One Story at a Time: "Currents" by Hannah Bottomy

Written by Katharine Weber Thursday, 10 May 2012 00:00

Join us for something a little different in the One Story at a Time thread -- flash fiction. "Currents" by Hannah Bottomy is a very short story – only 292 words – making it a wonderful exemplar of the nonstandard and powerful things that can be achieved in a work of flash fiction. Discussion starts Monday, May 14th.

If you're already a registered member of BookBalloon, click this link to go straight to the discussion. If you're not already a BookBalloon member (and why not? It's free!), click here to begin.

One Story at a Time: "Space-Time for Springers"

Written by Katharine Weber Monday, 02 April 2012 00:00

First published in 1958, in issue #4 of Star Science Fiction Stories, this Fritz Leiber story of transformation and metamorphosis (though it has something of a minor cult following, in science fiction and fantasy circles and also among cat fiction obsessives) is a very different order of fiction, flowing from an intriguing narrative tributary far from the mainstream. It's an unusual story, one highly worthy of consideration here in the One Story at a Time thread. Discussion starts Monday, April 9th. Please read the story and join us!

If you're already a registered member of BookBalloon, click this link to go straight to the discussion. If you're not already a BookBalloon member (and why not? It's free!), click here to begin.

A poem a day

Written by Nicki Leone Sunday, 01 April 2012 14:01

It’s National Poetry Month – Time to Write a Poem!

This month Book Balloon member Janet McAdams, is offering up a daily prompt for starting a poem in the Creative Writing thread on the forum. Just try to start a poem every day. You don’t have to finish them this month; you can finish them in May, June, and July.

Janet is the author of two poetry collections (The Island of Lost Luggage and Feral), teaches creative writing at Kenyon College, and edits the Earthworks Poetry Series from Salt Publishing.

Some of the prompts will be subject-based and some will suggest formal strategies for starting a poem (She promises she’ll get to limericks!). This coming Wednesday's Poetry Prompter will be poet (and fiction writer and librettist) Lara Candland. There may have a few more surprise guests before the month is over.

The first prompt is "a simple exercise in writing an autobiographical poem.":

You’ll want to come up with a handful of key phrases like “When I was five. . . .” “ When I was fourteen. . . .” “When I was twenty-three. . .” and so forth. Three phrases will do, but five is probably better, and perhaps more, depending upon how old you are.

In coming up with these phrases, choose years (ages) of significance in your life. Use each phrase as a prompt to help you write about an important time in your life. You might want to describe a key incident or person or place in response to each prompting phrase. Don’t worry about making the different parts of your poem parallel or of equal lengths.

And don’t overthink it—just write. Tell some lies if you need to. As Frank O’Hara said, “You just go on your nerve. If someone's chasing you down the street with a knife you just run, you don't turn around and shout, ‘Give it up! I was a track star for Mineola Prep.’"

Read more at the "Go to the thread" Thread.

BookBalloon's Best Reads of 2011

Thursday, 16 February 2012 18:06

And now, a drumroll, please.....

BookBalloon's Unofficial and Unauthorized Best Reads of 2011 (not necessarily published in 2011):

Our Winner: The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt!

Runners Up:

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Emily, Alone by Stewart O'Nan

Galore by Michael Crummey

A Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Bossypants by Tina Fey

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst

The Summer of the Bear by Bella Pollen

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Special thanks to Julie (Starling) for collecting votes and compiling this list.

Q&A with Sharon Kay Penman

Wednesday, 15 February 2012 00:00

Sharon Kay Penman will be available to answer questions about her writing and talk about her newest book, Lionheart, Wednesday and Thursday, February 15-16. Please join us in the Forum for this discussion.

Margaret George, author of Elizabeth I: A Novel, writes:

"The great Crusader king Richard the Lionheart comes alive in all his complex splendor in this masterpiece of a medieval tapestry by Sharon Kay Penman. She brings him and his legendary enemy, Saladin, before us, both on the battlefield for Jerusalem and in the quiet of their private chambers. It's as if you were there, in this strange, beguiling, vanished time that haunts the Middle East even today. Penman has triumphed in capturing its elusive essence and the blazing glory of the English king called Lionheart." (-Margaret George, author of Elizabeth I: A Novel )

You can read an excerpt of Lionheart here.

Sharon Kay Penman is the author of seven critically acclaimed historical novels: The Sunne in Splendour, Here be Dragons, Falls the Shadow, The Reckoning, When Christ and his Saints Slept, Time and Chance, and Devil’s Brood.