Sign staked on the boulevard: "MEET LOCAL SINGLES! Simple: turn off cell phone and talk to those around you."
A quote from Clutching Dust and Stars was featured in today's Daily Asterisk -- see the screenshot above or read the quote below. Sign up for the Daily Asterisk if you'd like to get "a provocative quote for thought and discussion" in your inbox each weekday.
Catapult Magazine serialized chapter six today:
Catapult Magazine published the fifth chapter today:
It was still strange to see him-probably because they hadn’t filled in all the blanks yet and the questions still rubbed uncomfortably, like shoes that haven’t been broken in, and that was fine with her.
Catapult Magazine serialized chapter four today...
During the time that I was doing the bulk of the writing for the novel, I would periodically try to put myself into Rob or Natalie's mind. I tried to read books or magazines that I thought would be of interest to them, as though I had wandered through their homes and picked up random reading material that they had left around the place. Some of the things that I read worked themselves into the story -- as quotes before the various sections or occasionally as a direct reference.
Chapter Three is up at Catapult: Poverty is Violence.
Tinker stood up and walked over to the cupboard. She pulled out a bag of potato chips and unrolled the top.
“Why did you break up with him in the first place?”
“Potato chips for breakfast?”
Tink nodded.
“Well?”
“I told you-we were drifting apart. Things weren’t comfortable anymore.”
“No, you said that’s what you told him. I mean, what caused the drift?”
Catapult's serialization of the first part of the novel continues today with the second chapter: Extinction is Forever.
Today's the day the book is officially released. People have begun to receive them in their mailboxes (or directly from me for some locals). Somebody already posted a sentence from the novel on Facebook and the book is on a few "Currently Reading" shelves at Goodreads. In other words, there's no turning back -- it's out there. I will admit to some nervousness since this project has largely been cordoned off from the general public as I worked on it. For some reason I am reminded of the maxim that's it's better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt...
Exciting news -- Catapult Magazine will be serializing the first part of the novel over the next several weeks. Chapter One (Food Not Bombs) is online today.
She pushed the bag of groceries up against the wall to flip the light switch, holding the door open with her leg. The bulb flickered with a staccato burst of light and went dark again.
“Damn it.”
I found this post interesting as I consider whether (and if so, how) to offer a digital version of the novel. It starts off pretty down on the internet in regard to storytelling, but concludes that "the ancient need for narrative, hardwired into human nature, can sit comfortably with the wiring of the newest technology."
