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,... 
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Dec 30, 2008 | my writing, stories |
My story, “Frosting,” appears in Contrary’s Winter issue. Here’s a little piece of it: “It was overcast and warm. Also, sticky. And still. Too still. I sniffed and inhaled the smell of rain. That was easy. But there was something... 
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Dec 6, 2008 | my writing, stories |
My story, “Into the Woods,” appears in Storyglossia’s Issue 32, December 2008. Here’s how it starts: Georgia was putting Tyler’s baseball schedule into her computer when she heard the racing of a car’s engine, followed by the squeal of tires... 
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Oct 25, 2008 | Pam Houston, stories, truth |
Pam Houston is one of my all-time favorite writers. She is a master at getting it out of her head and onto the page. Take for example this bit of dialogue from her novel, Sight Hound: “You know,” she said, “I’m not going to be one of those... 
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Oct 20, 2008 | novels, reviews, stories |
In a 1921 New York Times article entitled, “What is a Novel, Anyhow?”, Henry Kitchell Webster, writes “A novel is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as a fictitious prose narrative of sufficient length to fill one or more volumes. Well, do you...