tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36495439316214172272024-02-06T23:08:19.537-05:00Vicariously Yoursin which Sarah Layden grapples with the pixelization of humankindSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-78853725252704484952023-11-12T15:31:00.000-05:002023-11-12T15:31:16.601-05:00On Endings, On Writing, on MFA Programs This essay was first published by Women Writers, Women's Books: http://booksbywomen.org/sarah-layden-on-writing/Many years ago, while commuting to my MFA program in
creative writing, I made a habit of seeking out an old windmill along my route.
It was both a landmark for the distance I had yet to travel, and a reminder
that I was back home again in Indiana after years away.
Now that Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-21781260754808724002021-06-03T10:05:00.002-04:002021-06-03T10:27:00.724-04:00Recent bylines Long time, no time, le blogger! My website "links" page has more or less taken the place of writing updates. It's been a busy spring in the home office, where pajamas are mandatory and showers...need to happen more often. In recent weeks, the noise of the Brood X cicadas has made it hard to concentrate; it is as if they have hypnotized us and now all we can think about is mating and dying. Not Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-45870480471093713272021-01-17T10:38:00.000-05:002021-01-17T10:38:07.416-05:00Five lines in five minutes 1. Sunday morning writing, light snowfall, good coffee, space heater in my home office/guest bedroom (which has housed no guests in many months): an inventory of small and important happiness. 2. I do not want to download the game my children want me to download, which is not compatible with their devices and is compatible with the aging computer I use for work, and also the tablet I Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-33797194873430453542020-01-22T08:32:00.002-05:002020-01-29T08:40:56.458-05:00Best Microfiction 2020
When I saw my name and story on the list for Best Microfiction 2020, I yelled. So grateful to guest editor Michael Martone and series editors Meg Pokrass and Gary Fincke for including "The Jumper" in the book, which comes out in April. And hooray for Michael Czyzniejewski and Moon City Review for originally publishing my story. Now let me yell about the many glorious writers and Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-18015480682250862982019-10-25T10:13:00.000-04:002019-10-25T10:13:57.653-04:00Patricia Henley's HUMMINGBIRD HOUSEUp now at The Millions, my interview with Patricia Henley, whose acclaimed novel HUMMINGBIRD HOUSE is being re-released by Haywire Books as a special 20th anniversary edition.
Says Patricia: "It took 10 years from the original idea to holding the book in my
hand. I went through two agents. Neither liked the story or thought it
had a chance. I made five trips to Central America. I was Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-45712629180296164532019-07-29T17:01:00.001-04:002024-01-24T13:36:39.611-05:00Please welcome, uh, MY favorite band
I have spent a good portion of the summer enmeshed in books and music, thinking and recharging. Recently I've given a re-listen to "Across a Wire," a live album by Counting Crows. It opens with a man saying, "Please welcome, uh, MY favorite band, Counting Crows." I know his voice so well from repeated listenings, but I don't know who he is.
Perhaps his name is in the liner notes, but Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-52000843067342936242019-02-25T08:47:00.003-05:002019-02-25T08:48:34.384-05:00SleuthingAll this family and historical research I've been doing made me remember a short story I wrote in sixth grade, called "Sarah Sleuth," which was most certainly NOT autobiographical, and most certainly WAS filled with mystery and drama. Finally tracked down the original in a box of school papers my mom saved for me. A sampling:
Who doesn't enjoy relaxing in a thick recliner after getting back Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-46938692064700178112019-02-18T09:24:00.003-05:002019-02-18T09:26:31.915-05:00Missing NewspapersIn our quest to learn more about an event in our family history (see previous post: The Mysteries of Family History: Naming Names), my Dad and I have done quite a bit of research in libraries, archives, and online.
Newspaper accounts of the event in question have been indispensable: the first big find on microfiche blew up long-held family myths about what happened and how. Over time, stories Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-57625133648217887022018-11-29T13:55:00.002-05:002018-11-30T10:42:46.862-05:00The Mysteries of Family History: Naming Names
My friends and family -- and anyone else who's been within ten feet of me for the last couple years -- know that my father and I have been researching events in our family history that happened in 1874-76 in Warren and Fountain counties, Indiana.
Here's an abridged version of what we know so far: In August of 1874, near Independence/Attica, Tade
Layden got into an Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-6652103599414644172018-11-29T10:05:00.004-05:002018-11-29T10:07:27.281-05:00Salem Cemetery, Attica, Indiana
Salem Cemetery
A shop on Attica's Main Street
&Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-57981174878676173852018-11-26T10:57:00.003-05:002019-07-31T15:48:40.465-04:00Sixish lines in sixish minutes1. Enjoyed my 25th high school reunion earlier this month (Go Wildcats!), though it was sparsely attended and many of my local peeps opted out. "We already see who we want to see. Plus there's Facebook." Have since taken a deep dive into my yearbook and high school journal. OMG. Burn that business. Or post on Instagram with witty remarks. SuperLatergram. Also am celebrating the 25+ anniversary ofSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-86761243251599412152018-07-11T07:56:00.000-04:002018-07-11T07:56:05.972-04:00"Is there gas in the car?" "Yes, there's gas in the car."
Name the artist of the above lyrics along with the location of this photo, and I will send you a random thing I pull from my desk drawer. (I've got good stuff in there.)
Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-85969510975712115382018-07-11T07:51:00.000-04:002018-07-11T07:51:12.524-04:00Summer reading Very much appreciate these kind words from in NUVO about my forthcoming chapbook, The Story I Tell Myself About Myself. It'll be out in August -- details on preorders coming soon. (What company to be in...Michael Martone, Adrian Matejka, Jay Coles, Mitchell L.H. Douglas, Bru Baker, Ma'Desa Kinchlow, Missy Dehn Kubitschek, Justin Lehmiller, & Meri Henriques Vahl.) Thanks, Dan Grossman and Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-58638800415657448102018-01-05T12:19:00.001-05:002018-01-05T12:20:26.562-05:00Forthcoming ChapbookVery excited to share that my flash fiction chapbook, THE STORY I TELL MYSELF ABOUT MYSELF, was selected as the winner of The Sonder Press 2017 Chapbook Competition:
It will be out in July. Very much looking forward to this. And now that my spring syllabi are DONE and loaded onto the class apparatus, I'm celebrating with some middle-aged fun times: chiropractor visit and a trip to IKEA. And Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-20081337928399938942017-06-13T10:30:00.000-04:002017-06-13T10:26:36.712-04:00Wishful Thinking: The U2 Edition I'm going to see The Joshua Tree tour. Twice. Which I have never done before, for any band, ever. Anybody know anybody at MetLife/Meadowlands for 6/28, or Lucas Oil Stadium for 9/10, who might be able to help arrange the following scenario? Wishful thinking. Yes.
(Originally published June 22, 2015)
Tomorrow is a radio station promotion, U-Tuesday, in which WTTS FM 92.3 will give away Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-24119285234019421452017-05-01T21:19:00.001-04:002017-05-01T21:19:44.813-04:00New at Salon: "Why I Banned 'The Handmaid's Tale,' and Why We Need it More than Ever" Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-33370948265471593722017-01-13T10:44:00.005-05:002017-01-13T10:44:53.070-05:00Six lines in six minutes1. Sometimes I begin writing by quoting song lyrics, like the ones in my head right now: Disarm you with a smile. I quit/I give up/Nothing's good enough for anybody else/It seems.
2. I'm listening to the audiobook of Lauren Graham's TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN, which advocates her mentor's "kitchen timer" method for writing, which reminds me that my beautiful bright orange French kitchen timer fromSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-30455086326392360982017-01-03T15:48:00.001-05:002017-01-03T15:48:51.689-05:00Sample of Trip Through Your Wires audiobookSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-11842958797365260612016-11-29T20:24:00.002-05:002016-11-29T20:24:42.948-05:00Fire eater, San Luis Potosi, 1992Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-15239545123236799202016-11-06T13:52:00.000-05:002016-11-06T14:19:30.053-05:00For Jeff, RIPSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-28235838913894918432016-10-19T09:16:00.001-04:002016-10-19T09:17:59.140-04:00New Indiana Repertory Theater production, Finding Home: Indiana at 200Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-32097069361151618572016-09-21T20:31:00.002-04:002016-09-21T20:31:57.722-04:00Indy Literary Pub Crawl on Saturday!
Purchase tickets to the crawl here: http://www.indyliterarypubcrawl.com/Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-47196977132096385222016-09-01T14:40:00.000-04:002016-09-01T14:40:09.419-04:00Goodreads Giveaway! To celebrate the
audiobook release of TRIP THROUGH YOUR WIRES, enter to win a prize pack
that includes a signed paperback of the novel, an Audible.com code for
the audiobook, and a souvenir.
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.goodreadsGiveawayWidget { color: #555; font-family: georgia, serif; font-weight: normal; text-align: left;Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-67596223198577517052016-08-29T09:14:00.002-04:002016-08-29T09:14:51.232-04:00Church, Central Mexico Sarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3649543931621417227.post-41827620161221651932016-08-24T11:06:00.000-04:002016-08-24T11:06:08.673-04:00For your earsSarah Laydenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07786701982890594617noreply@blogger.com0