“After the Parade” by Lori Ostlund

After the Parade

by Lori Ostlund

2015, Scribner/Simon & Schuster

The image of the parade in the book’s title seems profoundly significant, both in terms of the plot’s before and after this event, a demarcation in young Aaron Englund’s history, but it is also an apt symbol for an activity that must be watched from the sidelines. In many ways, Lori Ostlund’s narrator is primarily an observer, less of a participant or instigator in his own life. While this type of outsider, an almost passive character, can create an empty center in a book, in this case, the author encourages us to see Aaron and his world more acutely, to perceive the sensitivities he observes; to forego violent action, fast pace, and superficiality, qualities that have become the norm in much of contemporary fiction. Ostlund’s tale is haunting and subtle like snow falling against a winter white sky, yet there is drama and trauma throughout, pointing up the story and adding depth and poignancy and movement. The writing is fresh, frequently beautiful, with observations that are profound, sometimes wry, usually kind and gentle, reflecting Aaron’s personality: “He had always liked sleeping in cars, waking up in a different place. It was the closest he came to understanding the passage of time.” Or: “Once people thought they knew you, it was almost impossible to change yourself.” This is a character who notices that an old woman “on many nights…watched for him from her kitchen window and then hurried out with a jar she could not open.” This a man who cares about others, even strangers.

Although Aaron is gay, this is not a gay novel any more than a story about a straight narrator is a heterosexual work; instead, this is a human book, a unselfconsciously wrought bridge between the two orientations, constructed by the author with the assumption that we all live on an interconnected continuum, even if some us—like Aaron—feel a little lost and unmoored.

We need more books like After the Parade, which eschew labels and boundaries; books written for everyone rather than for a specific, narrow readership; books that challenge us to perceive more deeply, with greater depth. Aaron’s road to understanding himself, his history and relationships, is a multi-layered, complex story, yet one that is tightly woven, a moving parade worthy of applause.—Laury A. Egan, author of The Outcast Oracle

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Featured: Susan Gabriel, author of The Secret Sense of Wildflower
As part of the Authors’ Virtual Tour, I am delighted to showcase Susan Gabriel, whose book, The Secret Sense of Wildflower, I read with pleasure. The book has earned notable recognition, most importantly from Kirkus Reviews, where it received a starred review and inclusion in their prestigious “Best Books of 2012.”

“A quietly powerful story, at times harrowing but ultimately a joy to read…Astute observations and wonderfully turned phrases, with nary a cliché to be found. She could be an adolescent Scout Finch…A quietly powerful story, at times harrowing but ultimately a joy to read.”—Kirkus Reviews

“…An eloquent and moving tale chock-filled with themes of inner strength, family and love that will resonate with teenagers and adults alike.”—Maya Fleischmann, IndieReader.com

The Secret Sense of Wildflower is southern historical fiction. It is about a girl coming-of-age who faces danger, death, and new life in 1940s Appalachia, whose life has been shaped around the recent death of her beloved father in a sawmill accident. While her mother hardens in her grief, Wildflower and her three sisters must cope with their loss themselves, as well as with the demands of daily survival. When Johnny Monroe, the town’s teenage ne’er-do-well, sets his sights on Wildflower, she must draw on the strength of her relations, both living and dead, to deal with his threat.

Ultimately, it is a story about courage, about honoring your “secret sense” and about resilience.

Susan writes about the inspiration for the book:

“Thirteen years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night and heard a voice say: There are two things I’m afraid of. One is dying young. The other is Johnny Monroe. Does mental illness run in my family? Did this voice come from a dream? Was it a product of a writer’s imagination? Had one of my dead relatives come home with me after a recent visit to the family cemetery? Who knows. But any fiction writer will tell you that if you can get the “voice” of the main character in your book, it is a gift. So I followed that voice. I got up at four in the morning and began to write the story of Louisa May “Wildflower” McAllister.”

About Susan Gabriel:

Over a decade ago, Susan Gabriel gave up her successful psychotherapy practice in Charleston, South Carolina, to simplify her life and pursue writing. She writes with passion, humor, and insight about Southerners, as well as a wide variety of other ordinary, odd, and interesting characters, young and old. She lives with her family in the mountains of western North Carolina. Website (and for autographed copies): http://www.susangabriel.com

Buy the book (paperback and eBook formats):
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
ibooks/itunes
Google Play
Audible

Authors’ Virtual Tour: Gregg Cusick, featured author

Gregg Cusick, author of My Father Moves Through Time Like a Dirigible and Other Stories

I’ve been chuckling to myself. Seems like I’ve called this a Virtual Authors’ Tour (as have others). So, what is a Virtual Author? Hmm? Well, in this installment, I would like to introduce you to a writer who is quite real and very excited about having his first book published.

Gregg Cusick and I “met” a few years ago after our stories appeared in Short Story America. Ever since, we’ve exchanged enthusiastic comments. I’ve been eagerly waiting his collection and intend on placing the book on the top of my reading pile once it arrives. You should, too.

Gregg has received great acclaim for his short fiction. He is a winner of the Lorian Hemmingway Short Story Competition, Florida Review’s Editor’s Prize, Ernest Hemingway Festival Fiction Prize, E.M. Koeppel Award, Robert Ruark Fiction Prizes, as well as many other prestigious contests. He holds a master’s degree in Creative Writing from North Carolina State University, where he later taught composition, and has had 25 stories published in literary journals and anthologies, 14 of which will appear in his new collection: My Father Moves Through Time Like a Dirigible and Other Stories (Livingston Press of the University of West Alabama), to be released October 1, 2014.

About My Father Moves Through Time Like a Dirigible:

A small town suicide ripples through the lives of a series of acquaintances. An aging professor wavers before his class while reliving the sinking of his WWII troop ship where hundreds perished. A middle-aged woman confronts her dying abuser of thirty years before. And in the title story, an old man recalls his boyhood view of his father and the great rigid airship Shenandoah that passed over just hours before its dramatic crash. In these stories, ordinary, yet remarkable individuals face common human challenges in original, often surprising ways.

An Excerpt:

“Lakehurst, NJ. September 2, 1925. 2:52 p.m. Despite objections of Commander Zachary Lansdowne, an Ohio native, fearing line squalls and late-summer storms, the navy orders the 682-foot blimp Shenandoah to set off for its tour of Midwest state fairs. As Lansdowne and his crew of forty in the rigid airship sail out over the pine woods of New Jersey, his wife watching from the ground turns her head away. So do wives and families of the other crewmen who have come to the field. It is considered bad luck to watch your husband’s ship fade out of sight.”

Some Advance Comments:

“Gregg Cusick’s prose reaches a zenith few fiction writers ever achieve: the ability to make the reader ponder both the internal and external intricacies of the human condition. His grasp of craft is impeccable, but more indelible are the depths of wisdom and humanity he offers in words that strike not one false note. His prose contains substrates—subtle and variable—that only the most seasoned of writers can render. Each story in this collection comes full circle, each voice is so solidly unique, and each leaves us philosophically more rich, more attuned to the empathic sense with which Cusick imbues his work. It is not overstatement to predict that Gregg Cusick will prove to be one of the finest literary writers of our time.”—Lorian Hemingway, author of Walk on Water

“This is one fine collection of smart, irresistible stories, written by a brilliant storyteller.”
—George Singleton, author of Between Wrecks

“Cusick’s viewpoint is dead-on though compassionate; his language is exact, clear, and lovely. My Father Moves Through Time Like a Dirigible is the most rewarding collection of new fiction I have read in years.”—Lee Smith, author of Guests on Earth

Available October 1 in hardcover ($30) and trade paperback ($17.95), Livingston Press

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Father-Moves-Through-Time-Dirigible/dp/1604891394/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411051610&sr=1-1&keywords=gregg+cusick
Livingston Press: http://livingstonpress.uwa.edu/MyFatherMovesThroughTime.htm

Gregg’s website: http://www.greggcusick.com

Karla Linn Merrifield

Karla Linn Merrifield

Karla Linn Merrifield

Karla Linn Merrifield

Welcome to the Author’s Virtual Tour!

I would like to introduce my dear friend and Virtual Authors’ Tour hostess, Karla Linn Merrifield. Karla and I “met” when she accepted my long poem “The Sea” for the journal Sea Stories (the poem is included in my chapbook, The Sea & Beyond). Shortly thereafter, we began trading visits and poetry, with so many connections between us that it’s difficult to name them all. I am greatly indebted to Karla for recommending me to Michael Czarnecki at FootHills Publishing and serving as a superb reader for my novels and poetry. In return, it’s been my pleasure to read Lithic Scatter and Other Poems from inception to the final book, as well as most of her other work. I can think of no other poet who is so enthusiastic about writing!

About Lithic Scatter and Other Poems:

“In this fine collection, the first poem, “Dancing with Green Bees,” sets the joyous tone as Karla Linn Merrifield, a widely traveled poet, revels in the landscape and celebrates the wisdom and lives of our native inhabitants. From ephemeral bees to ancient stones, nothing is beyond her eager examination; indeed, a tiny cobble will set her on a flight of wonderment and philosophical conjecture. Stylistically, this book is a marvel of musical lines, such as when she describes “arriving like snowmelt in spring from the slickrock flanks of the Chusaka Mountains.” Color is also a constant revelation: a black bear is “in a cinnamon morning coat” and “bald domes wake from violet sleep.” The book has its somber moments, especially when Merrifield confronts the destructive nature of modern man; touches of wry humor, too, such as in the poem where she compares dragonflies with helicopters (“draconian Homeland Security spawn.”) Lithic Scatter and Other Poems will strengthen Merrifield’s considerable reputation as an American naturalist-poet.”—Laury A. Egan

Mercury Heartlink, 2013, paperback: $14.40
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lithic-Scatter-Other-Poems-Merrifield/dp/0988227991/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410177318&sr=1-1&keywords=Lithic+Scatter
For a signed copy (and price), contact Karla: Blog: http://karlalinn.blogspot.com

___

Over the next week, in multiple blogs/posts, I’ll be featuring three authors on the Author’s Virtual Tour: Susan Gabriel, Greg Miller, and Gregg Cusick—all very talented fiction writers. First, however, the Virtual Authors’ Tour requests the host to answer four specific questions (see below), which also gives me an opportunity to update everyone on my new projects.

Q: What am I working on?
A: Two new novels are completed. The first, Wave in D Minor, currently under submission to literary agents, is about a young opera composer who has received a grant and a solo retreat in her patron’s seacoast house in Maine. With an initial narrative style reminiscent of Virginia Woolf’s, the story becomes more complex and suspenseful, yet also deals with the loneliness inherent in being a creative individual and the difficult balance between respecting one’s talent and maintaining relationships. The second novel is The Bittersweet Tale, an expansion of a short story published in my collection Fog and Other Stories. Though in the category of psychological suspense, the book has a strong emphasis on character. Under way, a humorous piece, The Life of Morley: The Very Best Basset Hound in the World. Having some fun with this one!

Q: How does my work differ from others of its genre?
A: Since I write in several genres, not to mention having published three books of poetry, it might be better to ask how my fiction ranges within categories and why. My first published novel, Jenny Kidd, is a psychological suspense; my newest is The Outcast Oracle, which incorporates some suspense and drama but also humor and satire, with the age range from teenage through adult readers. My collection, Fog and Other Stories, is a diverse mix of 23 pieces—literary, psychological suspense, humor, and general fiction. Considering those books already published and the two novels completed, most incorporate suspense in some fashion, but do so through the lens of strong characterization.

Q: Why do I write what I do?
A: As a poet since age seven and a professional photographer, these two art forms have strongly accentuated my visual awareness. My fiction often originates from place, usually somewhere I’ve photographed, though inspirations also come from dreams, occurrences, or a name that appears in my mind. One morning, I woke up with “Jango Jacks” in my head, and as I typed his name, the character emerged almost fully formed. He’s the hero of a story and my new novel, The Bittersweet Tale.

Q: How does my writing process work?
A: The inspiration may begin with a place, dilemma, name/character. In most cases, (when unfettered by a block), I may write several thousand words a day. The next morning, I edit the previous day’s work and continue. Once a draft is completed, at least 30 revisions are done; sometimes many more, which include concept and line editing. From there, I have a friend(s) read the manuscript for structure, logic, and consistency. Finally, I ask a book evaluator to go over “big-picture” problems. Then more editing…many more rounds. I try to insert time between these stages so the work feels fresh. I strongly believe in turning in the most perfect manuscript possible to agents or editors, particularly after years working at Princeton University Press and for other academic publishers. A typical novel may take two or more years before it’s ready for submission.

For more information about Laury A. Egan: Website: http://www.lauryaegan.com and Blog: http://www.lauryaeganblog.wordpress.com
Fiction:
Available in paperback and eBook formats:
The Outcast Oracle (Humanist Press):
http://www.humanistpress.com/outcast-oracle.html
Fog and Other Stories (Humanist Press):
http://www.humanistpress.com/fog-and-other-stories.html
Jenny Kidd (Vagabondage Press): http://www.vagabondagepress.com/bookpreviews/jennykidd.html#.VA3HlGMYDwg

Poetry:
Signed copies are available through my website: http://www.lauryaegan.com
Snow, Shadow, a Stranger
Beneath the Lion’s Paw
The Sea & Beyond (chapbook)

To Paraphrase Noel Coward:

He once said that he always visited Washington, D.C. after the cherry blossoms had fallen. Yesterday, I visited the Chinese Scholar’s Garden before the cherry trees had blossomed. I don’t know which is more wistful. The forsythias were faintly tinged with yellow buds, however, so perhaps there is hope that winter is finally finished.