I went to the Arctic Circle because of Howard Phillips Lovecraft. I went there to work on a novel, too, but I wouldn’t be writing a novel—wouldn’t even still be a writer—without Lovecraft. While in the Arctic, I thought about Cthulhu. I carried a protective charm a friend had stitched for me in case I encountered any Old Ones. I stared into the fissures of three-hundred-foot-tall glaciers and expected to see a tentacle lash out before slithering back into the dark, icy recesses. And every so … [Read more...] about Things American: At the Mountains of Loneliness
Ships
Online Fiction Interview: Sofi Stambo
Sofi Stambo's "Ships" presents a vivid summer break on the Black Sea during which a young, unnamed protagonist pines for the son of the Tomov family, which is headed by a sea captain who lives across the street from her grandparents. It's a story so precise in its sensory details that it feels deeply familiar—and even nostalgic—in spite of its Bulgarian setting. We emailed Stambo recently to ask about those details, about Bulgaria during the communist years, and about what she's working on … [Read more...] about Online Fiction Interview: Sofi Stambo
Ships
In Varna we stayed in the apartment building across the street from the house of the sea captain. There lived his juicy wife, beautiful daughter, gorgeous son-in-law, and two grandchildren, a girl and Mario. The heads of the black Labrador and the big orange cat were framed by the heart-shaped iron door ornament, and a gold plaque below them read: “Captain Tomov’s family. An exemplary home.” Every year it seemed the house grew one story higher. It looked like a schooner. The wind billowed out … [Read more...] about Ships