Blog
Thumbnail artwork by Catrin Welz-Stein, Catherine Swenson, Christian Schloe, Jin Xingye
ANIL’S GHOST by Michael Ondaatje
Anil’s Ghost, by Michael Ondaatje, is an ambitious, haunting mosaic of a novel. This is Ondaatje at his best, the story told through the alternating voices of enigmatic and deeply seen characters who reveal themselves in gorgeous, startling prose as the novel unfolds....
What if Your Agented Novel Isn’t Sold?
It took a long time to write a post about disappointment. It’s not a story I wanted to tell, but discouragement—and resilience—are part of a writer’s life. I hope that in sharing honestly my experience, I can shed light on an aspect of publishing that’s rarely spoken...
BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU by Sally Rooney
BEAUTIFUL WORLD, WHERE ARE YOU, by Sally Rooney, entertains, perplexes, and made me think. Rooney has a fabulous ear for dialogue, and her precise details and a courageous vulnerability beneath the awkwardness drew me in as her characters navigate friendship and love....
Frances Cha Zoom Interview, IF I HAD YOUR FACE
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Frances Cha, author of the debut novel, IF I HAD YOUR FACE for Columbia Fiction Foundry. Frances’ novel, published by Penguin Random House, was named best book of 2020 by NPR, TIME Magazine, USA Today, Bustle, Esquire, New...
IF I HAD YOUR FACE by Frances Cha
IF I HAD YOUR FACE is a fascinating exploration of contemporary South Korea told from the alternating points-of-view of four friends, Kyuri, Miho, Ara and Sujin. As they make their way in the hyper-competitive world of Seoul, they face daunting obstacles, including...
Completed Novel Sneak Peek
TRAVELING LIGHT, upmarket literary fiction, 85,000 words. June Colter, 17, equestrienne in the Byrd Family Circus, thunders around the ring on horseback as she yearns for a different life. She defies her parents by studying in secret, helped by Jeta, an aged...
The Waiting Time: You’ve Signed with Your Dream Agent. Now What?
You’ve finished your book and braved the querying trenches. You’ve signed with your dream agent, who has begun the process of submitting your novel to publishing houses. It can take months for responses to start coming in from editors, with no guarantee that there...
THE BASS ROCK by Evie Wyld
THE BASS ROCK by Evie Wyld is a bewitching, textured novel that lingers after the last haunting page has turned. Told in alternating points-of-view, Viviane recounts the present-day arc of the story as she travels from London to clear out the family home on the Firth...
Signing with a Dream Agent
Sometimes something happens that you’ve hoped and worked and waited for for so long, that it shakes your world and reveals fault lines of self-doubt and uncertainty that make you almost wish the good thing never happened. But of course that’s not true. You can’t quite...
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong
ON EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS, by Ocean Vuong, is an incandescent, devastating novel/prose poem. Written as a letter from Little Dog to his mother, a letter she cannot read because she’s illiterate, the story explores language, family, identity, and what it means to...
SILVER SPARROW by Tayari Jones
SILVER SPARROW, by Tayari Jones, is a complex, superbly written novel with no easy answers. Jones has created flawed, believable characters who struggle with difficult moral issues of family and loyalty even as the consequences of their choices unravel with painful...
HOW TO SET YOURSELF ON FIRE by Julia Dixon Evans
How to Set Yourself on Fire, by Julia Dixon Evans, is a quirky story in the vein of Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation, only sweeter. Sheila, 35, is a mess. She can’t hold down a job, she barely sleeps, and when she does it’s often on the stoop of her...