“Personally, I am a hedonistic reader; I have never read a book merely because it was ancient. I read books for the aesthetic emotions they offer me…” – Jorge Luis Borges
Why Are All The Best Short Story Writers Women?
“I fell in love with a robber and he took me on his rounds.” – Aimee Bender, “The Ring”
The Poem I Recommend If You Don't Think You Like Poetry
“I had my first nightmare about dangling by an umbilical cord from a white sky above a white boat floating in blood.” – Zachary Schomburg, “1978”
Unwriting Copaganda
“Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero…” – Raymond Chandler, “The Simple Art of Murder”
Riffs on Writing from Sherley Anne Williams
“Know? I know I’m a writer now.” – Sherley Anne Williams, asked “when did you first know you were a writer?” by Claudia Tate
What Does Success Look Like To You?
“There’s a place some of us choose to live / gated community cops can’t come in / a neighborhood for punks over the hill” – NOFX, “Mattersville”
I Had An Idea For A Story
“I got ideas, man! I got ideas! Like, how bout a shirt that says, I don’t know, LOSER. Or a hat! A f–kin hat that goes BEEOOOOWWWEEEET!” – Lance Brumder, ‘Orange County’ (2002)