One Thing's Sure And Nothing Surer. The

A Small Profit Is Better Than A Big Loss.

Furthermore, Even If Ideas Were Gettable - Say, Stacked In A Secluded Cave Like The Dead Sea Scrolls - I Wouldn't Go There. An 'idea,' Especially One Adhered To From Start To Finish, Can Be Disastrous For A Compelling Piece Of Fiction.

It Struck Her How Eating Was A Comfort During A Hard Time Because It Reminded You That There Had Been Other Days, Good Days, When You’d Eaten The Same Thing. Reminded You There Were Good Days In Life, When Precious Little Else Did. (268)

John Lane Has Long Been Recognized As One Of The South's Finest Poets And Memoirists. This Debut Establishes Him As One Of Our Finest Novelists As Well. His Poet's Eye For Detail Seamlessly Merges With A Born Storyteller's Gift For Narrative. Fate Moreland's Widow Gives Voice To Those Who Endured One Of The Most Painful And Neglected Chapters In American History.

I Usually Do At Least A Dozen Drafts And Progressively Make More-conscious Decisions. Because I've Always Believed Stories Are Closer To Poems Than Novels, I Spend A Lot Of Time On The Story's Larger Rhythms, Such As Sentence And Paragraph Length, Placement Of Flashbacks And Dialogue.