This month, we're bringing you a story about an astrological forecaster whose television ratings are falling. Hannah Pass's "Nova" is a world of glitz, glitter, fiber-optic star charts and unsavory old men, a place where networks air shows on adolescent bartending and on hypnotherapy for insomniacs. But at its heart, "Nova" is a story about a mother who wants to do right, set a good example for her thirteen-year-old daughter. We asked Hannah some questions about the story and her writing. (And … [Read more...] about Online Fiction: Interview with Hannah Pass
Nova
I am the woman in your television having a great time. Behind me, the starry night projected onto green screen. I point to Ursa Major, Andromeda, make my way towards Mercury, until finally I announce the zodiacs for the day. But numbers are down, ratings low. We have been worrying about this for months. Now Ivan tells me to dress the part. “Think dreamy,” he says. “Celestial. Put yourself in an astronomer's shoes.” “What do you mean by dreamy?” I unbutton the high button on my dress … [Read more...] about Nova
Things Buffalo: My New Skin
Driving along the Outer Harbor, I watch for signs that direct me to the beach, watching for parked vehicles with bike racks, stickers on bumpers that might say 13.1, 26.2, 70.3, 140.6. My Toyota has a 26.2, though I haven’t done a tri yet, an ironman or a half. I see boats docked along the harbor, a place called Dug’s Dive, which I hear serves strong drinks, thick and tasty ice cream. Lake Erie, to my right, helps me find direction, knowing on the map it’s west of the city. I’m not so good … [Read more...] about Things Buffalo: My New Skin
If You Lived Here: An Interview with Danielle Evans
I’m always thinking about place in fiction. I happen to write about a particular place, an Alaska laden with myth and personal and familial history. And I want to know, while reading, how other authors capture the nuances, the sounds, the smells, the senses of a place. What types of spaces do characters occupy, what spaces exist between characters, even spaces between the words on a page? At what moments does an outer landscape become an internal and psychological landscape? There have been … [Read more...] about If You Lived Here: An Interview with Danielle Evans
ASF Alumni: An Interview with Matt Bell
With two chapbooks, a short story collection and a novella in flash under his belt, Matt Bell has been quietly turning heads for years, accumulating acolytes and critical acclaim with his heady brand of visionary lyrical surrealism. Bell, along with the celebrated likes of Karen Russell, Aimee Bender, and Téa Obreht, is among a generation of young writers working far outside the bounds of mimesis to create a new kind of mythology more fully equipped to describe an increasingly absurd and … [Read more...] about ASF Alumni: An Interview with Matt Bell
Bourbon and Milk: An Introduction
Bourbon and Milk features lessons, observations, and conversations by and with writers living out there in one of the most perplexing outposts of the human condition – parenthood. In this monthly series, Contributing Editor Giuseppe Taurino will dive into the dark spaces where parenting sometimes pushes us, and explore the unexpected ways writers may grow in them. What is wrong with peace? I couldn't say. But, sweet ruin, I can hear you. There is … [Read more...] about Bourbon and Milk: An Introduction