D. A. Hosek

Category: writing

  • “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…

  • Beautiful sentences

    I think hope is the worst thing in the world. I really do. It makes a fool of you while it lasts. And then when it’s gone, it’s like there’s nothing left of you at all. Marilynne Robinson, Home.

  • Beautiful sentences

    Jack glanced up at her blandly, not quite smiling, touching his fingertips together as if there were no such thing in the world as a hint. Marilynne Robinson, Home.

  • Beautiful sentences

    I didn’t want to go home. My wife was different than she used to be, and we had a six-month-old baby I was afraid of, a little son. Denis Johnson, Jesus’ Son

  • Beautiful sentences

    When the pie was done and the roast was in the oven and the biscuits were made and set aside and the old man had nodded off in the warmth of the kitchen, Jack went upstairs and Glory sat down to read for a while. Marilynne Robinson, Home. 

  • 2014 in rejections (and acceptances)

    2014 apparently ended up being the year that I got the most pieces out thusfar (although the general trend has been upwards). My personal rejection rate is up to 25% from 20%, a new record and this year’s acceptance rate came out at 3.1% (three acceptances versus 93 rejections).  My plan for 2015: Finish draft…