by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 29, 2009 | shapes, stories |
In Mary Gaitskill’s story collection, Don’t Cry, is a story entitled, “Mirror Ball.” It’s one of my four favorites in the collection and is described on the book jacket as an “urban fairy tale” in which “a young man...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jul 17, 2009 | accumulation, craft of writing, stories |
Yesterday a flash fiction story of mine, Watching, was published in an online magazine called Six Sentences. Trying to tell a story in six sentences is enlightening because the writing process is compressed, making it easy to see what you’re doing and why. My...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 27, 2009 | catching moments, Columbus GA, stories |
Tuesday night around 8:00 I got in my car to drive to the soccer field for registration. Most of the day, I had been sitting in front of my computer. My brain felt like it was off-duty. It was starting to get dark as I pulled out of the driveway. The song...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 2, 2009 | stories |
With the intention of reading a story a night, a reader asked yesterday about story collections. I love that idea. No brand new collections to suggest, I’m afraid, but here are three great oldies: Women & Fiction, edited by Susan Cahill, published in 1975....
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Feb 22, 2009 | craft of writing, shapes, stories |
In 1985 Russell Banks wrote “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story.” It was first published in The Missouri Review, then in The Best American Short Stories 1985, then in The Angel on the Roof. You can also listen to it on a podcast. The first sentence: ...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jan 5, 2009 | craft of writing, details, reviews, stories |
Last Night is a slim volume of ten stories by James Salter. James is his real name. Salter is a pseudonym adopted because he was in the air force when he began to write. He was a fighter pilot who flew with Buzz Aldrin, Ed White and Gus Grissom. In July of 2004,...
