Though I won’t truly be free for another three weeks (Bless Jesus! Say Hallelujah!) I am trying to decide on my next selections for reading. I’m sadly close to the ending of Suttree, and will just go through and finish Parker’s stories rather than into her reviews and articles. Needless to say, I have not stayed true to my self-promise of reading five items concurrently, but only three; at least until I’m finished with the textbook and course. Then I shall add in the interactive "Still Life" and any of the several books I have on writing, most likely Novakovich’s "Fiction Writing Workshop" since I just took his class at the Wesleyan conference and had already previously gotten a quarter of the way through the book.
But the novel and short story anthology? Obviously one of the Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Glimmertrain or Confrontation issues that are seriously backed up. That will allow some exposure to poetry as well (although Parker did have some oldies but goodies!), and I will choose from whichever issue is the oldest–most likely from sometime last year.
And the novel? Well of course I want to grab McCarthy’s trilogy, but will force myself to read something else just to avoid my total addiction to the lovely long sentences and lack of punctuation. I am too easily led astray by brilliance.
And, I need to write. Meet deadlines. Write, write, write my little heart out and then put a magazine together.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology