Ten Questions for Lydia Conklin
“I have to lock up my phone every day—in a box designed for locking up cookies—during the hours I’m writing. Text messages ruin me.” —Lydia Conklin, author of Rainbow Rainbow
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“I have to lock up my phone every day—in a box designed for locking up cookies—during the hours I’m writing. Text messages ruin me.” —Lydia Conklin, author of Rainbow Rainbow
“Prioritize writing. Make time for it. Plan it like you plan your grocery lists. Plant your ass in the chair and do it.” —Gabe Montesanti, author of Brace for Impact
“There are plenty of hard truths in Ma and Me that were difficult to put down on the page, and then there are other truths that are mine, and mine alone, to keep.” —Putsata Reang, author of Ma and Me
Lesley Wheeler reckons with vulnerability, loss, and family through a close reading of Jan Beatty’s poem “Red Sugar."
“If I had known about the twists and turns beforehand, I like to think I would have kept going, but maybe it’s better not to know.” —Vanessa Hua, author of Forbidden City
“This book has its own life force. All you have to do is allow it to come together.” —Marwa Helal, author of Ante body
Jay Hopler and Kimberly Johnson discuss their new books, the techniques and craft decisions they used in writing these collections, and the occasion to which both books respond: Hopler’s diagnosis of terminal prostate cancer in 2017.
“Adjust one small plot point in the second half of the book, and you realize you’ve got to go back to the beginning and account for that change.” —Soon Wiley, author of When We Fell Apart
“I am a fitful writer: long periods of not writing followed by intense engagement.” —Dana Levin, author of Now Do You Know Where You Are
The author of Country of Origin looks back on the fifteen years she spent working on her debut novel.