Short fiction is on my mind as I’m working on a novel. Because the first things I published were short stories, and because I’m now writing novels, I’m seeing how very different novels are from short stories. It’s a huge challenge for a short story writer to move into being a novelist. My first novel, [...]

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around Michael Moore’s new movie Capitalism: A Love Story. The film is highly involving and tugs at one’s intellect and emotions—and afterwards makes viewers consider where they fit in economically in America. Here are Backword Books, I see us as a bunch of Joe the Plumbers.   Certainly [...]

My panel proposal for this topic has been accepted at the country’s largest gathering of creative writers, the AWP Convention, which will be held in Denver in April. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) includes individual writers and most graduate and undergraduate creative writing programs in this country and Canada. Alternate forms of [...]

Many novelists I know are a bit like Rodney Dangerfield, feeling like they get no respect. Yet after diving into publishing three years ago. I remain optimistic. Before I explain why, let me remind you of the state of publishing. Book advances continue to diminish. Imprints are disappearing. Red ink flows. New York magazine in [...]