It's been almost three weeks in the U.S. since the biography and stories came out. Next week they come out in the UK. In advance of the UK publication, W.W. Norton UK has put up an excerpt of the biography. You can read the prologue and get a sense of the book. (The links there are for UK readers to purchase the…
Constance Fenimore Woolson was born on this day in 1840. I can't imagine a better birthday present for her than her picture on the cover of The New York Times Book Review! Although she was squeamish during her life about her picture appearing in print, I think she would be happy to know now that she is being remembered. The full review…
Yesterday afternoon my first article for The Toast went live. What a great experience! The shares on Facebook are nearing 900. And the comments are so lively and nice. Thank you Toast readers! The title is: Eight Classic Female Bildungsromane You Should Know About If You Don’t Already It begins: The female Bildungsroman (or novel of development) is, in some ways, a contradiction…
The publication date is supposed to be Feb. 29 for both Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist and Miss Grief and Other Stories. However, it seems both books are being shipped now. Amazon shows them as ready to ship. Those who have pre-ordered them are starting to get emails saying they have been shipped. And the first sighting in a book store happened yesterday…
I'm offering a free sneak peek of Constance Fenimore Woolson's Miss Grief and Other Stories, to be published by W. W. Norton on February 29, to subscribers of my newsletter. You can read my Introduction and the short story "Solomon" before the book hits bookshelves by subscribing to "The Woolson and Alcott Chronicles" here. Woolson (1840-1894) was the most critically acclaimed American woman writer of her era.…
Publication day (Feb. 29) is six and a half weeks away. The pre-publication reviews are in, and now I sit and wait. Or not. I'm not very good at sitting and waiting. So I'm working on getting a few things going. First, another (final) Goodreads giveaway is in progress. If you would like a free copy (not a galley this time) of Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait…
One of the new experiences for me as a trade author is the process of getting reviews. When I published my first two book with an academic press, it took a year or more for reviews to start coming in. This time around, as Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist and Miss Grief and Other Stories get ready for publication on February 29, reviews have…
Claire Vaye Watkins’s essay “On Pandering,” about how much her writing has been influenced by a desire for the approval of the “white male lit establishment,” caused such a frenzy that it crashed Tin House’s website. Responses rapidly appeared at Salon, Jezebel, Flavorwire, Slate, and the LA Times, with more to come, surely. . . Thus begins an essay I wrote for The…
I recently sent out my fifth newsletter, The Woolson and Alcott Chronicles. As I sat down to begin writing, I couldn't think of much "news." I had maybe two items of interest. Then gradually more came to me, including the first two reviews of Constance Fenimore Woolson: Portrait of a Lady Novelist, scheduled giveaways on Goodreads, and a reveal of the publisher for my…
Today I will revisit Rome, the final stop on my 2013 trip to walk in Woolson's footsteps in England and Italy. I visited the Forum, saw the Coliseum, and battled with the crowds at the Vatican. (I gave up when I leaned my head back to look up at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and got whacked in the head by another…