I'm wrestling with demons. This novel I'm working on has brought me to a very dark place that troubles me. The angry heroin addict with a thing for his sister, the childless woman whose grip on reality is tenuous at best, the twin succubi, the faded rock star who slides, effortlessly, into murderous madness: Where do they come from? Certainly they come from inside of me, yet they are not me. Or are they? I hate them and love them in the same way I alternately hate and…

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Why wasn't I hanging out around Backspace months ago? The multi-talented Karen Dionne has an amazing site there--everything the budding or even recently budded writer needs. I visited by way of Susan Henderson's blog and cool writer hangout, LitPark, where Karen will be featured this week.

This is what I picked up today: J.A. Konrath's great list for preparing for a booksigning. This man knows how to handsell books--and he's sold a lot of them. I've attended many signings, and sat…

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I have just spent a weekend consuming more sugar and chocolate than one human being should have in six months and I feel terrible. It's like I carb-loaded for the Iditarod and then went to take a nap. This is not good.



Last night, I pretty much put the manuscript for Surreal South, the anthology of bizarre Southern fiction and poetry that I'm editing with my husband, Pinckney, to bed. Manuscripts, story notes and bios are delivered, the publisher's putting checks in the mail,… Continue

From my review in a newspaper you probably don’t know (The Grand Rapids Press), to my myspace blog, for months I’ve been blathering on about how much I like Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD. Now, the news that the book has become Oprah’s next pick. AND he’s going to do her show! Are we living in truly apocalyptic times, or what?



This is why I think THE ROAD is a terrific book: If you’ve read McCarthy’s earlier work, you’ve seen how he has developed as a writer over the past twenty-five or so… Continue