The Marvel of Seasons

Another book review came in for Flashes of War, this one from Vestal Review Magazine--the oldest flash fiction literary publication in the world. Check out what they had to say right here.

It finally happened. I lost my view of Winter Star, Gibbs, and Horse Rock Mountains. It's the surest sign that spring is officially, finally here. Of course, if I step outside the Airstream and crane my neck, angling my line of sight through the dense forest, I can make out sections of the ridgeline. By way of comparison, here's the same view a month ago. This pre-leaf view shows the ridgeline in the clouds, but still...you get the point:

Josh Ritter at The Orange Peel

I drove across the country with his music, pure poetic lyrics ringing through my Volvo speakers all the way from Imnaha Canyon, up and over the Continental Divide, onward toward the lowlands of Lake Country in northern Michigan, and eventually homeward bound into the heart of Appalachia. 

I borrowed his wisdom for mixed CD's made for three, good men over the course of two, hard years: the one in the Wallowas, another in Alaska, and another still who lived "way back in the cut" of these mountain hollers. For the first, I thought a song might bring him back to me. For the second, I thought a song might make him hold on. And for the third, the song worked--the man waited and waited for me, though our final note was not as harmonious as the song itself.

Book Marketing Schedule

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I'm learning a lot from this experience of seeing a book through from contract to tour. Hiring a publicist and book tour manager has not been cheap, but I feel I can earn my money back over the next few years in book sales (fingers crossed!). The education I'm getting in the meantime is priceless.

For instance, there's an order of operations to things: pre-release, official release, Buy Day, then ebook advertising. The pre-release happened last week (hopefully everyone reading this received an email from me and has ordered the book!). Pre-release is basically the stage of book publication where it is available to the general public, but not necessarily in many stores yet or officially announced in the literary world. The official release is a newsworthy event, and that's what any good publicist builds up to and helps make a success. That's when the book will start appearing in more stores, and even more reviews will be coming out (fingers crossed, again!). Official release for Flashes of War is Memorial Day, May 27th, 2013 at Malaprop's Bookstore in Asheville.

Buy Day happens roughly three weeks after official release,

Why War?

 

Today, the May issue of Bookslut was released, featuring their interview with me. Some of my fave questions from them include:
1) Were there any books you looked to as examples for how to structure or even write Flashes of War?
2) These stories definitely tug on the heartstrings, but never in a cheap or maudlin way. Achieving that balance is one of writing's perpetual challenges, but did you find it more difficult to achieve in this book due to the loaded subject matter?
3) For one thing, the imagery in these stories is stunning. What do you think it is about metaphor that speaks so loudly and makes even stories that take place in far-off lands hit home with readers?  

Check out Bookslut and the full interview here.

Last week, author Alan Gratz published his interview with me about Flashes of War. Here's what he asked: 1) Why flash fiction? How does the form fit the material?
2) How did you research the experience of the soldiers before, during, and after the war in the Middle East to be able to write so well about it?
3) You not only tell stories about Americans, but about people of Afghanistan/Iraq. How did you learn about their experiences enough to be able to write about them?
4) You often write about children. Is there a children's book writer inside you trying to get out?
5) You say in your epilogue that you chose to write about war--and this war specifically--because you wanted to understand it better. To get to know what it was like from the inside out. What did writing Flashes of War teach you? What answers did you find? 

The fourth question was the most interesting to me, and the most surprising. Read the full interview here.

And in other news, I'm single again. Ugh.