My novel, as I envision it, is a Bildungsroman structured after the pastoral elegy. It is a portrait of the curious condition of urban loneliness and contains undercurrents of faith. The novel follows Mark, a young salesman who makes barely enough money to purchase bespoke suits. He is anachronistically old-fashioned in a modern world, and…
On The Transparently Autobiographic Voice
How many times have you picked up a book, read its synopsis, and then read the bio, only to find that the author is from the same town that the book is set in? And then, doing a little more research, how many times do you discover that the protagonist of the book is remarkably…
On the Efficacy of the Author's Desired Effect
Recently, I had the great luck of coming into contact with a well-established editor and professor, who was gracious enough to take a look at the first chapter of my novel. Surprisingly, he said that the tone of it sounded like "it was written like, fifty years ago," that it was "refreshingly old-fashioned." While it…
On The Importance Of Authority In Literary Writing
I was in a Barnes & Noble bookstore one day and flipped open a book on display. I read a passage that said something about a handsome Englishman's expensive untucked shirt and his handcrafted suit. I was immediately put off by the passage because I felt as if I were being led on without any…
A Long Road Ahead: Rewriting My Novel
According to the timestamp of the text file that contains the first chapter of my novel, I began my journey of writing on the 10th of August in 2010. Nearly two and a half years have passed since then, and I have yet to complete the novel. Granted, much of that time was spent learning…
