CCLaP - A thank you from me to MN book club...

Thank you to Jason Pettus, the man behind CCLaP, for publishing a thank you letter I wrote to the book club that invited me to discuss my book, Salt Creek Anthology, in Minnesota. The letter also doubles as a brief summary of my experience...

Lorrie Moore

I have been listening to The New Yorker fiction podcasts on my runs, and was blown away by the short story, Dance in America, written by Lorrie Moore. It was beautiful, honest, strange, intense, and unpredictable. At the end of the story, I felt like it all made sense, but if asked, I wouldn't be able to explain how it made sense.

Before bed that night, I downloaded her novel, A Gate at the Stairs. Last night, as I was reading, I came across a section of the book that was so powerful that I had to skim it, to read it quickly, in order to get through it. My heart raced and I wasn't able to get to sleep for hours after. Granted, it may be because I'm a parent, but I cannot remember the last time a book has moved me like that, so I thought I'd blog about it, and there it is - blogged!

I love her writing!

Tonight's the night.

Tonight is the book release for Salt Creek Anthology, and well as CCLaP's three other books. Also, hear Ben Tanzer, Mark R. Brand, Sally Weigel, and I read at the Beauty Bar.

Book Release Party - 08.10.11

This is going to be fun!

More Minnesota...

I recently went to the Twin Cities to visit a book club that decided to read Salt Creek Anthology for their July book. I want to thank Maria Armstrong for offering her cozy home as a meeting place for the discussion. Maria also wrote up a very nice review of the time we spent discussing the book, as well as touching on different aspects of the book. I am always interested in what others have to say about books or stories that I have written. Maria wrote the following:

He seems to have this zeal for getting into the nitty gritty about people and their complexities in a realist fashion. The contrast between what we would typically classify as good characteristics and bad, doesn’t really seem to matter that much to him. While most are pushing away from reality because it’s distasteful or painful, he seems to be barreling into it and wanting to define reality by looking at all the angles, not just what’s comfortable."

Thank you Maria!

A Review of the Book Discusion Group by Sara Peoples

Below is a review of the time I spent with a book club in Minnesota, written by Sara Peoples. I want to thank her for inviting me; I had a great time discussing Salt Creek Anthology.

07/29/11 - Book Club Review,
Salt Creek Anthology
by Sara Peoples

It seemed fitting that we would meet in a house tucked in the woods. You can't talk about other people, even if they are fictional, in front of them. You have to be somewhere quiet, somewhere out of the way, which is where our book club chose to meet to discuss "Salt Creek Anthology" with Jason Fisk.

We started innocently enough, asking about Fisk's writing process and comparing which stories we hooked into, as well as marveling at the "craziness" of some of the characters, but the safety of our surroundings and the succinct honesty of Fisk's writing pulled our conversation from the outside in.

What began as a discussion about fictional others quickly turned to ourselves and our own little bits of crazy. We praised Fisk for his ability to hand-pick what is absolutely essential about a story, entertain us with it, and then make us look twice for a glimpse we thought we caught of ourselves - all in two to four paragraphs.

Hidden in the green of the woods, on the pages of this little green book, we found our neighbors, families, fears, and hillarities. The size of this gem should have foreshadowed our evening-we came together thinking we would "gossip" about these stories and relish in their absurdity only to find ourselves discussing the truth about ourselves and humanity.

We observed the standard party progression of time, beginning with drinks and finishing with pie, but like the book, when it was done, we all wished for more.

*If you, or someone you know, would be interested in a book discussion about Salt Creek Anthology, please contact me at fiskjason@gmail.com.