Doo, Doo, Doo, Lookin Out My Back Door

Dinosaur Victrola, listenin to Nir-vana . . . Sorry for the minimal posting lately, but Mr. Storyglossia has been in the process of moving. Almost settled now and you can expect the story reviews and analysis to resume shortly. Although concentration might be a little difficult given the view out my new back door . . .
 



All things Storyglossia have moved. So, where in the world is Storyglossia? It's on an island and that's an island we're looking at. Send your guesses to: editor AT storyglossia DOT com — The first person to email me with the correct location gets a free entry into the Storyglossia Fiction Prize contest.

The deadline for entering the contest is October 1, 2006. First prize is $1000. The entries so far have been impressive, so submit your best work. All entries are considered for publication and Issues 16 and 17 are reserved for contest entries.

And if you haven't checked out Issue 15 yet . . .

Bump on the Noggin

When a coconut falling on a guy's head makes me laugh, you know it's been a long week. No, this is not Saturday morning cartoons I'm referring to, but Kay Sexton's story "Titties" in the new—and sadly, perhaps the final—issue of Carve. From a plot perspective, Sexton does such a good job of building the annoyance that I'm perhaps not the only reader who wanted that coconut to do its deed. What I most enjoyed about the story, however, was the effortless verisimilitude—and that is a term I'm adding to the lexicon of my story analysis. Verisimilitude is most usually achieved via the accumulation of details or via a voice that rings true even when we have no experience with the setting or situation. At some point as we are reading a tipping point is reached and we believe; writer becomes author—an authority. The more stories you read the more you can feel—if it's happening at all—when verisimilitude is being created, and what that feels like is the moment when the grounded side of a teeter-totter first begins to rise. I love that feeling of gravity overcome when I'm on a teeter-totter, but I don't want to feel it when I'm reading a story. I want to be pulled into the story so fast and so effortlessly that I don't even think about two-bit literary terms such as verisimilitude. Sexton's story is an example of a story that pulled me right in and didn't let go. I hope Sexton never worked as a model because that would make "Titties" a work of art.