Mule Brigade by Kenan Orhan
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…
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CRAFT Talks and Elements
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…
Mystery vs. Confusion
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 Deepest Part of the Lake” by John Haggerty
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…
New books: week of August 20
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…
Interview: D. Wystan Owen
CRAFT: Linked collections are so often the best of both worlds: the beauty of a short story combined with the scope of a novel. At what point as you were writing the stories for Other People’s Love Affairs did you…
The Hook: More Than The Opening Line
By Tommy Dean Think about your favorite verbal storytellers, those people in your family who have passed down the history of the joys and tragedies, the small coincidences, and the shared DNA that results in a similar nose, an ornery…
Object Lessons: An Exploration
By Laura van den Berg This summer, I spent five weeks at an artists’ residency in Italy, where I had the good fortune of crossing paths with a Swedish composer-performer and visual artist named Charlotte Hug. Known for her musical-visual…
“Children Will Drown In Water Like This” by Rachel Luria
The girl watches the boy from the kitchen window. He’s fishing in the canal, which is little more than a drainage ditch, but it does have fish and maybe a gator. The boy knows she is watching, so he casts…
New books: week of August 6
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Crystal Hana Kim, If You Leave Me Morrow From Publishers Weekly: “A family struggles to balance tradition and change in Kim’s…