I A week ago, in downtown Amman, Jordan, suicide bombers entered the public park near the American embassy. The blasts shattered windows along the ground floors of the looming, gated government buildings on Umawyeen Street, which dead-ended at Qaherah to…
CRAFT: Your debut novel, The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish, is written in short sections, with the POV shifting frequently between two main characters, but also giving us glimpses into more ancillary characters through occasional narration, but also…
By Laura Rock Gaughan Faced with the happy prospect of preparing Motherish, my short story collection and first book, for publication, I panicked. Not only did the task demand a decisiveness I lack, but I wanted to be moving on:…
Nick White’s story, “The Lovers,” is the opening story in his collection, Sweet & Low, published in June, 2018. Originally published in The Literary Review, this story masterfully uses a point-of-view that moves back and forth between the two main…
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Diana Evans, Ordinary People Liveright/W.W. Norton From The Guardian: “Ordinary People is much more about the compromises made after the babies have…
In the mountains on the way to Iraq, the lieutenant’s jeep pulls over. He hops out the back and takes a few, crunchy steps through the snow down the hill. He has to piss again. “Is it healthy?” Corporal Kayaoğlu…
Since we launched in October 2017, CRAFT has published quite a number of CRAFT Talks and CRAFT Elements on different topics. We’ve gathered them together here. Take some time this holiday weekend to read up on craft, as you prepare…
By Sarah Stone In writing fiction, we’re always looking for ways to manage the release and restraint of information, introducing our characters and situations while avoiding the dreaded exposition junk pile at the beginning (many of us do have a…
The most exciting thing that ever happened around town was when they found out that Russian mobsters from LA had been dumping bodies in the lake. It was the bridge, arcing gracefully out over the narrowest but deepest section of…
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! John Larison, Whiskey When We’re Dry Viking From Publishers Weekly: “True Grit meets Yentl in Larison’s evocative debut. In the post-Civil War West, 17-year-old…
