Bob Mustin
Fiction, historical fiction

Bob Mustin's Blog

RSS

Nov.26.2012

Into The Pit, Darkly - Three Mini Reviews

After a couple of extraordinarily social evenings, the Missus and I settled in Saturday night to watch a movie...then another...then another, an event we've never accommodated before. At some point we had to reach for the eyewash, popcorn, and chips, and by one a.m., our movie gloom was over (be...

Nov.25.2012

My Tech Friend (This Isn't Meant To Be a Commercial)

I think I'm up on techie things, but I'm sometimes a little slow to see their complete worth. My four year-old iPod touch had been worn out by use and abuse, and I recently bought a new one, the 5G version. iPod 5G I had bought the old one principally to listen to music (I had digitized all my...

Nov.23.2012

Writer's Therapy

I've been working for a month on what's turned into a very long (some 7500 words) "short" story. That's been good; it's allowed my first-person narrator's mind to wander and thus to complicate the story. The challenge there was to allow a reader into his river of connected thoughts (bouncing back...

Continue Reading » 10 comments

Nov.22.2012

Goodwill in Brooklyn: On Donating Books to Unexpected Readers/The Millions

The story linked below may be the ultimate in giving experienced by a book lover. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! image via themillions.com The Millions

Nov.21.2012

An Exercise in Learning From the Best

Stories, by Anton Chekhov - Part 1 (Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) image via stevenwbeattie.com I’ve had this book of stories for a while, waiting, I suppose, for the time and mood to be right to not only read them but to study them. If you aren’t familiar with Chekhov, he...

Nov.21.2012

Goodbye, Frustration: Pen Put Aside, Roth Talks/NY Times

Philip Roth discussed his decision to stop writing fiction: “I knew I wasn’t going to get another good idea, or if I did, I’d have to slave over it.” C'mon! You don't slave over your writing? Really? image via NY Times Everyone who believes this, please cluck like a turkey. Visit Bob's web...

Nov.20.2012

RIP Roth?

I hope I can say as much (see link) about myself at some future time. But will Roth quit writing? I'm betting he won't. I don't think I would unless physically or mentally incapacitated. Philip Roth Salon Visit Bob's web site here, and his FB Fan Page here.

Nov.17.2012

How Dead is the Book Business?/NYT

The crux of this article makes its title something of a misnomer. The real issue is: Will the tech giants, such as Amazon and Apple, ignore the innovations of those scrabbling about in their wake - and eventually damage the U.S. economy? image via NY Times NYTimes

Nov.16.2012

Serious Miscellanea

The Atlantic, November 2012 When I read the magazines I blog on, I’m always on the lookout for a common theme, no matter how tenuous. In this case, I found no satisfaction in that; still it’s one of the better issues I’ve read. It is, after all, the “Brave Thinkers” issue for this year, and that...

Nov.15.2012

Truth In Australia

Creative Nonfiction, Fall 2012 Australia, as a continent, is unique: its flora and fauna, it’s native people, and the circumstances that brought white immigration to the continent. All are rather unique in the ongoing story of planet Earth. So Lee Gutkind was well served to focus an issue...

Nov.15.2012

A Novel Novel Incident

Literature often speaks louder than military or political strengths or the press' muscle, and Louise Erdrich's new novel, "The Round House," speaks to the ways of Native Americans, a submerged minority we often hear little about. Louise Erdrich Congratulations to Erdrich, a Native American, for...

Nov.14.2012

An Awareness of Technique and Structure

The Writer’s Chronicle, December 2012 image via fictionwritersreview.com This issue seems to be heavily weighted toward poets - so if you’re of that persuasion, take note, because I honestly don’t know what to say these days about poetry and poets. But under the cover of prose, a couple of...

Nov.13.2012

Indie Presses - Filling the Gap

Poets and Writers, November/December, 2012 What with the drama that continues to unfold within the publishing world, a drama that seems to be benefitting no one these days, it seems, except the corporate masters and their stockholders, the world has gotten a whole lot harder for us writers...

Continue Reading » 4 comments

Nov.12.2012

The Reality of Things

It's magazine week again, so let's dispense with the political smoke today and move on. Harper’s Monthly - November 2012 We here in the U.S. have been ensnared of late with presidential election kerfuffles, both candidates and their surrogates disputing the claims of the other, and a cottage...

Nov.10.2012

Tell 'Em the Real

My short story collection is nearing publication, the date set, only a few short months away. So how do I handle publicity? Signings? Speaking engagements? image via ducttapemarketingconsultant.com My publisher, a rather savvy author in his own "write," downplays the value of readings at such meet...

We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. ”

—ERNEST HEMINGWAY, New York Journal-American, Jul. 11, 1961

About Bob

I've been a North Carolina Writers Network writer-in-residence at Peace College under Doris Betts' guiding hand. In the early '90s, I was the editor of a small literary journal,The Rural Sophisticate, based in Georgia. My work has appeared in The...

Read full bio »