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The Perfect Gray – New Literary Fiction Novel

October 12, 2020

book, fiction, literary fiction, perfect gray

So, here we are… A new literary-fiction novel – though, hey, what’s so “novel” about a novel? The Perfect Gray is a project I began almost as an exercise. The idea came soon after I wrote the post on concept fiction. Quite frankly, I had absolutely no plan in mind regarding plot or characters, which of course is the whole point behind concept fiction.

At 70,000 words, The Perfect Gray is within the usual range of literary fiction word counts, yet I still find it a bit surprising how little it took me to complete it – about 5 weeks.

What is it about? I’ll let one of the character in The Perfect Gray to answer that:

It’s always hard for writers to tell you what their book is about. But I think you’ll like it.

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17 Ways to Grab a Reader’s Attention

September 21, 2020

Fiction Writing Tips, Writing

affect, fiction, guest post, Igor Livramento, writing

Today’s post – showing you 17 ways to grab a reader’s attention – is authored by Igor da Silva Livramento. He’s a fellow academic from UFSC, fellow author, fellow creative-writing advisor, and overall a great fellow. He’s also a composer, music theorist, and producer. Check out his papers on Academia.edu, his music on Bandcamp, and his personal musings on his blog – in Portuguese, Spanish/Castilian, and English.

Fiction is an invitation to journey alongside characters, through places, with affect and a pinch of reflection.

Due to our increased inattention, the first few sentences are a hook in the sea of readers. Seeking our fish’s bite, we must answer at that initial stage: What is this text about? How will it be told?

A walk amongst bookshelves is a stroll beside infinitely many closed doors one may choose to open. Just flip the page and greet a plethora of people dealing with the most diverse situations in as many ways as possible.

Here I offer 17 sneak peeks that captivated me and might inspire you to captivate more readers. Join me on this ringing doorbells spree! (One could also label this techniques for speed dating the reader – preferences…)

grab reader's attention — There are many ways to grab a reader’s attention, and here are 17 of them to get you started

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Review of In Absurdia, by Glenn Whalan

September 7, 2020

Book Review, Criticism

book, China, destiny, fate, fiction, literature, love, review

In Absurdia, by Glenn Whalan, is a novel; sort of. In Absurdia, by Glenn Whalan, is an experimental-fiction novel; sort of. And this is a review of In Absurdia, by Glenn Whalan; (wait for it) sort of.

Quite honestly, this must be among the most unorthodox reviews I’ve ever had to write, not because I feel particularly ambivalent about the book I decided to review, but because I feel speechless – as in, literally speechless; I have so few things to talk about.

This, as we will see, contains hints both for the book and against it. However, even that is not as clear-cut as I’d like to make it sound. Concept such as “book”, “for”, or “against” are not something that seems to be in accord with what In Absurdia is all about.

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