by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Sep 20, 2011 | craft of writing, my writing |
Just a quick update: the rearranging of my study is temporarily on hold (things still sit in laundry baskets and all around me is still a HUGE mess) as I work on the revision of my novel like someone who has no other life. My third to last packet is due Friday, and I...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Sep 16, 2011 | accumulation |
I’ve been sitting too much–novel, lecture, mfa, Contrary, Hunger Mountain, facebook, email, bills, purchases, photos… I noticed that my running injury from last December got worse, not when I ran but, when I sat for 10 hours. I’d been looking...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Sep 12, 2011 | craft of writing, details, the day, time |
write blog post read over 5 pages of novel-details (every day 5 pages) make airline reservations for Oct trip to California out buy birthday gifts (8 birthdays in 10 days in sept) exercise grocery (supper!) make copy of photo call cancel exercise apt in Atl Dad Claire...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Sep 8, 2011 | accumulation, catching moments, Columbus GA |
Not sure which is my favorite season, but I have both fall and winter to look forward to, one right after the other. Last Friday morning, I opened the back door and felt cool air outside– 72 degrees in Columbus, Georgia....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Sep 1, 2011 | How We Spend Our Days |
Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” On the first of each month, Catching Days hosts a guest writer in the series, “How We Spend Our Days.” Today, please welcome writer Heidi Durrow: I only hope that today will be the...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 31, 2011 | first novels, reviews |
The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, the debut novel by Heidi Durrow, is a story that will make you ache in all the best ways. Barbara Kingsolver chose it as the winner of the Bellwether Prize for Fiction in 2008, and it was published by Algonquin in 2010. It is a story...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 29, 2011 | Pam Houston |
From Colorado, California, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Virginia, Louisiana, Georgia, and Germany–we are a writing group that meets twice a year in person and exchanges manuscripts two other times by mail. We read a book a month and discuss it online. We also...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 19, 2011 | accumulation, catching moments, continuous life, life, the day, time |
And you wipe the snow out of your hair and get back into your car and drive off toward an accumulation of the usual daily stuff–there is dinner to be made and laundry to be done and helping the kids with their homework and watching television on the couch with...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 18, 2011 | craft of writing |
From Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply, how an image can make words come alive: Without the image: Her thoughts were not clearly articulated in her mind, but she could feel them moving swiftly, gathering. “What are you thinking about?” George Orson said,...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 17, 2011 | craft of writing, details, novels |
In Await Your Reply, published in 2009, Dan Chaon uses repetition in a very cool way. Instead of bogging down the original scene, he pushes the action forward first, then a bit later, moves in for a close-up or two, adding additional details. For example, on page 246,...
