Misadventures in Publishing
Stumbling Upon the World of Your Novel
by Johanna Stoberock
My forthcoming novel, Pigs, takes place on a magical island that I imagined as Mediterranean in nature. Dry. Hot. The ocean beautiful except when tankers pass by far out along the horizon.
Cover Dreams
by Johanna Stoberock
As many of you know, Pigs finally has a cover.
I love it. It’s out in galleys now (bound, uncorrected proofs that publishers send to reviewers and bookstores before the actual book is printed). I haven’t seen the galleys in real life yet, but a friend sent a picture of one that she came across at Book Expo this past week, and it looks beautiful, even from far away.
Misadventures in Publishing: AWP Edition
by Johanna Stoberock
I spent three days in Portland this past week, attending the Associated Writing Programs (AWP) annual conference. It’s only the second time I’ve been. The first time was five years ago, in Seattle. My kids were small and my mother came with me to help, and we stayed in a bed and breakfast on Capitol Hill, and the kids and my mom went to the Pacific Science Center while I attended panels, and I felt the whole time like I was missing out on the good stuff, no matter where I was.
On First Sentences
by Johanna Stoberock
I’m getting ready to give a talk at the Walla Walla Public Library about Charlotte’s Web this Wednesday. (And please, unseasonable snowstorm predicted for next week, hold off at least until Thursday!) The talk is going to focus on reading like a writer: that is, reading E. B. White’s novel to figure out how it’s made. This is something that I think a lot of writers do when they come across a piece of writing that they’re blown away by. They try to figure out what tricks the writer used in its construction and make it work so well.
Welcome to My Blog
by Johanna Stoberock
Here goes—and welcome! I’m thinking about this space as a kind of public diary, a record of the months leading up to the publication of my novel, Pigs (Red Hen Press, October 2019), but also a record of the things in the world that shape me as a writer.