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.
September 8, 2007

>J.A. Konrath: Ants and Grasshoppers

>Writers: you must visit J.A. Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing and read the post Ants and Grasshoppers. The fact that I am linking…
September 7, 2007

>Planning

>I’m a planner and a list-maker. Sometimes that’s true in my writing, but mostly it applies to me as a traveler. When I was…
September 7, 2007

>Free Books!

>Now that I have your attention, Jim Ruland is blogging about his great little story collection, Big Lonesome by discussing each of the stories…
September 6, 2007

>Man Booker Prize: Short List

>The Short List for the Man Booker Prize has been announced. The six titles shortlisted are: • Darkmans by Nicola Barker (Fourth Estate) •…
September 3, 2007

>Eating Singapore

>Normally I only comment here on the fiction in The New Yorker or, occasionally, on a book review. If there’s something interesting in the…
September 2, 2007

>The New Yorker: "Luda and Milena" by Lara Vapnyar

>Luda and Milena (both diminutives for Ludmila) are Russian immigrants in an ESL class in New York. They are different, but the same, and…
August 30, 2007

>After This by Alice McDermott

>I heard Alice McDermott read from this book before it was published, at Sewanee in the summer of 2006. I’d read a couple of…
August 29, 2007

>The Bat Segundo Show

>Several new installments of The Bat Segundo Show are up, including a visit with William Gibson.
August 25, 2007

>Rating Rejections

>No question about it: rejection sucks. But it’s part of the process every writer, even established writers, must go through. You send your work…
August 24, 2007

>The New Yorker: "Nawabdin Electrician" by Daniyal Mueenuddin

>This isn’t a story I recommend, except for the fact that it is set in Pakistan and you don’t see many such stories. Here,…