Caroline Bock's Blog: Caroline Anna Bock Writes

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Carry Her Home, my debut collection of short stories, winner of the 2018 Fiction Award from the venerable small cooperative press- The Washington Writers' Publishing House- is just published this month!








All I can do is shout: YEAH!

And say with much gratitude: Thank you for reading.
Caroline

You are invited!
Join me at the following eventsfor CARRY HER HOME, my debut short story collection, winner of the 2018 Fiction Award from the Washington Writers' Publishing House. All these events are FREE and open to the public:
Sunday, October 21 from 1-2 pmPolitics & Prose BookstoreWashington, DC
Thursday, November 8 from 7-8 pmOne More Page BooksArlington, VA
Saturday, November 10th from 2-3 pmThe Writer's CenterChevy Chase, MD
I look forward to seeing you! More events coming soon.  
-- Caroline

"Throwing Snowballs at Penguins" takes place in 2028, and even more, it's the start of what I hope to be my next novel. You can read the story (it's short--about a three-minute read, only 750 words!) and have a sneak peak at this futuristic novel...at the Akashic Books' new web series, Fri-SciFi. Here's the link: http://www.akashicbooks.com/throwing-snowballs-at-penguins-by-Caroline-bock/

Happy Holidays 2017!Happy New Year!Read on! Stories matter.

Caroline

In the middle of hopscotch, I
stopped, quivering, my legs wide open on the six and seven chalked on the driveway. Cool air
scoured my knees. My face
blanched. The nubs of my chest
curled up. I flung the potsie off into the blue pine tree. I was too old for hopscotch. I wasn���t playing the game against
anybody but myself.I was
alone in the deep way that being outside in the pre-dawn in your nightgown and
bare feet makes you alone.

I was losing the
night. The dawn stretched across the end of the block, where the road curved
away from our neighborhood, where a stream bounded a field, and flowed away. I
had always wanted to know where that stream led, and maybe this weekend, I���d
follow it, but who was I kidding? I had too many responsibilities to play the adventurer (or so I thought at fourteen). I shivered, the cold and light rooting into me. I
forced myself to stand absolutely still; I could do this if I had to do.

If you like speculative fiction rooted in realism, if you like a bit of magic realism, if you ever stood in a forest and wondered about the vitality of trees, this debut novel, TreeVolution, is for you. Set in the Pacific Northwest, with three rotating main characters-- researcher Tamia, Native American Charlie, and young Ricky-- something is immediately very wrong. The pines, cottonwoods, beautiful trees are under attack by poachers.
TreeVolution
The pines, cottonwoods, all the trees are under attack by poachers. Even more so, the trees are aware they are under attack-- and are readying to fight back. I particularly loved the complicated Charlie, as he searches for answers to his own past, his own history and stories, as well as clues to his future and the future of the trees.

I would have love to see the enemy -- ArborTech-- poachers -- developers-- more dramatically drawn out. I wanted to feel the trees danger at points. I wanted to look into the eyes of their enemies.

Ultimately, I cheered on TreeVolution, for its ideas and its story. I rooted for Charlie, and all the characters, and most of all, I rooted for the trees.

--Caroline

I recently read two debut novels, which I would very much recommend to any reader, writer, or in particular, to book clubs looking for though-provoking books about 20-something women making big decisions:




and





I've posted my full reviews of each novel on Goodreads as well...

Kudos to both of these writers!

Read on!!
Caroline

My 17-year-old son has no interest in seeing the new Blade
Runner movie, and neither do his friends. Why? They can't or don't want to
relate to a dark vision of the technology. They are technological natives. They
want careers in tech; they see the promise of tech. They have no connection to
the original Blade Runner. They rarely go to the movies in the first place.
They have their gaming worlds, their drowning amount of homework (these are
bright kids:), their worries fueled by every day grown ups who can't or won't be
upfront with them about the perils of climate change they see all around them
in stronger storms. They live with inconvenient truths, with dystopian reality,
and don't need or desire it in movies now in their lives. They want a future,
however, not this one, not this film. Blame Trump. Blame ourselves, their
parents, or creators.
Thoughts from other parents??Or, am I only a replicant?
Caroline

Thrilled to share news that my short story, "SWEETNESS" is included in the new anthology THE WAY TO MY HEART :  an anthology of food-related romance edited by the fabulous Kelly Ann Jacobson. And even nicer news���it was honored with the first place award.

From the judge Josephine Yu: "I was impressed by the voice and complexity of
���Sweetness��� and the paradox it draws between Italian words and the foreign language
of a medical diagnosis. The bittersweet choice the narrator makes reminds us
that love in any stage or condition is worth savoring."

Molte Grazie (Many thanks!!) from a grateful writer
This anthology is available now via Amazon.

Writing is easy��� just
a matter of staring at blank page until your forehead bleeds-- Gene Fowler. Gene Fowler was a screenwriter during the Golden Era of
Hollywood. Today, we���d have to modify his quote to read ���staring at a blank
screen.��� But the idea is the same. We struggle as writers. The screen stays
blank. We wish for blood. Worse yet, we have no one else to commiserate with
except other writers (thank goodness for she writes). We obsess. I obsessed
about the title for my debut novel and even changed it after it was sold to St.
Martin���s Press.   
My novel was originally titled: L.I.E.
......the rest of this article can be found at www.shewrites.com  -- where I am the guest editor all week!!  This is an amazing website dedicated to building a community online for women writers.  Check out the rest of my article on "What We Talk About When We Talk About Book Titles" at www.shewrites.com.

I will return to my poem -- "Idiot Box" -- next week!!
Truly, the author of LIE.