Note from Jess: I’ve been sharing Travis’ erasure of the 9/11 Commission Report this weekend. Fact-Simile is offering the entire O Mission Repo for free, as an e-book, from today until September 18th. Travis Macdonald is a poet, copywriter and occasional essayist. Recent books include: BAR/koans) (Erg Arts 2011), Hoop Cores) (Knives, Forks and Spoons…

Travis Macdonald is a poet, copywriter and occasional essayist. Recent books include: BAR/koans) (Erg Arts 2011), Hoop Cores) (Knives, Forks and Spoons Press 2011), Sight and Sigh) (Beard of Bees 2011), N7ostradamus) (BlazeVox Books 2010), Basho’s Phonebook (E-ratio 2009) and The O Mission Repo) [vol. 1] (Fact-Simile 2008). Other poetry and prose has appeared in…

Note from Jess: When I promised you a smorgasbord, I meant it. For many of us, the books we read in high school English classes defined our relationship with literature. It was Mrs. Nacca, my high school English teacher, who first showed me the power of literature to transform. I remember reading Song of Solomon…

Work on your posture, knit a sweater, make up a language to use when speaking with your cats, bang your head against a wall. Listen carefully, go to the roof and marvel at the sky and how much of it you can see when sitting in one place. Work on your lunges, organize your unopened…

Note from Jess: My husband, Frank, and I returned to the United States this summer after a year living on an island off the Northwest coast of Wales. In Wales, Frank was studying cognitive linguistics at Bangor University, so I introduced myself to members of the English department to see if I could sit in…

Recently, after admitting to a couple friends (notice the verb) I had a comic book review blog, both mentioned they had not yet started reading—and here both paused— graphic novels. They said it as though reading a comic book was one of modern life’s new requisites. The popularity of superhero movies, whether pretentious or straightforward…

On the radio we’d heard about a trend in nature in which wolf packs were growing larger and larger – expanding into super packs. The packs were impossible to fight off. They’d attack one small animal and share the meat among them, then find another prey. It was like the wolf-version of small plates. These…

Writing a book review makes me physically ill. Or let me rephrase: writing a book review that will be made public makes me physically ill. Factors that contribute to this illness include: the packs of cigarettes chain-smoked alongside the triple-shot Americanos that transition in the late afternoon to the bottle of wine required to finally…

The couch pillows were reproducing at an alarming rate. There were tens, dozens, now. It would only be a matter of time until Josh himself was edged off the couch completely, out of the condo, out of the city. He would wash up somewhere awful, like Long Island, and, when he was gone, it would…

I want to thank Steve Himmer again for this extraordinary opportunity and experience, as Writer in Residence here at Necessary Fiction. Forgive me these fragments of thoughts below on a process I’ve been thinking about for some time. Any arguments or concurrences with these thoughts can be carried out in the comment section of this…

Ask questions. Ask your friends and family questions. Always be prepared for the right moment to ask questions (in person, by email, by telephone, by text message, God forbid by snail mail). Why did the dog leap out the car window that time? How did Grampa actually kill himself? What was it like to make…

It feels good to think about research in fiction in conversation with Brian Kiteley, whose lyrical, tough, heartfelt novel, The River Gods, draws deeply on the landscape and history of Northampton, Massachusetts, where I find myself writing, as well. I’ve spent nine years, off and on, more or less, researching and writing Spider in a…