Lists: Literary & Laundry

List #9 - Other than books, what do you write?

Shaindel Beers, Susanna Daniel, Alan Heathcock respond. I continue to write lyrics, too, just because I enjoy it. I start most days by reading a poem or two, then work on a song for an hour or so. This morning I wrote the lines ”Dissonance and dance don’t mix to fix a mind made up to last”….

List #8 - Other than books, what do you read?

Heidi W. Durrow, Dave Malone, Dinty W. Moore respond. Do not use near children or pets, anywhere food is prepared, or in the vicinity of air circulation vents. In fact, just list the ten spots in your home you would least like to have large black ants covering the floor. Don’t use this product in any of those areas.

List #7 - Luke Reynolds: People, Places, Things

When I met Harper Lee on the penultimate car of a long steam train, I asked her a question: Do you ever wish you had written another novel? Ms. Lee looked at me, winked, and smiled as if she had a marble in her mouth. Who says I haven’t?

List #6 - What advice would you give to someone about to write a novel?

Dorothy Allison, Charles Baxter, Connie May Fowler, Thomas Christopher Greene, Pam Houston, Dani Shapiro respond. Patience. Writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a relationship you enter. And, just as in a relationship, the dailyness, the showing up, the steady rhythm, the paying of attention are qualities to cultivate. 

List #5 - Michael Martone: People, Places, Things

Time in a Vacuum Bottle: A Genealogy. My cousin Anthony owned a tent rental business…. He never took a break. His Thermos empty rolled back and forth on the floorboard of his truck.

List #4 - What book do you re-read most?

DeWitt Henry, Dylan Landis, Bruce Machart, Katrina Roberts respond. I’ve read Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison 12 times. I barely need oxygen while reading it.

List #3 - From Daniel Torday’s The Duct Tape Brother

“When I’d finally saved up enough duct tape,” he says, “I made myself a duct tape brother.”… The following list comes near the middle of the novel. Dan brings his brother to dinner with his friends.

List #2 - Robin Black: To Do

The repetition of the word novel here is because it’s really more of a cheer than a statement of fact… The one thing it doesn’t mean is that I’ll actually work on my novel.

List #1 - What is Poetry?

Mark Cox, Matthew Dickman, Honor Moore, Grace Wells respond. Poetry is the light feet make walking across wooden boards, that is your fingers, which are the language of love….