David Fulmer Class Wrapup

This was the "Fiction Shop II" offered at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta. Currently only the beginner version of this class is offered.

David is a mystery writer, and I had heard him talk to the Georgia Writer's Association before I took this class, so I had some idea what I was getting into. I had also read his novel "Jass". Since then I have also read "Chasing the Devil's Tail" and "The Dying Crapshooters Blues", so I was well aware of David's style and his abilities.

I had only taken online classes before. One, from the Gotham Writer's group, was excellent. The other, from Algonkian, was terrible. This was my first class in-person with other writers, and for me that was the most valuable part of the experience. Yes, I am painfully shy. Reading in front of the other students and the teacher was a good experience for me.

Did I learn anything new? Not really. Once you get past the basic or even the journeyman level, it is hard to impart anything new to a student. But it is all good, and certainly worth the money.

David also did a "critique" of up to twenty pages after the class. I sent him two short stories, about eighteen pages. He sent back a nice cover letter, and what I would call a copy-edit of the pages. I have to admit that was a little disappointing. The copy-editing is so subjective, and the suggestions were few. I was hoping for some overall comments about the stories. Did they work? Were they engaging? and so forth.

Overall though, I thought the class was great and a good use of my time and money.

Prince Edward by Dennis McFarland

I read this book carefully, with a critical eye, since one of my novels deals with similar subject matter - the desegration of the public schools in the South. Imagine my disappointment when I discovered this novel. I had already written a first draft of my novel before a writing friend said, "You know, that sounds very similar to 'Prince Edward'". Of course, if I am going to continue to work on my novel, I must read this one.

It's an excellent novel, well written and researched. The important question, for me, is whether my novel is sufficiently different from this one, and whether I can write a novel as good as this one. The answer to both questions is yes, I hope.

Prince Edward is told from the viewpoint of a ten-year-old boy, but it is really the viewpoint of an adult relating what happened to him when he was ten. It can be very confusing. The boy is naieve and confused ny the actions of the adults around him, yet the man (who is really telling the story) knows more than the boy. At times it was confusing and irritating.

There are many loose threads not tied up, which drives me crazy. The author relies on an epilogue to finish up many things, but this is not very satisfactory. He also, it seems to me, sticks too much to actual history, instead of letting the story flow to a more natural conclusion. There are a lot of unanswered questions when the novel finishes.

There is a seperate plot about child abuse, a plot that seems more important than the main plot of desegregation.  In fact, I had to ask myself, "what is this book about?" The child abuse? The desegregation? The boy's efforts to understand why grown-ups lie? His dysfunctional family?

I also disliked the "info-dumps" that were given by the adult narrator. For instance, before we meet the black preacher, the author gives us his entire history, something the boy could never have known.

So yes, the novel is worth a read, but can I do as well or better? With a lot of work I hope I can...

Evidence of Things Unseen by Marianne Wiggins

A frustrating novel to read, for me, for several reasons. The author refused to use conventional punctuation for dialog. There are no quotation marks. Of course I have read novels written like this before, but usually the author takes great care to make sure it is still readable. That's not the case here, and it literally (pun intended) gave me a headache. The author also has great difficulty with her transitions, which is a mistake she should not be making. Many times I was confused by abrupt changes in time that the author didn't bother to prepare the reader for.

Well, enough bitching. I thought it was going to be a real, maudlin, tear-jerker, and for about two thirds of the novel it was. But in the last couple of chapters she redeemed herself. I can't rate it very highly though.

The Terror by Dan Simmons

A break from the literary fiction I've been reading for the last two years, this is a "horror" novel, at least that is how it is marketed. I think it is much better than the usual horror novel, although the only thing of that genre I have to read that I can compare it to is "Misery". There are a lot of gruesome descriptions  of death and dismemberment. I suppose that is required in this genre? I'm not sure that the descriptions added much.

There is also quite a bit of fantasy, involving Eskimo folklore and mystical beliefs. These are esential to the plot.

The novel is a cross between historical fiction and horror. It;s based on a mid nineteenth century polar expedition  that was trapped in the ice for three years, with the resultant, scurvy, stavation, mutiny, and ravages by a proto-polar-bear.

Rejection from The Chattahoochee Review

A form rejection for one of my short stories, "Spirito Sancto". Just one rejection of many.

Ideas of Heaven by Joan Silber

I had great difficulty getting "into" these stories. The writing is distant and detached. The technique is almost completly narrative. They seemed overworked, with forced images and the hand of the author visible everywhere. Even the characters don't seem particularly interested in their own stories. None of the writing was compelling for me.

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Practical, reasoned advice for the writer. She points out the error of many of the assumptions that hopeful writers have.

Her style is to make almost everything a joke, though, which I found irritating after the first hundred pages. They are good attempts at humor, but I found them overwrought, or maybe just overworked.