Category Archives: books

I Love BOMB Reading + Like A Boss with Emily Books + Mentors in Paperback

It’s a busy time. First,  this Monday, February 6th, I’m reading from a new short story, just finished, unpublished, not even under submission yet. The occasion is the BOMB Magazine I <3 BOMB party, at the Powerhouse Arena bookstore in DUMBO, … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under author's own, books, bookstores, dance break, what I am working on, writers, writing

I Just Feel Like It Is Going In A Really Random Direction

It seems to me the idea of inspiration is a terrible burden, to many. A cruel one. A myth. I think people are haunted by it, as they are horoscopes that say they’ll meet a lover this week, or that … Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under blogs, books, writing

On Asteroids, Stereoscopic Novels and Time

Tuesday night, as an asteroid was coming very close to striking Earth, I was re-reading a graphic novel I was teaching,  Asterios Polyp, that concludes with an asteroid hurtling at the main character, who is, yes, on Earth. I thought about … Continue reading

3 Comments

Filed under books, comics, fiction, graphic novels, novels, writing

Sonata

After a year of residencies and travel, I find I do not want to leave New York, not right now. Sometimes I do not even leave my apartment. It was all I could do to agree to see my family … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under author's own, books, novels

Life With Mr. Dangerous and Other Stories

1. A friend wrote “What is this frenzy of activity?” Answer: I made a deal with myself that all posts drafted over 1000 words had to be considered as possible essays and finished as such and sent out to magazines … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under ask koreanish, books, bookstores, comics, letters to everyone, letters to you, what is right with us, what is wrong with us, white collar sweatshops of the east coast, writing

On Maud Newton On David Foster Wallace

Maud Newton astutely considered the legacy of David Foster Wallace in the New York Times Magazine last weekend. I thought it was an exhilarating read. She begins with a quote from “Tense Present” and  then uses it as a mirror from … Continue reading

5 Comments

Filed under blogs, books, fiction, novels, politics, television, writers, writing

In My Book Bag This Week – August 12

Mike Albo’s hilarious tell-all roman-a-clef of life as a freelance writer, The Junket. Get it. For weeks now I’ve had a galley for The Stranger’s Child, by Alan Hollinghurst. I love it. Don’t you want me to review it? Yes … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under author's own, books, fiction, Korean American, novels

Silver Sparrow

One of the moments I love best in my interview with Tayari Jones over at Algonquin Books’ blog is when I ask her about something she said in another interview about a year previous, right after she’d finished the novel: “It … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under books, novels

“I think there are a lot of American critics who try to pretend that I don’t exist at all.”

I’m at Ledig House up near Hudson, New York, with my edits on my second novel, going over them, preparing to turn them in soon.  I printed it up single-spaced with wide margins, so it looks more like a book, … Continue reading

7 Comments

Filed under books, fiction, novels, what I am working on

On Getting Your Name Out There: Author Blogging

There is a great deal of pressure for writers to blog, for themselves and for others. Typically, whoever’s asking you has the presence of mind to be a little ashamed: “We can’t really pay you for this, but you’ll get … Continue reading

27 Comments

Filed under author's own, blogs, books, writers, writing