D. A. Hosek

Category: writing

  • Beautiful Sentences: Denis Johnson

    Looking at her I thought of going out in the fields with my wife back when we were so in love we didn’t know what it was. Denis Johnson, Jesus’ Son.

  • Beautiful sentences: David Bezmogis

    Though he did not want to desecrate his grief, Alec nonetheless said, I just buried my father, I’d like to come up. David Bezmogis, The Free World.

  • Beautiful sentences: Terese Svoboda

    At least we have our own cell to settle in. At least the baby doesn’t die of the shot the way he could have, with all the cell fleas and a flesh wound and no mother. He is used to Sharon more anyway is what I suppose, what with the mother no doubt seeping milk…

  • Beautiful Sentences: Lillian S. Robinson

    But ours is a movement that is only half certain where it is marching, and poetry is more often relegated to the “cultural events,” the entertainment segment of feminist conferences, rallies, and meetings, the thing we drop into when the real political work is over. It needs to be more than that, and I am…

  • 2016 in rejections (and acceptances)

    I set a goal for the year of 200 rejections (with the idea that the number of acceptances would likewise increase). I fell well short of my goal, however, with only 144. The number isn’t reflected in the chart above since it also includes rejections from queries and poetry (more about this later). I tweeted…

  • “Girls”: The Story behind the Story

    I think “Girls” will win the prize for the longest gestation period of any story I’ve ever written. The opening sentence is exactly as I wrote it in 1984 as part of my autobiography for Mr Caravello’s sophomore English class. Mr Caravello liked that so much he had me read it out loud to the…

  • “Our Lady of the Freeway”: The Story Behind the Story

    You can purchase a copy of Headland Journal No. 6 here to read “Our Lady of the Freeway.” This is a story I’ve been trying to write for almost thirty years. Preparing to write this post, I spent a bunch of time digging through my notebook covering 1988–1991 but didn’t find any trace of this, although…

  • 2015 in rejections (and acceptances)

    My submissions in 2015 dipped somewhat as did the favorable-ish rate which dropped from 27% last year to 24% this year with just one acceptance which was a hangover from my 2014 submissions. I’m closing the year with 20 pending submissions with the oldest having gone out on 5 May. I also, per my goals…

  • And draft twelve is done

    Finally, I think I have the novel in a good enough state to start querying.  The chart above is one of those things that comes from obsessively tracking my writing. I can see my word count through each of the revisions. All the jagged lines that start from the bottom of the page are the…