"Five Great Stories that grab you."

Electric Literature is just that, electric.

*What is Electric Literature? They are a bi-monthly anthology of short fiction that select stories charged with wit and emotional gravity right from the first sentence. You choose how you want to read them. They deliver content in every viable medium. Below are bios of the five authors featured in the newest issue.

T Cooper is the author of the novels LIPSHITZ SIX, OR TWO ANGRY BLONDES (Plume), and SOME OF THE PARTS (Akashic Books). T’s work has appeared in a variety of publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Believer, and OUT Magazine.

Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, FLESH AND BLOOD, THE HOURS, and SPECIMEN DAYS. THE HOURS won the 1999 PEN Faulkner and Pulitzer prizes.

Lydia Millet’s new collection of short stories, LOVE IN INFANT MONKEYS, will be published in October by Soft Skull Press. She’s the author of six novels, most recentlyHOW THE DEAD DREAM (2008). Her 2002 novel MY HAPPY LIFE won the PEN-USA Award for Fiction. Millet lives in the desert outside Tucson, Arizona, with her husband and two small children, where she works as a writer for a group that protects endangered species.

Jim Shepard is the author of six novels, including most recently PROJECT X, and three story collections, including most recently LIKE YOU’D UNDERSTAND, ANYWAY, which was nominated for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. His short fiction has appeared in, among other magazines, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, The Paris Review, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, Granta, Tin House, The New Yorker and Playboy. He teaches at Williams College.

Diana Wagman is a novelist and screenwriter. She has three published novels: SKIN DEEP (University Press of Mississippi, 1997); SPONTANEOUS (St. Martin’s Press, 2000) which won the 2001 USA PEN West Literary Award for Fiction; and BUMP (Carroll & Graf, 2003). Her story, “What You See” was included in the anthology, Los Angeles Noir (Akashic, 2007). SKIN DEEP has been optioned for film five times. She’s written five adaptations and is sure the movie will never be made. Her one produced screenplay, “Delivering Milo” went straight to DVD and starred Albert Finney and Bridget Fonda. It is not her fault, not one line in the finished film was hers. She also writes book reviews for the The LA Times and teaches at Cal State, Long Beach.

Nick Hornby's newest book

Here is an excerpt from Nick Hornby's JULIET, NAKED, which will be published on September 29th through Riverhead.

CHAPTER ONE

They had flown from England to Minneapolis to look at a toilet. The simple truth of this only struck Annie when they were actually inside it: apart from the graffiti on the walls, some of which made some kind of reference to the toilet's importance in musical history, it was dank, dark, smelly and entirely unremarkable. Americans were very good at making the most of their heritage, but there wasn't much even they could do here.

"Have you got the camera, Annie?" said Duncan.

"Yes. But what do you want a picture of ?"

"Just, you know . . . "

"No."

"Well . . . the toilet."

"What, the . . . What do you call those things?"

"The urinals. Yeah."

"Do you want to be in it?"

"Shall I pretend to have a pee?"

"If you want."

So Duncan stood in front of the middle of the three urinals, his hands placed convincingly in front of him, and smiled back over his shoulder at Annie.

Another great handbook for Writers!

* I absolutely love this guide on writing and am planning on using it this year with my middle school students. Although, it is geared towards and adult audience, the text is clear and concise and extremely user friendly. Enjoy!

PEN's Handbook for Writers in Prison features detailed guides on the art of writing fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays as well as information on punctuation, cover letters, and a list of recommended magazines and journals that consider work for publication. This is an invaluable resource to any incarcerated writer. To date, PEN has distributed 20,000 copies of the Handbook and continues to receive requests.

The Handbook for Writers in Prison can also be ordered on behalf of a friend or loved one who is incarcerated, though we encourage you to make a $5 donation to the Prison Writing Program. Your support will not only help us publish future editions of this Handbook but will also help provide hundreds of inmates across the country with skilled writing teachers and audiences for their work.

Interview with Krissie Williams

What inspired you to write your first book?

I don’t think anything or anyone specifically inspired me to write. One day, I decided to challenge myself by seeing if I could build a story surrounding events that occur to people in everyday life.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Yes! There are several messages. First, life is a journey. No one can do this alone. If you feel like jumping ship (and chances are you are not the only one, lol) ask for help. Also, it is important to remember to laugh at yourself and others along the way.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Adventures in Martyrdom is a fictional story, but like most writers there are some characters and events in the book that are loosely based on my own personal experiences.

What are your current projects?
Oh, I am so excited about my current project. I am finishing a mystery titled Breath. It is really stretching me as a writer. If you thought the characters in Adventures had issues, wait until you read this one. Also, some readers have expressed interest in seeing a sequel to Adventures.

What books have most influenced your life most?

There are two books: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and The Autobiography of Malcolm X. I can reread those books over and over and get a different interpretation and insight every time.

What book are you reading now?
Believe it or not, I recently finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I admire J.K. Rowling. I wanted to finish it before the movie hit the theatres this summer. As a rule though, I am trying not to read other authors’ books when I’m currently writing a heavy chapter in my own book. It’s just my process.

Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Funny, I don’t think I have a favorite author. I go through phases. I am connecting to Dan Brown right now. He can really write a page turner. Depending on where I am emotionally and mentally in my own life, different authors speak to me at different times.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Keep reading and laughing! Also, I want to hear your thoughts! I write for avid readers like you! Here is my contact info below!
Blog, follow me, send me a message:
facebook (Krissie the Author),

twitter (Krissie Williams)

krissiekatrese@gmail.com

Adventures in Martyrdom from Small Dogma Publishing

Available for purchase now at: www.smalldogma.com

Coming soon to amazon.com and select bookstores

KAMBY BOLONGO MEAN RIVER

by Robert Lopez

According to Dzanc...

Kamby Bolongo Mean River, Robert Lopez’s hypnotic second novel, is the story of a young man who finds himself confined and under observation, the subject of seemingly pointless tests. His only link to the outside world is a telephone that will not dial out. During the occasional calls he receives, usually wrong numbers, the narrator remembers his former life growing up in Injury, Alaska with his Mother, an often unemployed single parent, and his older brother, Charlie, a sometime boxer, sometime actor. Throughout the course of this extraordinary novel, the unwilling captive draws his life-story in stick figures on the walls. From the difficulty of his birth, to his sickly childhood, to adventures with his brother, the narrator depicts his crazy life, which is at once fascinating and heartbreaking. The one memory that haunts him is that of watching a movie about slaves on television and how that one slave, the one for whom Kamby Bolongo Mean River meant freedom, would never relinquish the idea of returning home. Darkly hilarious with a crushing emotional impact, Kamby Bolongo Mean River is a brilliant study of familial bonds and trauma, isolation and captivity, hope and hopelessness.

KAMBY BOLONGO MEAN RIVER EVENT DATES

Sat, 9/12, Barbes, Brooklyn, NY
Mon, 9/14, River Run Bookstore, Portsmouth, NH
Tue, 9/15, Schoen Books, South Deerfield, MA
Wed, 9/16, Brookline Booksmith, Boston, MA
Thu, 9/17, Myopic Books, Providence, RI
Fri, 9/18, Clinton Bookshop, Clinton, NJ
Sat, 9/19, 510 Readings, Baltimore, MD
Sun, 9/20, The Dive Bar, Philadelphia, PA

All of the above with Sam Ligon, (Drift and Swerve) and Blake Butler, (Scorch Atlas)

Oct 4th, FreeBird Books, Brooklyn, NY
Oct 17th, KGB Bar, NY, NY (with Laura van den Berg)
Oct 27th, Pacific Standard, Brooklyn, NY (with Victor Lavalle)
Oct 28th, McNally Jackson, NY, NY (with Hesh Kestin)
Nov 15th, Sunday Salon, NY, NY (with Joe Salvatore and TBA)
Dec 16, Mixer at Cakeshop, NY, NY (with TBA)

Bill Cotter

Fever Chart

by Bill Cotter

According to McSweeney's...

Bill Cotter's Fever Chart is at last available to the reading public, and thank goodness, because it is tremendous, and eminently readable on every level, pitch-black hysterical and breathtakingly written and terrifyingly exact in its account of one man's misery and joy—you will, we really believe, be floored by the things its hero endures, and sent airborne by the way Cotter tells it, which we understand is contradictory but trust us this book will knock you around and it will be worth it. So far as we know, everyone who's read this book has loved it, (Wells Tower says it proves there's still "fierce life in the American tongue") but many more people, you all included, need to— pick up a copy without delay.

“Bill Cotter’s Fever Chart proves there is still fresh wit and fierce life in the American tongue. Read this book." —Wells Tower

“As a blurber I am required to say ‘Edgar Rice Burroughs meets Thomas Pynchon’ or ‘George Saunders meets Mickey Spillane.’ But the truth is I’m not sure who’s meeting whom. All I know is they’re meeting on a teacup ride in a seedy amusement park, a teacup ride that has miserably failed its inspection, making the experience pleasantly familiar but alarmingly skewed, full of fun but deadly dangerous. You’ll be dizzy when it’s over if it doesn’t fly apart and chop your head off. But the ride is worth it.” —Jack Pendarvis

Discover Great New Writers

Barnes & Noble Booksellers offers seasonal picks highlighting the most impressive new works published each season. Here are four of the Fall 2009 book selections.

Perfection by Julie Metz

A newly widowed woman faces the harsh reality of her husband’s infidelity in this enthralling memoir.

John the Revelator by Peter Murphy

Fans of Irvine Welsh and Roddy Doyle will find themselves immersed in this tale of John Devine, a young Irish boy.

Wildflower by Mark Seal

This involving biography follows the remarkable life of African naturalist Joan Root, whose conservation work ended in tragedy.

The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas

Life in Venezuela is vividly portrayed in this novel, told in several voices, of a young girl’s disappearance.

Kristin Hannah

Get your last beach read in this weekend with Kristin Hannah's Firefly Lane.

"Not since Iris Dart's Beaches, twenty years ago, has there been a story of friendship that endures everything, from girlhood dramas to bitter betrayal, to be the touchstone in two women's lives. In Firefly Lane, Kristin Hannah creates the most poignant of reunions and an unforgettable story of loyalty and love"

-Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of The Deep End of the Ocean

EXCERPT

CHAPTER ONE

They used to be called the Firefly Lane girls. That was a long time ago—more than three decades—but just now, as she lay in bed listening to a winter storm raging outside, it seemed like yesterday.

In the past week (unquestionably the worst seven days of her life), she’d lost the ability to distance herself from the memories. Too often lately in her dreams it was 1974; she was a teenager again, coming of age in the shadow of a lost war, riding her bike beside her best friend in a darkness so complete it was like being invisible. The place was relevant only as a reference point, but she remembered it in vivid detail: a meandering ribbon of asphalt bordered on either side by gullies of murky water and hillsides of shaggy grass. Before they met, that road seemed to go nowhere at all; it was just a country lane named after an insect no one had ever seen in this rugged blue and green corner of the world.

Then they saw it through each other’s eyes. When they stood together on the rise of the hill, instead of towering trees and muddy potholes and distant snowy mountains, they saw all the places they would someday go. At night, they sneaked out of their neighboring houses and met on that road. On the banks of the Pilchuck River they smoked stolen cigarettes, cried to the lyrics of “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero,” and told each other everything, stitching their lives together until by summer’s end no one knew where one girl ended and the other began. They became to everyone who knew them simply TullyandKate, and for more than thirty years that friendship was the bulkhead of their lives: strong, durable, solid. The music might have changed with the decades, but the promises made on Firefly Lane remained.

Best friends forever.

They’d believed it would last, that vow, that someday they’d be old women, sitting in their rocking chairs on a creaking deck, talking about the times of their lives, and laughing.

Now she knew better, of course. For more than a year she’d been telling herself it was okay, that she could go on without a best friend. Sometimes she even believed it.

Then she would hear the music. Their music. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” “Material Girl.” “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Purple Rain.” Yesterday, while she’d been shopping, a bad Muzak version of “You’ve Got a Friend” had made her cry, right there next to the radishes.

She eased the covers back and got out of bed, being careful not to waken the man sleeping beside her. For a moment she stood there, staring down at him in the shadowy darkness. Even in sleep, he wore a troubled expression.

She took the phone off its hook and left the bedroom, walking down the quiet hallway toward the deck. There, she stared out at the storm and gathered her courage. As she punched in the familiar numbers, she wondered what she would say to her once-best friend after all these silent months, how she would start. I’ve had a bad week… my life is falling apart… or simply: I need you.

Across the black and turbulent Sound, the phone rang.

Geraldine Brooks

The Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Geraldine Brooks, March was recently highly recommended to me as a possible book club read. Here's some background information about the book and author. Check out a few discussion questions I found on the web specifically for clubs. Enjoy!

March was awarded the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for literature. It is truly deserving. The novel is engaging as a story, on an historical level, and as a continuation of a well-loved favorite. That Ms. Brooks spent a considerable amount of time researching the period and life in the south during the Civil War is apparent. Rarely is an important work so entertaining. I highly recommend March.

About Geraldine Brooks: Geraldine Brooks is the Australian-American author of four novels. Born and raised in Sydney, she graduated from Columbia University and worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Horowitz, and their son.

Discussion Questions for March

1. The causes of the Civil War are many. How are these issues illustrated in the novel?
2. Mr. March's relationships with Grace and Marmee are pivotal in his life. Discuss the difference in the two relationships and what Mr. March learned from each.
3. Communication seems to have been a problem between Mr. and Mrs. March. Cite examples of this difference in expectation and reality.
4. Mr. March left for the war with an idealist's point of view. How did his view of the war change during the year he was away.