Sarah Cypher's Blog

Discovery and Redefinition: Creating Openness and Agency via Queer Growth Routes The following is the graduate class I gave on queer narrative structures and how and why the queer writer might choose to depart from conventions.   So picture, for a second, a sidewalk. There’s a crack in the pavement. Picture the dandelion finding its way ... Read More »

The post Plot and Queer Structure appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

She will be fifty when she tries to shoot her first snake. By then she will be tending daily to the slope of lawn behind her property’s cinderblock garage and tiny ranch house. The house was new in 1951, and though she will dislike its rusty well water and damp basement walls, she will take ... Read More »

The post My new story, “The Overkill,” in LEON Literary Review appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

Dwayne follows his black lab down the gravel driveway to greet us, using a maul as a walking stick. We are two wives in upscale casual clothes, with our geriatric dogs and preposterous notion of a holiday. He’s our age, wearing boots saturated with round-the-clock dust, and there’s something dazed and profoundly literal about him. ... Read More »

The post “A Letter from California” published in Majuscule Lit appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

First of all, it was poppy season. It was poppy season in Palestine and it was poppy season in California. For all that separated the two places, this particular flower makes everybody happy. It’s California’s state flower, and Erin and I always point them out to each other along the roadsides as though the neon orange ... Read More »

The post Imagining Either/And appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

First of all, it was poppy season. It was poppy season in Palestine and it was poppy season in California. For all that separated the two places, this particular flower makes everybody happy. It’s California’s state flower, and Erin and I always point them out to each other along the roadsides as though the neon orange ... Read More »

The post Israel/Palestine: Imagining the Either/And appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro My rating: 3 of 5 stars February 27, 2019 Ishiguro’s approach to his material is initially enthralling: canny and deft, as you’d expect from the author of The Remains of the Day—and in it, we see the same concern with unapproachable love, the separation that results from stratified ... Read More »

The post Book Review: Kazuo Ishiguro’s NEVER LET ME GO appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, outdoors ::.

I learned in 2018 that there isn’t enough of me to edit full-time and write full-time, and thanks to a timely grant, some soul-searching, and a boatload of moral support from my better half, 2019 is the year to create some changes. I’ve been editing manuscripts since 1999. Lately, it feels like work I started in ... Read More »

The post Renovations appeared first on Sarah Cypher :: writing, photography, hard liquor when you least expect it :: .

I’m delighted to announce the 2nd edition of THE EDITOR’S LEXICON, a relaunch of my flagship writer’s guide in what will be a series of books aimed at helping writers put editorial feedback to work in their revisions. This one defines and explains the most common language you hear in critique letters and workshops, and ... Read More »

The post EdLex 2.0 appeared first on Sarah Cypher.

On Thursday 11/30 at 5:30 p.m. in the SF Library Main Branch, I’ll be sharing share tips for crafting diplomatic author queries and other author-positive notes. From my experience as an editor and fiction writer, I’m looking forward to sharing insights and tools that will help fellow editors learn to apply diplomacy for best results: ... Read More »

The post Speaking event: Diplomatic Author Queries appeared first on Sarah Cypher.

I’ve had an unusual career progression. When my undergraduate classmates were either collecting their degrees to head straight into MFA writing programs or moving to New York to break into the publishing industry, I already knew what I wanted to do: go to Portland, work for myself. A relationship with books was mandatory, though the ... Read More »

The post How MFA Writing Is and Isn’t Changing My Editing Style appeared first on Sarah Cypher.