Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry


Book Description

Presents a collection of short stories that center around the theme of love and characters who must deal with its unpredictability and contradictions.




Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry


Book Description

The ten stories in this debut collection examine the perils of love and what it means to live during an era when people will offer themselves, almost unthinkingly, to strangers. Risks and repercussions are never fully weighed. People leap and almost always land on rocky ground. May-December romances flourish in these stories, as do self-doubt and, in most cases, serious regret. Mysterious, dangerous benefactors, dead and living artists, movie stars and college professors, plagiarists, and distinguished foreign novelists are among the many different characters. No one is blameless, but villains are difficult to single out-everyone seemingly bears responsibility for his or her desires and for the outcome of difficult choices so often made hopefully and naively.




Pictures and Tears


Book Description

This deeply personal account of emotion and vulnerability draws upon anecdotes related to individual works of art to present a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past.




Little Known Facts


Book Description

'Impressive . . . hypnotic . . . hard to put the book down. . . . Sneed is such a gifted writer.' - Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times Book Review




The Virginity of Famous Men


Book Description

The Virginity of Famous Men, award-winning story writer Christine Sneed's deeply perceptive collection on the human condition, features protagonists attempting to make peace with the choices--both personal and professional--they have so far made. In “The Prettiest Girls,” a location scout for a Hollywood film studio falls in love with a young Mexican woman who is more in love with the idea of stardom than with this older American man who takes her with him back to California. “Clear Conscience” focuses on the themes of family loyalty, divorce, motherhood, and whether “doing the right thing” is, in fact, always the right thing to do. In “Beach Vacation,” a mother realizes that her popular and coddled teenage son has become someone she has difficulty relating to, let alone loving with the same maternal fervor that once was second nature to her. The title story, “The Virginity of Famous Men,” explores family and fortune. Long intrigued by love and loneliness, Sneed leads readers through emotional landscapes both familiar and uncharted. These probing stories are explorations of the compassionate and passionate impulses that are inherent in--and often the source of--both abiding joy and serious distress in every human life.




2015 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market


Book Description

The Best Resource for Getting Your Fiction Published! The 2015 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market is the only resource you'll need to get your short stories, novellas, and novels published. As with past editions, Novel & Short Story Writer's Market offers hundreds of listings for book publishers, literary agents, fiction publications, contests, and more. Each listing includes contact information, submission guidelines, and other important tips. New to this year's edition: Gain access to the exclusive webinar "Blockbuster Fiction: Exploring Emotional High Points in Popular Films" from best-selling author Cheryl St. John. This 45-minute webinar explores the ten most popular films of 2013--including Frozen, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, and more--to show you how to create intense, emotional, engrossing moments in your fiction. When you make your readers care about your characters and your story, you'll evoke excitement, indignation, fear, anxiety, tears, and laughter--and keep them hooked from start to finish. You'll also find articles and interviews on all aspects of the writing life, from in-depth lessons on craft and technique to helpful advice on getting published and marketing your work. The 2015 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market offers everything a fiction writer needs to achieve publishing success, including articles and essays like these: • J.T. Ellison, New York Times best-selling author, reveals how to capture â€" and keep â€" reader interest. • Ransom Riggs, mega-popular YA novelist, shares advice on writing out-of-the-ordinary fiction. • Chuck Wendig, hybrid author extraordinaire, talks about the pros and cons of traditional and self-publishing. You'll also receive: • A free digital download of Writer's Yearbook featuring the 100 Best Markets "If you're looking for the best resource for connecting with publishers who are hungry for your fiction, you've found it. Ten novels ago I got my start as an author using Writer's Market guides." -Steven James, writing instructor and best-selling author of The King and Story Trumps Structure "If you can't go to every literary cocktail party in New York, get this book. It's an instant network." -Elizabeth Sims, best-selling author of You've Got a Book in You




Remarkable Women


Book Description

A collection of articles from the Chicago Tribune's popular feature that profiles the life of a different Chicago-area woman every week, telling their most fascinating stories from youth through to the present. These women are everyday examples of inspiring, hardworking, and determined role models whose successes are too often overshadowed. These are stories of women who make a positive difference in society and their surrounding environments. From nonprofit organizers to business executives, local educators to community leaders, and athletes to artists, this book features an eclectic mix of women who run the professional gamut. What they all share, though, is what lends the series its name: they are simply remarkable.




The Southern Review 48.1


Book Description

Ring in the New Year in style with The Southern Review's jewel-studded winter 2012 issue. Featured poets include Charles Simic, Mary Ruefle, Stephen Dunn, Bob Hicok, Wendy Barker, Elana Bell, Daniel Johnson, and Anna Journey. A snow-dusted Copenhagen at Christmas is the site of Thomas E. Kennedy's surprising and movingly human account of what it means to face death and emerge grateful to the world. Jason Brown brings us "Wintering Over," a chilling story about an artist couple isolated in a neglected Maine house over a winter that may be prove too long for them to endure. New fiction by Stuart Dybek, Christie Hodgen, Christine Sneed, Ted Sanders, and Reese Okyong Kwon joins nonfiction by Rachel Ida Buff and paintings by Gwyneth Scally.




Paris, He Said


Book Description

Jayne Marks is questioning the choices she has made in the years since college and is struggling to pay her bills in Manhattan when she is given the opportunity to move to Paris with her wealthy lover and benefactor, Laurent Moller, who owns and operates two art galleries, one in New York, the other in Paris. He offers her the time and financial support she needs to begin her career as a painter and also challenges her to see who and what she will become if she meets her artistic potential. Laurent, however, seems to have other women in his life and Jayne, too, has an ex-boyfriend, much closer to her own age, whom she still has feelings for. Bringing Paris gloriously to life, Paris, He Said is a novel about desire, beauty, and its appreciation, and of finding yourself presented with the things you believe you've always wanted, only to wonder where true happiness lies.




Before We Were Strangers


Book Description

From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Sweet Thing and Nowhere But Here comes a love story about a Craigslist “missed connection” post that gives two people a second chance at love fifteen years after they were separated in New York City. To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more. We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other. Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding… I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello. After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half? M