Do You See, by Sarah Pinborough, from Myth-Understandings, ed. by Ian Whates (Newcon Press)

• ISBN13: 9780393336450
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
For readers who love great short-short stories, this bountiful anthology is the best of Latin American and U.S. Latino writers. Following on the success of the Flash Fiction and Sudden Fiction series, Robert Shapard and James Thomas join with Ray Gonzalez in selecting works that each present a complete story in less than 1,500 words. Luisa Valenzuela, one of Latin America’s most lauded writers, provides the introduction. Readers will delight in finding stars such as Junot Díaz, Sandra Cisneros, and Roberto Bolaño alongside recognized masters like Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and Jorge Luis Borges. They will discover work from Andrea Saenz, Daniel Alarcón, and Alicita Rodriguez, as well as other writers on the rise.

In Julio Ortega’s “Migrations,” a Peruvian writer explores how immigrant speech and ethnic origins are a force of meaning that evolves beyond language. In “Hair,” by Hilma Contreras, a Caribbean pharmacist is driven mad by a young woman’s luxuriant tresses. These stories stretch from gritty reality to the fantastical in a mix that is moving, challenging, humorous, artful, sometimes political, and altogether spectacular. .

Product Description
Shaping the Story teaches beginning fiction writers to hone their craft with a unique step-by-step approach to writing a short story. Stepping writers through an interlocking set of twelve easy-to-follow exercises Shaping the Story helps the beginning fiction writer understand the ways a short story changes and grows as it moves from its often-vague beginnings through a satisfying ending. As writers step through the process, they learn about development of theme, point of view, voice, setting, character, dialogue, scene, plot, the treatment of time, and the crafting of satisfying endings. Those interested in learning to write short stories.

“If the book needs repair before going to press, what did the writer do wrong?” is the most common question authors ask me when they find out that I review almost-ready-to-print non-fiction manuscripts, a sort of objective yea-nay court of last chance.

I’m Gordon Burgett. publisher, editor, and author, and while I’ve never kept an itemized tally, these seem to me to be the most frequent problems:

(1) Three things: the book needs a sharper organizational structure, more (often better) research, and a more compelling reason to be bought or even read.

(2) As often, the authors forgot to write the book to its most likely buyers. They expect buyers to pay for their words but it’s not clear why they should. Missing are the benefits a buyer would receive, or the problems or frustrations they would solve or resolve, from reading those pages. Selling hooks don’t seem to be hanging anywhere.

(3) If their book has a workable and salable format, too often it still has a labored flow. (This is the easiest to fix, if the purpose is clear.) They must envision what the reader must (or wants to) know in what order. If the book tells how to sweep a house, the writer must first decide if the house will be swept from attic to basement, or the reverse, and why—and will the reader use a broom or a sweeper? It’s as simple as mentally going from room to room and keeping track of the order, then adding in all to be done before, during, and after. Writers too often fail to stand in the sweeper’s shoes.

(4) Far too many proposed titles are dull, unintelligible, negative, or endless. I ask the writer to create a dozen (or two dozen) titles that anybody reading them would know what their book is about. Aim for six words or less. A subtitle, longer, can further define or reinforce with sizzle, but it alone can’t sell the book.  

(5) Too many of the sentences are eternal, the Black Forest of unneeded words. Many paragraphs are too long too. Think newspaper, one to three sentences a paragraph, and at 6-9 paragraphs, a short section title.

(6) Newbies give themselves away. They are enchanted by semicolons, which they then use incorrectly! New writers love dashes but use hyphens. They should use em dashes—two right here—and not make them float (like the English) by putting spaces before and after. Too many exclamation points (one max, rarely), too many chapters that don’t earn their keep, humor scattered too irregularly, tables of contents that need translation, no index, and too little backbone sharing their truths.      

(7) About a quarter of the books I read are hopeless without massive rethinking. Most of the rest need more furniture, with most of it moved around. Maybe 10% are ready to go as is—though all must still survive a cranky proofreader, if self-published, or a crankier editor (then proofreader), if being published from on high.

(8) Another point: many of the books might do much better as four very specific e-books (re-edited into a masterpiece later). Or as the talking core of a hands-on seminar or workshop offered often to find the actual book(s) that others really need (or want). Sometimes a series of related articles might help find the slant most likely to get book traction. 

(9) Even those ready to go don’t often make the author much money. But they can be great give-away or positioning tools from which to assemble larger empire-building platforms, including profitable speaking or product creation.

(10) Am I one of those too-cranky editors, missing the genius for all the misplaced commas? Maybe. Since they come to me because they need a hard eye before investing print money and marketing time, I may see a disproportionate number of books in obvious need.

My advice? If your book is nearing the finish line, see if any of these shortcomings apply, and fix them en route. Better yet, at the outset create a ready-to-go blueprint (with selling purpose subtly injected) that leaves no room for errant or missing bricks or for buying doubt!

This is a video that we made for our Short Fiction class fourth period at SWHS

If you are an avid reader or have an avid reader in your home than you know how quickly books can be read in your home. If this is the case you will want to know what some of the best sellers are so that you can always find new books to read. There are so many books that are published every day it is hard to determine which ones are worth reading and which ones are not. Furthermore the opinions of the many different critics could greatly differ from your own opinion so you have to one with similar tastes if you want to end up reading a book you will like, or at least choose books that many different critics have a good opinion of rather than just one. Fiction books are even harder to choose because an opinion regarding a specific storyline is so personal whereas with non-fiction you are reading fact and basing an opinion on how you felt about the book rather than whether it was entertaining or not. Listed are some bestselling fiction books from 2009 that have been listed on numerous lists. If you have read them all you may want to search other lists for great books that you have not had the opportunity to read yet.

Dean Koontz – Breathless – Koontz is always writing bestsellers and this is just another one of his great works. Always bordering on the fantastic, his books are entertaining and suspenseful and this one is no different. Breathless is a story that takes place in the Colorado Rockies and involves mysterious animals there.

Sue Grafton – U Is For Undertow – The latest of the Kinsey Millhone cases is as good as the rest. Grafton always gives a great story line and a little bit of drama and suspense to go with it as she has done again in this latest book of the series.

John Grisham – Ford County – Typical Grisham set in the south with these newest stories taking place in Mississippi. There are multiple stories in this collection each a bit longer than a short story. This book is great for those individuals who would rather read shorter stories.

Michael Crichton – Pirate Latitudes – Even after his death Crichton is still delighting his readers with intriguing fantasy. This story was found after the author died and is about British pirates in the Caribbean.

Stephen King – Under the Dome – Whenever you hear the name Stephen King you know you can expect a good read and this book is no different than the rest. The story takes place in Maine, as most of King’s books do, and is about a town that is trapped in itself by a force field that is invisible to all.

These books that have made best seller lists are by some of the top, most read authors writing today. There are numerous other books by not so well known authors that are well worth reading as well and you can find them by simply doing an internet search.

There is an age old saying that everyone has a novel in them â?? well nowâ??s your chance to write yours and get paid for it! If that sounds farfetched you need to read on, for many people are making good money by writing fiction, and you really could be among them!

Of course, much of what is written makes no money at all and does not get published, but there are some secrets you can learn that will help you to make money by writing for yourself. The first is that the internet is a vital resource â?? itâ??s the very lifeblood of the freelance fiction writer!

One area you may want to look at is that of ghost-writing; this is where you write for another person whose name goes on the work, yet you get a neat payment for doing so. Check out some of the freelance writing websites that are prevalent on the internet and you will find many requests for ghost-writers that may be of interest.

Further areas include writing film scripts, an area that many people who find they have not the inclination to write a novel or short story aim for. You may have an idea in your head that you believe lends itself to film treatment: one method of finding out more is to look for local creative writing clubs in your area, for the experience of others is absolute gold dust to those looking to write for the first time.

Writing comes from the heart to many, and from the head for others â?? whichever you are you need to remember that it is originality and interesting tales that keep the readers interested. There are many websites where you can publish fiction for the first time in order to gauge a reaction from readers â?? there is nothing like a critic to bring you down to earth â?? and a wealth of writing clubs and writerâ??s magazines that you can subscribe to. Being part of a network is essential, as it means others can give you a decent appraisal of your efforts.

Writing fiction for money is a genuine opportunity, yet the patience that comes with waiting for the first opportunity can be too much for some; keep at it, and donâ??t expect instant responses, and you will find you forge a path to writing fiction for money.

Product Description
The stories in A World of Fiction, Second Edition, by Sybil Marcus, embrace a variety of themes, literary and linguistic styles, and time frames. Advanced students will sharpen their reading, speaking, vocabulary, and writing skills as they discover the pleasure and reward of reading fiction. This anthology provides complete and unabridged selections by: Woody Allen * Kate Chopin * Nadine Gordimer * James Joyce * D.H. Lawrence * Bernard Malamud * Katherine Mansfield * William Maxwell * Frank O’Connor * Grace Paley * Anne Petry * Budd Schulberg * James Thurber * Anne Tyler * Arturo Vivante * Kurt Vonnegut * Alice Walker * Tobias Wolf * Monica Wood * Virginia Woolf Features *Five new stories*Updated author biographies*”Focus on Language” sections that highlight grammatical structures and vocabulary*Exploration of literary elements such as time, setting, action, and motive*A wide variety of stimulating discussion and writing topics