Author: Cliff

I am the author of three novels--THE LAST BIRD OF PARADISE, OLIVER'S TRAVELS, and THE SHAMAN OF TURTLE VALLEY--and three story collections--IN AN UNCHARTED COUNTRY, HOUSE OF THE ANCIENTS AND OTHER STORIES, and WHAT THE ZHANG BOYS KNOW, winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. I am also the co-founder and former editor of Prime Number Magazine and the editor of the award-winning anthology series EVERYWHERE STORIES: SHORT FICTION FROM A SMALL PLANET.
February 24, 2010

>A Reader’s Advice to Writers

>I recently wrote about the Ten Rules for Fiction Writers from The Guardian that writers are still chatting about online. Now comes, in Salon,…
February 23, 2010

>Virginia Legislature Endangers Art Funding

>I could write a whole new post about this, about how budget slashing in Virginia endangers the arts in SO many ways. But it’s…
February 23, 2010

>Gray Baby by Scott Loring Sanders

> Gray Baby Scott Loring Sanders Houghton Mifflin 2009 Although this is technically a “young adult” novel (like the author’s first book, The Hanging…
February 21, 2010

>Ten Rules for Writing Fiction

>Writer friends are passing around an amusing link that’s actually two links. First we’ve got Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules for Writing Fiction. With the…
February 21, 2010

>Review of In an Uncharted Country

> Today’s Virginian-Pilot has a review of my collection of linked short stories,In an Uncharted Country. Subscribers (the paper, based in Norfolk/Hampton Roads, has…
February 20, 2010

>ASC: Henry VI, Part 2

>Last night was opening night for Henry VI Part 2 at Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center. Once again, it is astounding how this company can…
February 19, 2010

>Dave Beck

>Check out the sculptures by Dave Beck. Dave was at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts at the same time I was…
February 18, 2010

>Writers.com: Publishing the Short Story

>A new section of Publishing the Short Story, an eight-week course I teach through Writers.com, begins March 22. The course covers the nuts and…
February 18, 2010

>Book Tour: Chicago

>Next week I’m off to Chicago for several events to promote In an Uncharted Country. I hope my Chicago friends (those who haven’t fled…
February 16, 2010

>Work in Progress: Report

>I recently finished a draft of my novel. It’s 320 pages and 83,000 words long. And as soon as I finished it I made…