Burnt Memories: Reading Gabriel García Márquez in Texas
It took every fiber of me not to rattle off a quick ditty about Gabo the night after he passed. I tried, of course, but then where do you stop? Fifteen thousand words? Twenty? In this digital age...
View ArticleThe Ploughshares Round-down: Why “Don’t Feed the Trolls” Falls Short
Over the last two weeks, the internets have exploded with news about terrible comment sections and how to handle trolls. As writers, we know that since comment sections are where humanity goes to die...
View ArticleWWTMD? (What Would Toni Morrison Do?)
Toni Morrison. Image courtesy of the Nobel Prize Foundation. Lately, during the sad, unproductive stretches of writing my first novel, I stare at an empty page and whisper, “What Would Toni Morrison...
View ArticleWriters With Responsibilities: Patience is a Way of Life
Dear Sally, I want it all, NOW! What do you have to say to that? Your friend, Veruca Salt Dear Veruca, You can stomp and jump up and down all you want—but the truth is, if you’re a writer with...
View ArticleResearch Unleashed! And Leashed.
German Shepherd in a cone. I knew I had a problem when I started envying my dog’s cone collar. Now, my dog’s problem was a hot spot. Allergic, itchy, hot, and double-coated, my German Shepherd had...
View ArticleWriter Nightmares
You give a reading and only one person shows up. It is your ex. You spend five years working on a novel about Marie Antoinette’s wigmaker. The day you finish your final revisions, Margaret Atwood...
View ArticleOf All Things: The Signature
Kelly Link’s inscription has it all. Congratulations! You’ve published a book, and people are lining up to buy it. Now begins the trickiest part of an author’s journey: signing your own book. You’ve...
View ArticleThe New Generation of Gay Latino Poets
Some scholars say that Queer Latina/o writing is fast becoming a major core of the Latina/o literary canon. I say it’s the future of the canon altogether, with some of the most exciting, intelligent,...
View ArticleDrunken Acknowledgments, 2 A.M.
A book is a labor of love, and this novel would not have been possible without the help of several people, and several bottles of wine—the last of which I’m enjoying right now. Infinite thanks to my...
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