20 May '08

Tobias Wolff Award

A few years ago, after reading Tobias Wolff's novel Old School, I wondered what had taken me so long to discover his work. Fortunately I read Old School after finishing my similarly-themed first novel. Otherwise--and I can pretty well guarantee this--Wolff's voice would have crept into my work, looked around, and asked: "Just what the hell are all these adjectives doing here?"

Which may not have been a bad thing. Anyway, I'm proud to announce I've been selected as a finalist for the Tobias Wolff Award for Short Fiction, for my story "The Love Life of Tigers." I'll make the story available on my site after the judging is finished.

What else. Two years ago saw the Coolidge Corner Theater premiere of my short horror film "The Last Job." Since then I've been kicking around the idea of expanding the script into feature length, and last night (2 a.m. to be exact) I decided I'm done kicking that poor idea. I'm giving the damn thing a shot. Granted, most 2 a.m. ideas are not so good--we're moving to Perth, we're replacing our siding with vinyl, etc.--but this one just might work. 

Quick note: My wife and I have never considered a move to Perth, nor a switch to vinyl. Given the choice, we'd take Perth.