Reading, Writing and Thanking

george saunders, novels, short stories, writing

15 Jun 2012

I’m grateful today!

The first thank-you goes to Betty McMahon. I don’t know Betty McMahon but she found my blog. And commented on an old post. And said she liked my blog and added it to her blogroll.

But I’m thanking her not just for reading, but for giving me the push I needed to write a new blog post. It’s been MORE THAN THREE WEEKS.

Granted, I was on business travel for a good portion of that time, but the rest of the time I was sulking around, complaining about how many extra hours I’ve been putting in at my day job and not working on my novel. I conveniently ignore the hours I spent watching bad television or reading the Fifty Shades of Stupid trilogy in that time period. Betty reminds me that writing (often) is important – and that kind strangers out there may even stumble upon my blog and enjoy it!

Thanks also go out to my nephew, Hunter Knox, who happens to be living with me this summer until the apartment he’s renting becomes available. Few people I know read as much as Hunter does. My guest room is stacked with books (only a fraction of those he owns). He also works at Maria’s, our local independent bookstore, and has access to ARCs (advanced reading copies) of books.

The other morning, he rushed in with an ARC of short stories by George Saunders. Hunter said I “had” to read a short piece – only one page – called Sticks. So, I did. And I will never be the same. First, the writing is absolutely brilliant – an economy of words that knocks the wind out of the reader. Second, it made me jealous. Saunders can craft a story like nobody’s business. But it’s a good kind of jealous – the kind that makes me want to write more, to improve my craft so that one day my readers are blown away by the words I string together.

For those interested, here’s link to the short story. The few minutes you invest in reading it will be worth it.

So cool that a stranger and a relative both inspired me to write this week.