Bookstores, a New Novel, and the Heartland

My first experience as a book buyer came in grade school when I eagerly attended my school’s Scholastic Book Fair where I spent my allowance on paperbacks. In those days, I was interested in sports novels, especially ones that featured underdogs overcoming great odds. Looking back now, I imagine my connection to those underdog stories…

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Hidden Blessings: The Novel I Never Published and the One I Did

Many years ago, when I was first starting out in this writing game—I’d published stories in some pretty good places and I’d even been able to publish a collection with a new independent publisher—my agent was sending around my first novel. One day, she called with the good news that a very senior editor at…

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