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.

Quivering Pen: Big Love for PEOPLE LIKE YOU

My First Time & Trailer Park Tuesdays:

The fantastic David Abrams has shown a lot of love for People Like You this week on his literary site The Quivering Pen.

Yesterday he posted the essay I wrote for My First Time – this is where writers get to share their experiences about doing something book-related for the first time.

I wrote about the exhilarating and dreamy first time I hand-sold copies of my book at a reading event.

Check out this section on his site – writers have written on just about kind of first time (now, now) that you can imagine.

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The next day was Trailer Park Tuesday where he highlighted the seriously awesome trailer made by filmmaker Brian Padian for People Like You.

Here’s an excerpt from David’s thoughts on the title story in the collection: On the surface, it’s an ordinary evening; but what sets this story apart, what gives it an electric buzz that tastes like you just licked a lamp socket, is what doesn’t happen. With remarkable restraint, Malone takes us on a tour of the tip of the iceberg without feeling the need to state the obvious: there’s a massive, continent-sized chunk of ice right below our feet.

To read his full post about the book trailer and the opening story in the collection, please go here.

Thanks so much to David Abrams for all the love he’s show to the collection, and for tirelessly supporting books and writers every single day. We love you, David!