Me [waltzing in, whistling]: Gone from the blog for more than a year? Don't know what you're talking about. There never was a Time stamp. Nope. Wrong! Sad! Enoguh with the FAKE NEWS!!!!!! ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE! Believe me, I am a Excellent Writer and know Exactly how to use capitals for emphasis. Your pour …
Talking shop: fiction’s missing girls, writer v. author, small towns, lyrics, + more
Happy to have had the chance to talk about writing and Sycamore with E. Ce Miller at Bustle and Sam Hankin at The Avid Reader Show (a podcast); Sam also owns the Wellington Square Bookshop (shop local and indie, y'all!). Many, many thanks to both E. Ce and Sam for taking the time to read …
How to Write Suspense (subhed: Wait, I Write Suspense?)
Delighted to have a short craft essay, "How to Write Suspense," up over at Publisher's Weekly Tip Sheet related to Sycamore. Thanks much to PW for having me. Back when PW asked if I could write it, my first response was to laugh. How to write suspense? I have no idea. Is that what I …
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SYCAMORE pub day!
Hard for me to believe it, but Sycamore, my debut novel, lands in the world officially today. Read an excerpt on LitHub Listen to a sample of the Audiobook You can borrow it at your favorite library (I heart librarians, as I wrote here). Of course, you can buy it. I encourage you to shop …
Sample audio from Sycamore
Incredibly cool to hear this audiobook snippet from Sycamore. Performed by the wonderful Cassandra Campbell, Steven Jay Cohen, Sara Morsey, Xe Sands, and Teri Schnaubelt. Thanks to them for bringing it so beautifully to life. I can't wait to hear all of it (out 5/9!) https://soundcloud.com/harperaudio_us/sycamore-by-bryn-chancellor?in=harperaudio_us/sets/harperbooks
Q&A: On being haunted, small towns, and cats in boxes
Was happy to do this interview with the wonderful novelist Caroline Leavitt over at her terrific blog, CAROLINELEAVITTVILLE.
Imaginary Soundtracks, Vol. 1
Mixing it up here at the old blog by, you know, actually writing on it. "Mix,” in fact, is the word on my mind today. As in, “Get ready for a mixed-up, mixed bag of a post.” Or, “How many mixed metaphors can I throw into the mix today?” Or, “Our reckless, moronic loon of …
Here is the day
One of the first lines I wrote in the wake of The Vote was "I have lost my words." I had gone mute with grief and rage and fear. But I had to teach, to stand in front of young scared faces who looked to me to tell them the world would not end. I …
When the brakes fail, and other metaphors
The US election and its fallout coincided with our move across town. We'd spent ten months searching for a place in a bonkers housing market, which ran parallel with a total-barking-bananas election season. Finally we found a little house we could afford; we were thrilled and optimistic, even though the timing stunk (how could the …
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Joy outside the door
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips/Bidding adieu -- John Keats, "Ode on Melancholy" August. You again. I lamented your presence a few years back, and I stand by it. This year you also coincide with a hellacious US political sh*tshow featuring an overtly racist, sexist, xenophobic, hate-mongering, spray-tanned stinkbomb of a presidential candidate …