Propeller Magazine Interview

Alex Behr and I went to have tea on a Saturday inside a now-defunct caboose in Southeast Portland.

The place is usually quiet and comfortable but for some reason on the afternoon of our interview, the place was crawling with high school kids hanging out there, talking and laughing and mostly on their phones, and then leaning over to show each other things on their phones.

It ended up being the perfect imperfect place to talk about writing and editing and character and craft and film and photography, and the result is this wonderful piece Alex has written for Propeller Magazine on PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

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You can read the full interview here at Propeller.

Emerging Writers Network

Got the best valentine this year:

Dan Wickett, co-founder of Dzanc Books, featured the story “Sure Footing” from PEOPLE LIKE YOU on his long-standing Emerging Writers Network site as a Work of the Day.

For those of you who might not know, Dan Wickett has spent years bringing attention to emerging writers in literature and their books. He is a truly legendary figure among writers.

I’m honored he included a story from the collection on his site.

Thanks so much, Dan.

 

NewPages Review is up for People Like You

If you’re a writer, especially of short fiction and/or essays, you are a big fan of the folks at New Pages – the preeminent gathering place of literary magazines, independent presses, indie bookstores… you get the idea.

The NewPages review came out this morning for PEOPLE LIKE YOU and I couldn’t more excited to share it with you. Especially because it has this awesome line in it:

“…put a post-it note on your forehead with Margaret Malone’s name on it. You won’t want to miss her next act.”

Big big thanks to NewPages.com for continuing their legacy of reaching out past the big publishing houses and writers to connect readers and working writers with the world. And thanks to writer David Breithaupt for the close read and the beautiful review.

Go here for the full review.

Second Printing!

I’m ecstatic to share that PEOPLE LIKE YOU has already gone to a second printing.

As an author, having your book make enough noise in this crazy, loud, bustle of a world to need a second printing is a dreamy, beautiful thing.

I am so grateful to all the booksellers, booklovers, reviewers, readers, curators, librarians and friends who keep putting this book in people’s hands – you are directly responsible for this success. Thank you all so very much.

In honor of the second printing, publisher Atelier26 Books did a cool mash-up of reviews and interviews on their website. Check it out here.

Endless gratitude to you all.

xo

OTHERPPL Interview with Brad Listi

While on tour this week in LA for People Like You, I had the great fortune to be interviewed on the fantastic lit podcast Otherppl with Brad Listi. He’s spent the last several years interviewing some of the best names in literature, and I’m honored to be included in the canon.

We had such a good conversation: it was like we’d been talking about books and kids and life and writing for years already.

Here’s a link to the full interview.

Thank you so much to Brad for the opportunity.

Quivering Pen’s Stellar Review of People Like You

David Abrams, the acclaimed author of FOBBIT and literary brain behind the site The Quivering Pen released a review today of PEOPLE LIKE YOU that was the kind of review writers dream of receiving. Here’s a snippet:

Of all the books I read in 2015—and there were many—few infected me quite like People Like You by Margaret Malone. This debut collection of stories embodies everything I love about short fiction: it dances on boxer’s feet, moves in quick, punches hard, and then leaves my head ringing.

He goes on:

These stories stir up the kind of excitement in my readerly bones that I haven’t felt since I first read the works of writers like Raymond Carver, Richard Ford, Jamie Quatro, Ron Carlson, Benjamin Percy, Lee Smith, and even Ernest Hemingway. Yes, I’d unhesitatingly add Margaret Malone to that pantheon of authors. Her work embodies the best qualities of each of those writers: terse, detailed, empathetic fiction that is very often funny as hell.

You can see how my head pretty much exploded when I read the full review.

As a writer, what I always hope for first and foremost is to connection – to find a reader who gets what I’m trying to do; then, to find a reader who not only gets it but loves it… there is nothing in the whole wide writing world better than that.

My deepest, most humble thanks to David Abrams for writing such a thoughtful, beautiful  and beautifully-written review.

I am over the moon.