20 Questions #3

I got thrown off track by AWP travel and deadlines after that, but now . . . we're back with Question #3:

Why do you write? And before you say "because I have to," let me also ask what your writing goals are. It seems to me that the questions are linked? And while I'm bundling questions, where do you see yourself taking your work in five years? Ten?

Email the answers to me or post in a comment below.


Update:
Here's Scott Doyle's answer:

Good one. I had to sit with that for a couple days.

"I think I write partly by default: feeling like I've fallen short or
flailed in other efforts. So I returned to something that earlier gave me
great pleasure. There are times when I know I've nailed a story or a moment
or a phrase, and it feels good to get something right.


"I'd also echo Mary in saying I like to write about what confuses me. I've
always bristled at the 'write what you know' axiom because, although surely
I draw on my experience, in the end I feel I write about what I don't know.
So there's the twin experience of getting something right; and at the same
time coming to terms with one's confusion about the world, one's bafflement
and wonder."

Thanks for asking.

The New Yorker: "Brother on Sunday" by A.M. Homes

I don’t feel much depth to this story, but I did enjoy it, and it isn’t without meaning, as I’ll get to in a minute. Tom is a plastic surgeon, and his brother Roger is a dentist. They’ve been competitive forever and don’t seem to like each other much, which raises the question of why Roger comes around. Tom is married to Sandy, and for New Yorker fiction this is an unusual relationship. These people actually seem to love each other. They aren’t cheating (or, if they are, it isn’t serious), and except for a minor quarrel they get along just fine. Tom isn’t old, but he is aging, and that is one of the themes of this story. Another theme is blindness. Tom recalls his date with a blind girl, a recollection that is tied up with his hatred for his brother, but the important thing here is that he considers that her blindness is not the absence of light, but the overabundance of light. And that’s something that is happening with Tom. His life is so good that he can’t see it. Until the end, when he concludes that it’s worth fighting for.

Not bad.

March 2, 2009: “Brother on Sunday” by A. M. Homes.

Every Day Fiction

Every Day Fiction is new to me. They publish a new flash every day, and the reason I know about it is because a frequent visitor here, Gay Degani, has a new one up now. Check out The London Eye. Nice work, Gay!

Narrative Magazine

The folks at Narrative Magazine don't need my help spreading the word, but I thought I'd mention them because the current issue has a story by Eugene Cross, a friend from Bread Loaf. He's in pretty high-flying company in the issue, so I'm happy for him. I like what Narrative has been doing lately, and it's time to pay closer attention. I also see that they are doing print issues three times a year, which is a new (new to me, anyway) development.

March is Small Press Month

March, you may be surprised to learn, is Small Press Month. Given the struggles of the publishing industry, this is maybe more significant than ever before.

Small Press Month is a nationwide celebration highlighting the valuable work produced by independent publishers. Held annually in March, Small Press Month raises awareness about the need for broader venues of literary expression. From March 1st-31st, independent, literary events will take place from coast-to-coast, showcasing some of the most diverse, exciting, and significant voices being published today.

Small Press Distribution

I also picked up at AWP the Spring 2009 Catalog for Small Press Distribution. What a great idea for small presses to come together in this way. It's also a great way for writers to find small presses that might provide homes for their work.

AWP 2009

I thought I was done writing about the AWP Conference, but I guess I'm not. I managed to bring home a bunch of books and magazines and I wanted to tell you about them. It's not as big a haul as in past years, since I was flying and didn't want the extra weight, but it's respectable:

Willow Springs No. 63
Colorado Review No. 35.3
Tusculum Review No. 3
Salamander No. 14.1
TriQuarterly No. 132
New Madrid Winter 2009
Passages North No. 30.1

I also managed to acquire a couple of books: A Peculiar Feeling of Restlessness , a beautiful book from Rose Metal Press consisting of four short short fiction chapbooks by Amy Clark, Elizabeth Ellen, Kathy Fish, and Claudia Smith; and Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartogrpaher by Peter Turchi.

I don't know when I'll read all this, but at least it isn't quite as obscene as last year.

Lit Mag Swap

At AWP earlier this month I picked up a number of literary magazines, including a copy of Quarter After Eight No. 14. At the time I thought it looked familiar, but it was only once I got home that I realized that I already had a copy. So, I'm offering to swap. Let me know what you've got to exchange.

Indiebound--Independent Bookstores

I support independent bookstores. Don't you? To find one near you, or to to order online from a nearby store, visit Indiebound.

Steve Almond on Book Balloon

Book Balloon, the forum for book lovers, welcomes Steve Almond for a Q&A session February 24-26. It's pretty simple: members post questions and Steve will show up from time to time over the three days and answer them. He's a funny guy, so it should be interesting.

Book Balloon is free to join, but you have to join to participate in the Q&A.

Herd Instinct

So I'm straightening up a little after breakfast when I notice a deer stroll out of the woods behind the house. It's kind a of a stubby thing, still with its dark, winter coloration. I really enjoy seeing these animals in the yard, even though I know the damage they do to gardens and shrubs (and I'm planning a garden for this year, so it's something I've been thinking about), and this one was only about 20 feet from the house. Then another one popped out of the woods behind the first. And then I realized there was a long line of them, all following the same path into the yard. Nine in all. I have often seen 1, 2 or 3 in the yard, and occasionally 4 at once. But nine is a new record for me. Cool.

The New Yorker: "The Daughters of the Moon" by Italo Calvino

This must be weird story month in The New Yorker. The Millhauser allegory was odd enough, but now we’ve got Calvino and the wooly mammoths. (A rock band?) Anyway, it seems that the moon is old and dying, but it isn’t the first time. The current rise of life on the planet is just the latest; there was another time when cities much like the current cities were built and people disposed of goods without thought. Their moon was dying, too, and eventually, because it grew ugly and ragged, the people threw it on the trash heap. Except the Daughters of the Moon rescued it and sent it into the sea. Whereupon it reemerged and climbed back into the sky.

I’ve got no idea what’s going on. You?

February 23, 2009: “The Daughters of the Moon” by Italo Calvino

Rain Taxi

While we're on the subject of book reviews, there's a new issue of the online edition of Rain Taxi Review of Books. Lots of good stuff there.

The Short Review

To say that there's a new issue of The Short Review up doesn't do it justice, because it's not an ordinary literary magazine. Instead, it is exclusively a review of short fiction collections, and that makes it special. This month, TSR discusses collections by Allison Amend, Sana Krasikov, Randall Brown, and Alexandra Chasin, among others, along with several nice interviews. Check it out!

AWP Recap No. 4

There was snow Friday night, so we had that to deal with on Saturday, but not much. Just enough to make the scenery on the drive downtown (thanks, Stan!) especially beautiful.

The first session we went to was "Writing the Dispatch: Inspiration on the Installment Plan" featuring several writers who have appeared regularly on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, including Roy Kesey, Philip Graham, John Griswold, Rob Jacklosky, Holly Jones, and editor John Warner. This was way funnier than I expected it to be, but all of the panelists gave great presentations about how they approached their assignments and the challenges they faced. Roy's, at least, should be a separate feature on the website, since it took a funny but literary approach to the topic. . .

I skipped the next session in favor of a return to the bookfair, but regrouped for the noon session when I attended "The Future (and Present) of the Literary Magazine". I expected this to have more to say about online literary magazines, and it basically ignored them, but it was otherwise interesting. We heard from Don share and Willard Spiegelman, both of whom I've heard before, and also Peter Campion, Darin Ciccotelli and David Mikics.

Time for lunch! (We went up the street to the Artists Cafe, which was nice, and got back in time for another session.)

"Keeping the Faith: Ten Years and Counting" was funny, inspirational, and depressing. The panelists included Allison Amend, Margo Rabb, and Pinckney Benedect, all of whom I knew (although admittedly I'd only met Allison on Thursday), plus Dika Lam, Lara JK Wilson, and Sheri Joseph. They all discussed projects they'd worked on for many years--10 to 15 years in most cases. Lara Wilson actually provided something of a manifesto for sticking with it, with some very good advice. (Lots of friends in the audience for this one.)

For the last time-slot there were several attractive choices, but I decided to go with the "Tribute to Grace Paley by Glad Day Books." I got to know Grace a little at the Under the Volcano workshops in Mexico--both the year I worked with her and the year she came down as a visitor, only 7 months before she died--and so I really wanted to honor her by being there. The audience was small, but the presenters--3 authors published by Grace and Bob's publishing company, Glad Day Books--did a very nice job. There were videos, including a recent interview with Grace's husband, Bob Nichols, and lots of anecdotes. At the end, a few audience members shared their stories of Grace. It was nice.

And then I went up to the party given by Split This Rock Poetry Festival, and had more nice conversation and refreshments with new and old friends.

And that's it.

VQR at AWP

If The Virginia Quarterly Review had a table at AWP, I missed it. (Entirely possible.) But they did blog from the conference: here, here, here, and here (the most interesting of the posts, I think).

AWP Recap No. 3

I wasn't sure what to expect from "The Author-Editor Connection" but I found all the panelists to be excellent, and the information useful. Ron Carlson was funny as he talked about his relationships with editors and the expectations of his students. Janet Burroway was very direct in talking about her mixed experiences with trade and independent publishers, and the two editors--one from University of Iowa Press, one from Graywolf--were also forthcoming about expectations from their authors. One surprise to me was that Graywolf, as a relatively small independent press, still gets almost almost all of its work from agented authors.

Next I went to "Shameless Promotion: Get the Book to the Readers" and this was inspiring, because it discussed real and proven techniques for book promotion. It was a little corny at times, but the presenters (Marisha Chamberlain, Margaret Hasse, Todd Boss, Jon Spayde) made it memorable. Their tips are shared at Squad 365: Book Marketing. Very useful stuff.

Next was a very interesting but less stimulating panel on "Omniscience: We Know, We Know," featuring Peter Turchi, Robert Boswell, Antonya Nelson, and Laura Kasischke. I was especially interested in what Boswell and Turchi had to say and ended up buying one of Turchi's books down in the bookfair.

I skipped the next session in order to grab lunch and make another tour of the bookfair, an overwhelming spectacle of publishing, and a place to make connections, meet new people and see old friends. And there were several panels I was interested in for the following session, but I didn't get to that one either, because we were meeting Queens MFA folks up at The Gage. It was good to see Jessica and Tracy and Mike and Rebecca and Geoff and Steve and Sylvia and all the rest there. We then came back to the hotel for the Sewanee party, a highlight for me.

It was wonderful to see Cherie Peters and Wyatt Prunty there. Somehow I missed Kevin Wilson at the party, but I think he was there. Richard Bausch came in and we got to speak to him for a little while. I saw Andrew Hudgins and Erin McGraw as well as Claudia Emerson. And there were dozens of Sewanee Fellows, Scholars, and Participants from my various years at the conference. I wish that could have lasted a bit longer! And, in fact, we did spill down to the hotel bar to keep the fun going another couple of hours, before crashing.

AWP 2009 Recap No. 2

Although Wednesday was truly wet, Thursday began bright. I was staying with a friend on the North Side--a non-writer friend who reads voraciously and so attended AWP just for fun--so we hopped on the El along with all the commuters and got down to the Hilton in time to grab some coffee and a giant muffin before going to the first seminar of the conference. We had chosen "Fictionalizing Family" moderated by Eric Puchner, whom I know from Bread Loaf. He and the other panelists, including Don Waters, a friend from Sewanee, talked about the challenges of using autobiographical material in fiction. I can't say I learned techniques for avoiding the inevitable problems, but it was interesting to hear the experiences of other writers.

Next, I attended "First Books of Fiction" with several panelists I know: David McGlynn, moderator, John Dalton, Michael Czyzniejewski, and others. Margot Singer, another friend, was supposed to be on the panel but couldn't make it. The panelists' experiences ranged from very small press to large press, from small print runs to large print runs, from unagented to bit-time agent, and so the discussion of the first book experience was comprehensive. One of the reasons I was interested in this was to hear tips from marketing, and the books from the small presses definitely do provide some guidance.

There were some great options for the next time slot but I chose "The City--Real and Imagined" because it featured some great Chicago writers, all associated with Northwestern": Reginald Gibbons, Stuart Dybek, Aleksandar Hemon, John Keene, and Alex Kotlowitz. And, indeed, I enjoyed their discussions of their own work and other great urban writers: Poe, Schulz, Ellison, Paley, Calvino, and others.

After which I was both exhausted and starving, so we went up Michigan Avenue to find lunch, where we ran into other friends, including Pedro Ponce, David McGlynn, and Roy Kesey.

We made it back in time for the next session, and I went to "The Online Creative Writing Workshop". The panelists all had handouts, which look helpful, and I'm eager to give some thought to the tips they offered, considering that I'm about to teach an online workshop. I realized midway through, though, that I was done for the day, and instead of going to one last workshop--there were several good choices on my list, I headed to the bookfair. As a final AWP post I'll give my impressions of the bookfair and a partial list of the journals and books I collected, but for now let me say that it did NOT disappoint. It's an amazing spectacle of literature.

And then we headed off to a nice dinner at a Pan-Asian restaurant before going to Flatfile Galleries for the Dzanc Books reading, featuring lots of writers known to us, plus a little wine, a little food.

A nice, long day.

New Issue: Bound Off #37

Check out Bound Off for their latest issue: stories by David Backer and Zein El-Amine.

AWP 2009 Recap No. 1

I returned last night from AWP 2009-Chicago. It was a blast and jam-packed. Even if I had intended to blog from Chicago, which I did not, I don't think I would have succeeded. Too much other stuff to see, do, and enjoy. So my plan is to recap the event over the next few days and maybe share a few bits of information I picked up along the way.

I flew up to Chicago on Wednesday. I'd chosen early flights because the last two times I've gone to Chicago I experienced significant delays. This time, though, everything went smoothly and I arrived at O'Hare before noon. Which meant that I had the whole afternoon to spend before meeting my friends. So I visited the Art Institute of Chicago, which I hadn't been to in several years. I spent most of my time with the Impressionists but also enjoyed earlier work by Americans, later work by Mexicans, plus a mix of old and new in the Asian collection. I also visited the exhibit of photography by Yousof Karsh, which I enjoyed very much.

After that I went down Michigan Avenue to the conference hotel and registered, picking up the program, which this year is an astounding 340 pages long. I retreated to a coffee shop to study the thing and eventually made it to the rendezvous point with Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network. The gathering wasn't as big as it has been in past years, but that's okay. It was fun to meet a few people I've known only online, and to catch up with some old friends. I imagine Dan will also be writing about the events of the last week, so check out EWN for more details.

Several of us then landed at Sheffields, a bar on the North Side, to listen to some short readings by lots of folks, some known and some new to me: Kyle Minor, Matt Bell, Donna Vitucci, Amy Guth, and others. This was actually part of the established Reading Under the Influence series, so you can visit their website for the complete lineup. That was fun and a good way to end Day 1.

AWP 2009

I'm off to Chicago for the AWP Conference. No laptop, no blogging. Just listening and talking and watching and socializing. I'll probably do some ex-post posts, but that's all I've got to say for now.

Press 53 Open Awards 2009

The deadline for the multi-genre Press 53 Open Awards 2009 is March 31. Check out the rules and submit!

Susan Meyers at Linebreak

Listen to a poem by Susan Meyers at Linebreak: Dear Atamasco Lily.

Kindle2

Have you seen the newest version of the Kindle? Wow. Kindle2 is still too expensive, I think, but it looks great, and now clearly beats the Sony Reader. I like books, real books, artifact books. But I'm tempted.

WSO: A Salute To the American Presidency

So much about this afternoon was remarkable, starting with the fact that there is no admission charged to a performance of the Waynesboro Symphony Orchestra. This afternoon's concert, held in the Fracis Auditorium of Mary Baldwin College, was a program put together by the Music Director of the WSO, Peter Wilson, who also happens to be a White House violinist and Commander of the String Section for the U.S. Marine Band (which means he was all over the inauguration, if you were paying attention). All of the music was wonderful and some of it was familiar. It ranged from George Drumm's "Hail America!", which you'd recognize if you heard it, to W.G. Snuffy Walden's Theme to "The West Wing", but also included Sousa, Copland, and John Williams. Given the price of admission, this was a spectacular performance.

But wait. There's more! The highlight was George Gerswhin's "Rhapsody in Blue". Not only did the orchestra do a fantastic job with this difficult piece, but it featured pianist AnnaMaria Mottola, who was breathtaking. Like Wilson, Mottola is a White House musician and a member of "The President's Own" United States Marine Band.

The concert was an amazing treat, and if you missed this weekend's performance you've got another chance. The WSO will perform the same program on Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Waynesboro. Don't miss it!

New Issue: Freight Stories #4

The new issue of Freight Stories is up. Check it out.

Blackbird

Check out this special audio feature at Blackbird: David Baker: A Reading and Conversation

The New Yorker: "The Invasion from Outer Space" by Steven Millhauser

Is this a parable? Or what, exactly? Is the “invasion” of yellow “animate dust” a symbol for something else? Almost certainly, I think, but what? It seems to me it could represent anything new in a culture: the return of democracy; a Starbucks on every corner; the arrival of HDTV. “It is really quite peaceful, in its way.” Said in a way that suggests the contrary.

So there’s this arrival from out of space. It turns out to be a dusting of single-celled organisms that reproduce in sunlight at an amazing rate. (What was the name of that wacky sci-fi movie with the cute little fuzzy things?) The people are curious, of course, but are warned to stay away from them. But they keep growing and the mounds rise “like bread”. The people are being lulled to sleep, but there’s danger in the bread. What is it? It could be anything, I think. And that’s this story’s problem.

February 9 & 16, 2009: “The Invasion From Outer Space” by Steven Millhauser.

American Shakespeare Center: Henry VI, Part I

Are we confused yet? At one point midway through the American Shakespeare Center production of Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1, Edmund Mortimer, uncle to Richard Plantagenet, summarizes the recent history of royal houses and how it was that young King Henry VI came to the throne. Listen closely to that speech--it clears up a lot about the factions on the English side of the war. On the other hand, the real story in this play is the war with the French, and so keeping those sides straight is the real key. And since the French have Joan of Arc (Joan la Pucelle here), that's not so difficult.

There are some wonderful performances in this show. Alyssa Wilmoth plays a bright young King Henry, and since he is really a boy it is fitting that a small woman should play him. And she's terrific in the part. Henry seems wise, and yet embarrassed at the prospect of marrying, since he is still young. But he's not so young that Suffolk's description of Margaret of Anjou doesn't sway him in the end. Wilmoth shows these progressions very nicely. Miriam Donald does a fine job as Joan la Pucelle. Joan is less heroic in the Shakespeare portrayal, but Donald makes her both mystical and manipulative, but defiant to the end. John Harrell is, as always, wonderful in his several roles, especially as Charles the Dauphin. His infatuation with Joan is especially amusing. Benjamin Curns is excellent as the Duke of Gloucester, Lord Protector to King Henry, as is Christopher Seiler in his main role as Lord Talbot, the Englishman who inflicts so much damage on the French. Gregory Jon Phelps is both Duke of Burgundy, who is persuaded by Joan to shift sides in the war, and Earl of Suffolk, who deviously convinces Henry to marry Margaret, whom Suffolk desires for himself, and Phelps is especially good there. Rene Thornton Jr. is strong as Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, as are Thomas Keegan as the Bishop of Winchester, Chris Johnston as Exeter, and Sarah Fallon as Margaret. This cast works beautifully together.

The play covers a lot of historical ground, although it all eventually becomes clear. There is one scene, though, that I think I will remember above all. Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, played by Christopher Seiler, is about to go into a battle in which his forces are unexptectedly outnumbered. His son, played by Gregory Jon Phelps, is with him and Talbot tries to send his son away. The son insists on staying. Seiler and Phelps do a great job with this scene, which is lovely poetry. And also redundant. Basically the two settle the argument--young Talbot will stay. They fight, they're victorious for the moment, and then they have the same argument again. The outcome is the same and father and son go back into battle, but this time things don't go their way. If I were Shakespeare's editor, I think I'd have condensed that scene. Nonetheless, it's fun to watch these two actors execute it:

TALBOT
O young John Talbot! I did send for thee
To tutor thee in stratagems of war,
That Talbot's name might be in thee revived
When sapless age and weak unable limbs
Should bring thy father to his drooping chair.
But, O malignant and ill-boding stars!
Now thou art come unto a feast of death,
A terrible and unavoided danger:
Therefore, dear boy, mount on my swiftest horse;
And I'll direct thee how thou shalt escape
By sudden flight: come, dally not, be gone.

JOHN TALBOT
Is my name Talbot? and am I your son?
And shall I fly? O if you love my mother,
Dishonour not her honourable name,
To make a bastard and a slave of me!
The world will say, he is not Talbot's blood,
That basely fled when noble Talbot stood.

TALBOT
Fly, to revenge my death, if I be slain.

JOHN TALBOT
He that flies so will ne'er return again.

TALBOT
If we both stay, we both are sure to die.

JOHN TALBOT
Then let me stay; and, father, do you fly:
Your loss is great, so your regard should be;
My worth unknown, no loss is known in me.
Upon my death the French can little boast;
In yours they will, in you all hopes are lost.
Flight cannot stain the honour you have won;
But mine it will, that no exploit have done:
You fled for vantage, everyone will swear;
But, if I bow, they'll say it was for fear.
There is no hope that ever I will stay,
If the first hour I shrink and run away.
Here on my knee I beg mortality,
Rather than life preserved with infamy.

TALBOT
Shall all thy mother's hopes lie in one tomb?

JOHN TALBOT
Ay, rather than I'll shame my mother's womb.

TALBOT
Upon my blessing, I command thee go.

JOHN TALBOT
To fight I will, but not to fly the foe.

TALBOT
Part of thy father may be saved in thee.

JOHN TALBOT
No part of him but will be shame in me.

TALBOT
Thou never hadst renown, nor canst not lose it.

JOHN TALBOT
Yes, your renowned name: shall flight abuse it?

TALBOT
Thy father's charge shall clear thee from that stain.

JOHN TALBOT
You cannot witness for me, being slain.
If death be so apparent, then both fly.

TALBOT
And leave my followers here to fight and die?
My age was never tainted with such shame.

JOHN TALBOT
And shall my youth be guilty of such blame?
No more can I be sever'd from your side,
Than can yourself yourself in twain divide:
Stay, go, do what you will, the like do I;
For live I will not, if my father die.

And so on for a good bit more. In any case, this fine production should not be missed. It's part of the ASC's Actor's Renaissance Season and you can also catch the company's helarious production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Middleton's Revenger's Tragedy, with two more productions coming soon: The Changeling and The Blind Beggar of Alexandria.

Buy your tickets, see the shows, and support the American Shakespeare Center.

I Just Finished

I Just Finished is an interesting site that is currently featuring author Ellen Meister. The moderator started things off with some questions, and now readers are chiming in, with Ellen providing the answers. Nice format!

Winter 2009

20 Questions #2 (continued)

We're asking writers this week to tell us about favorite authors and/or influences on their work.

Mithran Somasundrum:
My favourite author is Graham Greene. Taking the last question first, it's not so much a case of imitating him as the problem of trying not to sound like a bad version of him. When I started writing, everything I did seemed to come out as second rate Graham Greene and, even now, reading Greene while writing a first draft is dangerous. As for why he's my favourite: his ability to write sentences that resonate off the page; all of his wonderful seedy characters (particularly the minor ones, which I think is mostly where Greeneland lies); the brilliantly constructed plots; his ability to write thrillers and literary fiction equally well; his writing's huge international scope. The other thing is, I found Greene when I was around 16 -- I wonder how much an author's influence comes from the age at which you find them?
[Mithran Somasundrum is a short story writer published in literary and genre
mags.]

In an Uncharted Country

This isn't the last time I'll mention this, but I'm thrilled to announce that my short story collection, In an Uncharted Country, will be published by Press 53 in the fall of 2009. The stories in the collection are linked by setting, theme, and character. As the publication date gets closer, I'll be sharing more information about availability, readings and signings, and more.

New Issue: Live Oak Review

The debut issue of Live Oak Review is now, um, live, and the editor will soon be taking submissions for the next issue. I love this cover art, which is by Honor Woodard.

Writers.com

I'm pleased to announce that beginning in March, I will be teaching a course in Writing the Literary Short Story on Writers.com. It's a ten-week class during which we'll explore craft topics through the analysis of published short fiction as well as student exercises. A second course will follow this one that will be primarily a workshop for students' stories. Details of the Workshop will be posted soon. I'm looking forward to this new experience.

20 Questions #2

We're asking writers 20 questions, and some of them are actually responding! This week's question is a little tougher than last week's. (Anyone coming late to the game, check out last week's entry here and either leave your answere in the comments or send me an email; I'll post it in an update.)

Who is your favorite author, and why? Or, put another way (or to ask a completely different question), what author has had the greatest influence on your own work, and why? Do you consciously imitate another author's work in your writing? (Okay, so that's three questions. Sue me. They're related.)

Update: In addition to the comments from Anonymous and Marin Heavisides, I've received the following:

Pamela Erens:
George Eliot has been my favorite writer ever since I first read her in college. Tolstoy is the only other writer I can think of who captures human character with as much depth and complexity--but perhaps I slightly favor Eliot over him because I find her more tender and kindly an authorial presence, and her psychology more detailed. My favorite of her novels is Middlemarch. Two noble and idealistic characters, Dorothea Brooke and Tertius Lydgate, each stumble via romantic self-delusion into marriages that crush their spirits. Each is tested morally (as are other characters in the book) in fascinating ways. One comes out better than the other. I admire Dorothea, but Lydgate I've been in love with for decades. [Pamela Erens is the author of the award-winning novel The Understory.]

Scott Doyle:
When it comes to influences, I have to name two. Because when I think of
what kind of writer I want to be, in reference to other writers, I think: 'I
want to be the bastard love-child of Virginia Woolf and Denis Johnson.' A
strange pairing, I guess. But both of them, in different ways, can come to
a stop at a moment in time, and (like the special effect The Matrix made
popular) spin 'round it, viewing it from every possible angle. Or unfold
it, like a piece of origami. A teacher of mine talks about certain key
moments in a writer's reading life, the ones where you say to yourself, 'Oh,
so you can do THAT.' And that's what I felt, reading To The Lighthouse, and
then Jesus' Son.

Andrew's Book Club

Painfully punctual. It's February 1, so Andrew has posted the February picks for Andrew's Book Club. As you will recall, Andrew is picking two short story collections each month, one from a big press and one from a small press, and participants are encouraged to [buy and] read the books, and post comments. I'm already behind because I ordered January's books mid-month and don't yet have them. So I wasn't going to participate this month. But. It just so happens that I received a gift certificate from Amazon.com. So. I ordered them. And soon I will have the new Antonya Nelson, Nothing Right, and the new Kirsten Sunbberg Lunstrum, Swimming With Strangers.