oth...

LitDrift.com

I've just heard about a new blog/zine called LitDrift that looks pretty interesting. I poked around a little and I saw a way to get free books (always a good thing), writing prompts, stories about writing, and more.

From the "About" page:

Lit Drift is a blog, resource, and community dedicated to the art & craft of storytelling in the 21st century. Our name is a nod to how traditional forms of storytelling are, well, drifting into forms wholly new and unexpected. We're interested in sifting...

Still

Rusty Barnes at Fried Chicken and Coffee reports on the birth of a new magazine: Still: Literature of the Mountain South, edited by Silas House, Marianne Worthington, and Jason Howard.

Definitely worth checking out.

ASC: Henry IV, Part 1

Do not miss the American Shakespeare Center's production of Henry IV Part 1 at the Blackfriars Playhouse, through November 27. I'll definitely be seeing it at least one more time. The entire play and everyone in it is marvelous, but the performance that is most captivating is James Keegan as Falstaff. Keegan is also Falstaff in this season's Merry Wives of Windsor, but this is a different sort of play and a different sort of Falstaff.

In Henry IV, Prince Hal (beautifully portrayed by Luke Eddy...

Appearances: October 17

I've got a busy day on Saturday, October 17, with two separate book-signings scheduled for In an Uncharted Country.

First, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm I'll be at Bookworks on Beverley Street in Staunton. The signing is scheduled to coincide with the launch of Staunton's Red Brick District, our new arts and culture promotion encompassing the Downtown and New Town neighborhoods.

Then, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm I'll be at Books & Co., 29 W. Nelson, in Lexington, VA.

If you're nearby those stores, pleas...