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“I need boxers,” I say to my mother hopefully. Mostly Sean gets everything new, and I get passed-down jeans with ripped pockets and shirts with armpit stains. I draw the line at underwear.
“We’ll see if anything’s on sale after I look at ties.” She heads off.
That was easy. Mom must be in a sentimental mood. UNLV’s been courting Sean with a full basketball scholarship since he won the championship last year. There’s just the formality of the interview, which is why we’re at the mall after practice, buying suits we can’t afford.
On the thinly carpeted floors in the hallway of the men’s dressing room, I stretch out my legs, turn up the volume on the iPod I worked all summer to buy. Ten minutes later, I peer under the cheap particleboard partitions to see if Sean’s done. My brother’s sitting, still in his own clothes, staring at a piece of paper.
“Sean? What’s up?” He doesn’t stop me when I open the door, reach down to grab the note.
The words stay low, stuck in his throat. “I’m off the team. Coach said it’s lucky I’m not expelled.” I tower over him. I’d kept his secret, but now. He’s in deep.
“Tell Mom I’m going to look at boxers.” I drop the paper.
I trip out of the dressing room, walk down the hall, through the men’s department, onto the escalator, up, high, higher.
Twenty-two hours from San Francisco to Kathmandu. Four hours until the layover in Hong Kong. Caelin will have finished grading papers by then. She arches her back, stretching, then wiggles her toes, and catches the eye of the flight attendant.
“More, please.” She indicates the travel-sized wineglass. The remaining ruby droplets glisten in the spotlight of her reading lamp. The attendant nods from the galley.
“You realize that’s basically grape juice?” Chloe peers around the headrest as her business class bed reverts to its upright position.
“It’s a second growth Bordeaux and you know it, O Queen Food Critic,” Caelin retorts. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not well. Looks like fourteen bottles of questionable Bordeaux didn’t help you sleep, either.”
“Excited?”
“And nervous. What if she hates us?”
“Sweetheart.” Caelin strokes her wife’s cheek as Chloe unfolds the passport she’s been clutching. A little girl with dark eyes and copper skin gazes at them, unsmiling and unafraid. “She liked us well enough before. Any kid will hate her parents at some point. Let’s just focus on getting her home.”
The flight attendant materializes with the bottle of Château Cos-d'Estournel 1989, which streams like scarlet silk into the stemware.
“Like the orphanage is going to let her come home when you show up drunk,” Chloe teases, leaning close. Caelin smiles into her spouse’s black curls. Points of light play on the surface of her wine, casting images against the back of the seat in a rosy haze.
Daisy Lockhart escapes to Paris after her long-term boyfriend ends their relationship via email. As her meticulous, purpose-driven personality (she travels with supplemental oxygen) is challenged, so are her mind and heart tested by brooding, beautiful Mathieu, who's as enigmatic as the city itself.
Plum Blossoms author Sarah Hina
I've already finished Plum Blossoms. If your favorite thing to do is watch WWF, if your favorite food is a bag of Cheetos, if your address is mobile, this book is probably not for you. Everyone else should jump at the chance to read this, Sarah Hina's debut novel.
Plum Blossoms in Paris will be officially released on August 1. Stay tuned for my review (5 stars) as well as an interview with Sarah. Also, check out the Flash Fiction contest (see below) to win your own copy!
Sixteen-year-old Evie's job is bagging and tagging paranormals. Possessing the strange ability to see through their glamours, she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency. But when someone--or something--starts taking out the vamps, werewolves, and other odd beasties she's worked hard to help become productive members of society, she's got to figure it out before they all disappear and the world becomes utterly normal.
Paranormalcy will be released September 21. Win an ARC (see below) by dazzling the pants off Kiersten White!
get born magazine ARTICLE
I submitted to get born magazine on a Friday and by Monday kne
2 Comments on Stuff You Should Know, last added: 7/12/2010
I think you must have set some kind of record for article acceptance turnaround time. Not to mention it being your first submission and all. Congrats, Aerin. The first of many successes to come.
Now that the dissertation is finished, Pacatrue has nothing to occupy his time...during the summer...in Hawaii.....anyway, he invoked the name of the Goddess Robin and called us to present voice offerings of our own works.
“I made you a new housecoat, momma.” Eve held out the garment.
“You may sew better than you clean my kitchen, but I don’t need a new housecoat.”
“You know Pastor Bob is visiting this morning.” Eve had rehearsed this part. “Your purple housecoat is in the laundry.”
Edith fingered the white lace running down the front zipper, the black bows stitched at the neck. Eve had counted on her mother’s lifelong weakness for bows. She relented, and allowed herself to be dressed. While Eve styled the older woman’s stiff white curls, Edith prattled about election results.
“A Negro in office. We’re a country of heathens.”
“Pastor Bob would say the Lord works in mysterious ways,” Eve murmured boldly. “Don’t be foolish, girl. Saint Paul says, ‘What communion hath light with darkness?’ Darkness, Saint Paul says.”
Blue veins popped out of the crepe-paper skin on Eve’s hands. “People are people, momma, no matter their skin color.”
“None of that. Thought I cured you of that when that King man got shot.”
“That was forty years ago.”
“Don’t I know it,” her mother snapped. “And we’re still no better off than to get a Negro president.”
April 4, 1968. Edith had made Eve scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush for wearing a black armband after Martin Luther King’s assassination. A ribbon, actually; one of Eve’s few hair decorations.
Forty years later, that same ribbon sat eloquently against the white lace of her mother’s new housecoat.
10 Comments on Voice Thingy, Dr. Paca style, last added: 6/6/2010
Love it. You spoke it beautifully of course, but I really like the way Eve persists in quiet rightness (while Edith persists in her obnoxious whiteness, I guess). The only thing that threw me was the single use of Edith's name--for a moment I thought there was a sister. And I love the use of "eloquently" in the last sentence. It wasn't until my second read that I realized it wasn't "elegantly"!
Here's a thought: In November, we should coordinate some sort of group recorded read. I don't know how it would work, but could be fun.
Very cool and you've done some acting, haven't you? Why is it that you and Pete can do southern accents better than me and that's what I grew up speaking?
The piece is most interesting because I both support and disapprove of Eve. She obviously is on the right side of things. At the same time, you'd like her to have done far more in the last 40 years.
Exquisitely read. I could only think of my own disfluencies while listening to yours, Pastor Aerin.
What a gorgeous thing to wake up to! Aerin your voice is like honey - natural, golden, sweet - and I could listen to you all day. I loved the piece as well. Edith isn't just an obnoxious racist she is also a pathological bully and control freak. She's not averse to punishment but mostly I think she uses Eve's sense of duty (in itself a magnificent, internalized, control mechanism) as a rod of power over her. These tiny acts of silent rebellion are how Eve lives with herself. (I imagine in the 40 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King there were many such acts of civil disobedience).
Hah! So sad how some things never change but I love the rebellion of the ribbon. This is lovely and I love your reading. I could totally imagine this on the radio.
Thanks, y'all - based on a true story: my mum. Of course, she grew up and became a huge social justice activist, but she was 12 when she was punished for putting a black ribbon on her arm.
Writing-wise, it's not outstanding, I know (which is why I didn't submit it!) but it was fun to write. Thanks for stopping by!
Methinks Edith needs to brush up on her hermenutics a bit. I think we can say with certainty that the Apostle Paul didn't have that in mind. The irony in the ending is quite nice.
You read beautifully. I love the difference between their voices and I love how the story unfolds and the resolution at the end. You just know that Eve is up to something and it's great to see the small victory as she puts one over on her mother. (Although I want to grab her and drag her away from the abusive relationship now and tell her not to waste the next forty years.)
That mother-daughter relationship where the daughter continues to be treated like a child her entire life is just so typically Southern, isn't it? Perfectly captured.
I have utmost respect for all of your efforts; truly. Previous CoN contests have taught me, however, that I will drive myself insane (literally) if I spend as much time commenting as I have in contests where there were less than 150 entries.
As I said, I know how much time and effort writing this piece may have taken you. I want to acknowledge and support the process by offering constructive criticsm.
My goal, therefore, is to choose one thing I love about your entry and one thing I might suggest changing.
Thanks for helping me become a better writer. Cheers, Aerin
12 Comments on Commenting on 'Silhouette', last added: 1/18/2010
This is my first attempt at any kind of contest. I did it just so I can say I have done this. I appreciate your comment very much and thank you for your suggestion - I agree completely that it would have read better that way. I didn't realize it would stir this much emotion. I connect with you because as a disabled Mom, my entire family has special needs and we all take good and loving care of each other. My youngest child is 12 years old and this was written with him in mind. Thank you again for being inspired to comment on my piece.
I think your approach makes total sense for someone hoping to comment so frequently. Your feedback was great. You were dead-on about his breathing coming in "trousers."
Jason Evans has officially opened his twelfth flash fiction contest.
I'm a bit feverish with dread.
You may not have put the two together, but I literally quit blogging (and began my six-month hiatus) due to the burnout I experienced on the last flash fiction contest Jason held.
It's not the writing that tires me - it's the reading. Rather, the commenting. To do so for each and every 125+ entries makes me cross-eyed. Then I get a headache. Then I drink. Then I get grumpy so I drink some more.
Okay, not really.
Still, I feel as though I need to work out a strategy for making it through all the stories that are submitted. Any tips?
Welcome to the 12th Clarity of Night Contest!! Before the post-holiday doldrums gain a foothold, let's get a little juiced up, shall we?
Here's how the contest works. Using the photograph above for inspiration, compose a short fiction (or poetry) piece of no more than 250 words in any genre or style. Send your entry to me by email at jevanswriter at yahoo dot com before 11:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 13th (Eastern Time, United States). I'd prefer attachments formatted in Microsoft Word (please see the format request below), but if you have something more exotic, you can paste the text into the body of an email (no docx formats, please). Each entry will be posted and indexed.
Now for the goodies. The following prizes are up for grabs:
1st Place: $50 Amazon gift certificate
2nd Place: $30 Amazon gift certificate
3rd Place: $25 Amazon gift certificate
4th Place: $20 Amazon gift certificate
5th Place: $15 Amazon gift certificate
Readers' Choice Award 1st Place: $25 Amazon Gift certificate
But this is about more than prizes. I hope you take advantage of the opportunity to meet and interact with your fellow writers. Our different perspectives, styles, and skills shine when we all start at the same place. It's a great opportunity to learn from each other.
Rules:
250 words maximum.
Titles are optional, but encouraged. Titles do not count toward your word count.
One entry per person.
Any genre or style is welcome. If you choose to submit poetry, you must have narrative movement within the poem if you wish to compete with the prose pieces for the prizes.
The copyright remains with you, the author; however, you grant me worldwide first electronic publishing rights to post your entry on this blog indefinitely.
Judging will be conducted by me, Jason Evans. For an explanation of the judging criteria and scoring system, see A Note on Judging. You can also read the winning entries from past contests.
Please provide a name for your byline. If you have a website or a blog, I'd be happy to link your site to your byline. If you don't have a website or blog, feel free to include a short bio. A bio does not count towards your word count.
At the close of the contest, I will give the date and time for the announcement of winners.
After the winners are announced, I will post what I liked most about each entry in the comments.
1 Comments on Clarity of Night Flash Fiction Contest NOW OPEN!, last added: 1/5/2010
I did not put the two together. I figured it was... something else.
I have no real tips to offer on the reading except to do it in chunks, spread it out over several days, and do NOT try to beat Aniket or Laurel to the finish line.
To retain sanity, ignore the comments and just drop your $0.02 in the box. I skimmed most of the comments before writing mine, which adds to the burden. But I wanted my comments to be (a) original, (b) witty and/or insightful, and (c) kind. The absolute hardest comments to write were the ones where I needed to be kind to an entry that sucked. In the end, though, I commented on everything, for two reasons: (1) I kind of felt it was my duty, and (2) I figured if I READ the piece, I might as well get credit for doing it and leave my name. I may or may not put that effort into it this contest... it really is a HUGE drain.
The one thing I know about 2010 is that I will not, at least for the first few months, be accepting any books for review. I will still occasionally review the books I do read (acquired on my own). I will still comb my fellow book bloggers' sites for recommendations. If I'm going to pressure myself to do anything, though, it's going to be to write. Then y'all can review my book.
Ultimately, I rarely have success with resolutions. I end up completing exactly the opposite of that which I've set out to achieve. This year it's going to be different. This year I'm making a list of resolutions which can last the entire year, a list of things I want to accomplish that I know are within my grasp. (And....if by some strange, random chance I once again complete exactly the opposite....well, c'est la vie.)
Here are my Resolutions for 2010:
1. Gain 20 lbs.
2. Lose patience with my children at least twice a day.
3. Set aside time to write and end up whittling it away playing around on Facebook.
4. Never respond to emails, inbox messages, or phone messages.
5. Eat my weight in junk food each day.
6. Read only garbage, like books written by Ann Coulter or people with names that end in "y."
I haven't blogged much lately. If you're a past reader of In Search of Giants, you know I don't like long posts, so let's break this down:
Top Ten Reasons
Aerin Hasn't Blogged Since August
10. Clarity of Night July '09 contest
Writing for it and reading its entries scorched my brain.
9. Reading
Kisses to Trish and Ello for lending me me ARCs of FIRE and of CATCHING FIRE. Yes, Ell, I still have yours. See what else I've read at Goodreads.com.
8. Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize
I am forced to use armored cars and bulletproof vests when out in public, since I think this is a splendid idea and people around here....don't.
7. Travels - Nashville and New York City Both with children, neither with a spa. Enjoyable but requiring quite a bit of recuperation time.
6. Spouse
Forgets other people are part of the house, focuses on a zillion music projects plus a huge project at work. I turn into Housewife Zombie.
5. Daydreaming about meeting Stuart Neville
Was even better than I'd expected - the accent, the sense of humor, the milk in his tea, plus he gives great hugs - I'm sorry, but the man is yummy:
Betsy's pretty hot, too.
4. Season Premieres
Fringe, Glee, Bones, Criminal Minds, House, How I Met Your Mother. This is important sh*t, yo.
3. Stephen Parrish emailed me
He & unknown co-conspirator encouraged my writing, which is not my first love (reading is) but is definitely my first calling (before reading). No one's ever done that before; I'm taking it as a sign.
2. Family Stuff My sibs and I are pretty tight-knit; my lil sis and I are practically the same person. So when life's tough for her, it's tough for me. And it's been really, really tough for her lately.
1. My son, who is autistic, started kindergarten.
I go with him to class, because as friendly as the teachers & staff are, they're clueless when it comes to the needs of a child with autism. Our IEP involved a lot of "settling for" on our part - not an ideal situation for my precious child. I've spent more time and energy in the past three months than I ever did when he was at his special Autism school. Of course, his special Autism school drained our life savings and my in-laws' bank account, too. Add to this managing my daughter's feelings, making sure she's not feeling shortchanged, and I don't even have time for martinis in the evenings. Agh!
I'm not going to turn my blog into a platform for autism, but you're going to encounter it. The new stats are 1 in 98 children. Learn more at Autism Speaks.
As if all that weren't enough, NaNo starts in just three days (see #3, above).
In other words, I will continue to be a sporadic, MIA even, blogger. But do stay tuned - exciting announcements from the Co-Dictators of the Universe, my first CD review, and more - sometime in the near future (ie, prior to 2011.)
12 Comments on New Directions, last added: 11/2/2009
So that's why you haven't really been around! After I came back from my blogging break I was wondering what happened to you.You have so much on your plate right now. I hope everything goes well.
Thanks for Crossed Wires. I can't wait to read it.
Keep advocating for your child. But also make sure you take time for yourself, whatever form that takes. If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUKO_Y6RqEk
See you there at NaNoWriMo! As soon as I enrolled I imagined myself writing Watermelon 50,000 times for not being able to complete the task but hey, we still have 29 days. And I buy all your reasons so you do what you have to do to get by.
Yup - that plate of yours is very fullup!!! Feel free to email me any time you want to unload. I'll just bin it and you'll feel better. (;o) ) Alternatively I'm still working on the lottery win plan so we can just go on vacation together, drink cocktails and get totally bladdered. I've been in a neurotic tail-spin myself recently. On the verge of bonkers I'd say. But I epiphed a momentous epiphany and blow me down if I'm not a happy bunny again.
I love epiphanies. I'm going to January 6th my favourite feast day.
Anyone trying to follow the enormous number of comment trails on each of the entries in the current Clarity of Night contest...what do you think of this:
Hey everyone - my little flash fiction piece is getting some kind reviews over at Clarity of Night, but I'd love to get my bloggy lovers' thoughts.
I appreciate everyone's comments. I'm not satisfied with this as a flash-fiction piece, but quite pleased with it as a writing exercise in general.
What do y'all think about how much showing v. telling there was? I was really trying to hit that; it's a hard distinction for me. Thoughts?
Presage by Aerin Rose
Twenty-two hours from San Francisco to Kathmandu. Four hours until the layover in Hong Kong. Caelin will have finished grading papers by then. She arches her back, stretching, then wiggles her toes, and catches the eye of the flight attendant.
“More, please.” She indicates the travel-sized wineglass. The remaining ruby droplets glisten in the spotlight of her reading lamp. The attendant nods from the galley.
“You realize that’s basically grape juice?” Chloe peers around the headrest as her business class bed reverts to its upright position.
“It’s a second growth Bordeaux and you know it, O Queen Food Critic,” Caelin retorts. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not well. Looks like fourteen bottles of questionable Bordeaux didn’t help you sleep, either.”
“Excited?”
“And nervous. What if she hates us?”
“Sweetheart.” Caelin strokes her wife’s cheek as Chloe unfolds the passport she’s been clutching. A little girl with dark eyes and copper skin gazes at them, unsmiling and unafraid. “She liked us well enough before. Any kid will hate her parents at some point. Let’s just focus on getting her home.”
The flight attendant materializes with the bottle of Château Cos-d'Estournel 1989, which streams like scarlet silk into the stemware.
“Like the orphanage is going to let her come home when you show up drunk,” Chloe teases, leaning close. Caelin smiles into her spouse’s black curls. Points of light play on the surface of her wine, casting images against the back of the seat in a rosy haze.
I liked the writing very much, and I think you did well with showing, not telling. The only quibble I had in that regard was the "Chloe teases, leaning close." The dialogue communicated that she was teasing, so I think you could omit the speech attribute and have Chloe just lean in. (Also, maybe add some sensory input there--the smell of her hair?)
My main reservation about the piece was actually the fact that it didn't gel for me as a story. I understand what these women are doing, but the scene has no turning point (i.e. nothing changes.) That said, it does work well as a slice-of-life piece, a nicely captured moment.
I particularly liked the "streams like scarlet silk" line, by the way. Well done!
Phew, glad you posted it here. Thought I'd have to go over there, then I'd feel guilty about only critting yours and then I'd have to do everybody else's, and then it would be three in the morning...
But anyway. Definitely very nice writing. The sensory detail is largely visual, so as JJ suggested, you could think about adding a little more. I thought the balance of show vs tell was good. However, while it's intriguing, it did read more as the start of a longer piece than as a standalone. Hope that helps!
I really like this too. I read it on the Clarity of Night site, but didn't comment, sorry. I think you have a great balance of showing v telling -- I wouldn't change anything!
You win. (Okay, Pete helped.) Rather nasty trick, there, invoking the Boss's name. You know I am powerless against the Co-Dictators of the Universe.
My entry to the current Clarity of Night contest is here. Or you can read it in the postscript. I keep hoping for one of those magical epiphanies that write themselves, 250 words of such depth and perfection that it reduces Parrish to tears. Sadly, no such epiphany occurred for this contest. I will jump cartwheels if only I can stay in the Forties Club (do not even dare to suggest that has anything to do with my age).
I've read but not commented on all the entries. Some, like this one, are way too profound for my summertime brain. Some (like Tessa's, and Sarah's are poetry: I stink at appreciating poetry.
Not only is my Clarity entry not to the level I'd hoped, my word counts on the WIPs are lagging. McKoala's going to claw me soon, I'm afraid. I know your own poetry and Rumpelstiltskin writing is going well, even if I haven't left comments. I'm all-knowing that way.
I hope that your home ownership and kitchen remodelling are going well. You will certainly need to get ahead of things in order to fill the Boss's shoes when he's on leave. First thing you can do is raise my salary. Royalty needs bling, you know.
Twenty-two hours from San Francisco to Kathmandu. Four hours until the layover in Hong Kong. Caelin will have finished grading papers by then. She arches her back, stretching, then wiggles her toes, and catches the eye of the flight attendant.
“More, please.” She indicates the travel-sized wineglass. The remaining ruby droplets glisten in the spotlight of her reading lamp. The attendant nods from the galley.
“You realize that’s basically grape juice?” Chloe peers around the headrest as her business class bed reverts to its upright position.
“It’s a second growth Bordeaux and you know it, O Queen Food Critic,” Caelin retorts. “How’d you sleep?”
“Not well. Looks like fourteen bottles of questionable Bordeaux didn’t help you sleep, either.”
“Excited?”
“And nervous. What if she hates us?”
“Sweetheart.” Caelin strokes her wife’s cheek as Chloe unfolds the passport she’s been clutching. A little girl with dark eyes and copper skin gazes at them, unsmiling and unafraid. “She liked us well enough before. Any kid will hate her parents at some point. Let’s just focus on getting her home.”
The flight attendant materializes with the bottle of Château Cos-d'Estournel 1989, which streams like scarlet silk into the stemware.
“Like the orphanage is going to let her come home when you show up drunk,” Chloe teases, leaning close. Caelin smiles into her spouse’s black curls. Points of light play on the surface of her wine, casting images against the back of the seat in a rosy haze.
The next contest is entitled In Vino Veritas (you expect lawyers to throw Latin around, don't you?) and opens on July 8, 2009. Yes, that's right. You have several weeks to prepare a 250-word flash fiction piece inspired by this picture:
Winning a CoN contest is like catching the bouquet at a wedding. It's practically a guarantee you'll be the next agented/published bride, or, er, author. My goal this contest is to keep my place in the Clarity of Night Forties Club, which is made up of all of us who pay Jason $40.00 who score at least a 40/45 possible points.
Not only do I expect all of my RCWC participants to enter (as always, you get your full 1000 points for the month if you enter a 250-word story); I would like your help in pressuring encouraging the Co-Dictator of the Universe to enter.
4 Comments on On Your Mark, Get Set...., last added: 6/19/2009
I first made acquaintance with Stuart Neville through the blogosphere community that frequents Jason Evans's Clarity of Night flash fiction contests, before he even landed his agent. I've enjoyed being one of the groupies, cheering as Stuart humbly recounted tales about landing Nat Sobel as an agent, finalizing the publishing deals, getting celebrity(and non) feedback for his debut novel The Twelve, and caving to peer pressure to join Facebook.
(Okay, okay, and I admit: I totally have a crush on him. Fear not. My thinking he's a dreamy Irish hunk had no impact on my journalistic integrity - these 7SS being so serious and all.)
Step #1
LIGHTNING ROUND
stout or lager? Lager - can't stand stout.
Bransford or Moonrat? Oh, don't make me choose! Um, Moonrat, but only because I've met her in person and she took me to a karaoke party.
David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar? Roth, of course.
coffee or tea? Tea - can't stand coffee.
celebrity crush: Just one? Any female news reader - Fiona Bruce from the BBC News, for instance. Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls. Jenna Fischer from The Office. Oh, and Cindy Pon, now that she's all famous.
a phrase you use often: "Sorry I'm so late," usually followed by a poorly thought-out excuse.
music you write by: All sorts, but recently it's been Mutter, and album by German industrial metal band Rammstein.
Step #2 TELL US about any of your weird writing habits or idiosyncracies. (ie, What’s one “thing” you need to write, the thing without which the creative juices would cease to flow?) I need a guitar to hand at all times so I can noodle on it while I think. It's kind of like how people will doodle with a pen and paper.
Step #3 TEACH US one or two of your favorite vocabulary words. Pishmire, which is a local expression for someone grumpy or miserable. It's come from an old word for piss ant. That's about as clean a word as I can think of for now...
Step #4 BOOK BLANKS
The last book I finished reading was BLOOD'S A ROVER by James Ellroy.
I gave it 5 stars.
One word to describe it is surprising.
(in fact, dear readers, you can find Stuart's review of that book here.)
Step #5 QUESTION: What was the most difficult part of The Twelve’s journey to publication? Being on tenterhooks for what seemed like forever as it was doing the rounds at the UK publishers. You hear of book deals being struck in minutes, but my auction seemed to go on for weeks.
Step #6 QUESTION: What has surprised you most about the publishing process itself? How eagle-eyed my editor at Harvill Secker, Briony Everroad, is. Her eye for detail is staggering. And also how generous people in the writing community are, from struggling hopefuls to big-name best selling authors.
Step #7 GIVE US THE SCOOP. Tell us something about yourself that’s exclusive to In Search of Giants (ie, has never been publicized in print or podcast interviews.) I, a fully grown man, can't ride a bike. And I don't mean a motorcycle, I mean a bicycle with pedals.
Obviously I was hoping that Stuart's "scoop" was that he was naming a character in his next book after me, but, whatever. Thanks for letting me interview you, Stuart!
17 Comments on 7SS: Stuart Neville, last added: 5/28/2009
Stuart I was seventeen before I learnt to ride a bike too. I never had one as a kid. I saved up and bought that one just before leaving for university in Galway. I can't tell you the number of times I came off it. Some of them I was sober.
Aniket, c'mere, let me hit you over the head really really hard to incur bike-riding amnesia...I'm thinking, though, that teaching Stuart to ride a bike is a euphemism...*ahem*...OR I've just spent too long with Stephen's family jewels yesterday.
Squee for Rammstein! Zwitter is one of my favourite songs ever. (Although I have learned to not look up translations of their lyrics, because whoa. Creepier than undead cockroaches.)
omg, i'm stuart's crush. among hundreds of other women, apparently. ;*) haha! still so honored! tho still not quite famous, alas. loved this interview. both stuart and aerin rock! =D
Crap! I love Cheetos!
I think you must have set some kind of record for article acceptance turnaround time. Not to mention it being your first submission and all. Congrats, Aerin. The first of many successes to come.
(And thank you, thank you, thank you.)
Aww, thank you for blogging about the contest, Aerin! You're wonderful : )