Kirkus Reviews!
June 25, 2014 § Leave a comment
“Immersive, like the best of historical fiction . . . This riveting portrayal of early Colonial New England shines a speculative but compelling light on the time and place.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Read the full review here. 
Interview with Alden Jones up at Fiction Writers Review
June 17, 2014 § Leave a comment
I recently had a chance to talk about the writing craft with the brilliant and fascinating Alden Jones, who’s made a splash this year with two great new books: a highly acclaimed travel memoir and a short fiction collection that is among the best I’ve read in the last few years. In the interview, which is now up at Fiction Writers Review, we talk about some of the differences between writing fiction and nonfiction, how exotic and/or extreme experiences can be transmuted into narrative, the benefits of publishing your work with small presses, and much more. Here’s a quick excerpt:
“I especially like to explore characters who think they understand their motives, when really they are after something entirely different than they think they are. But I think some contemporary fiction writers condescend to their characters this way—for example, I love Jonathan Franzen, but sometimes I wonder if he spends hundreds of pages developing a character for the purpose of exposing every single shortcoming, mining for humor at the character’s expense—and I don’t want to do that. I like to think I respect my characters, but know them better than they happen to know themselves in the particular situation in which I’ve placed them.”
Good stuff. You can read the full interview here.
Early Reviews: Will Poole’s Island
June 8, 2014 § 1 Comment
Ron Samul of the New London Patch has written a thoughtful advance review of Will Poole’s Island. Here’s an excerpt:
“Will Poole’s Island is more than a coming of age story . . . the reader is left with a longing to find that place, that moment when everything is right and the everything is possible. It is a longing we all search for spiritually, geographically, and emotionally. This book proves that oppression, obstacles, fate, and the world we live in should not stop us from seeking that place. If we can’t find it right now, walk in the shoes of Will Poole and rediscover that lost island in your life. It will inspire you.” Click here to read the full review.
Author and blogger Patrick Joyce has also written eloquently about the book:
“Will Poole put me in mind of other boys in other places who ran away into the great wide world, searching for their place in it, also casting their lots with a social or cultural Other: Huck Finn, Jim Hawkins, and, most of all, Kim. Their stories had equally strong senses of place, with a similar innocence; Kipling’s Kim combined those with a spiritual element. And like Kim, Will Poole’s Island ends with a satisfying, ethereal quality.” Click here to read the full review.
The official launch date of the paperback is August 15, but books are already available to order from Nantucket Book Partners, Amazon, Powell’s, Barnes & Noble, or through your own favorite independent bookstore. For occasional news and updates, “like” the Will Poole’s Island page on Facebook.
Tim Weed 