Dispatches | November 12, 2010

1. Don’t worry about that. It’s like snipe hunting.
2. The word “chiaroscuro.” And any phrase that begins, “the geometry of. . . .”
3. Probably, unless it’s the name of a childhood bully. In that case, your revenge will be leaving it unchanged.
4. Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King have both answered, “for one person,” and they’re pretty smart.
5. No, that was Hunter S. Thompson.
6. It isn’t a rule, but it is a rule of thumb and worth considering.
7. Regular mail is fine.
8. One million words. That’s what I was told, anyway.
9. You’re kidding me, right? Is this issue really still up for debate?
10. Sure you can. And it’ll make your parents proud. But it won’t leave you much time to write.
11. Yes, but that’s a rare exception.
12. Because the author might be lying, or might not even know for him- or herself.
13. It isn’t bad advice if you don’t take it too literally.
14. Joyce Carol Oates.
15. Because she’s the faster runner.
16. When you see the work in print. And maybe not even then.
17. Of course it’s a perfect epigraph. Who do you think Thomas Parke D’Invilliers is, anyway?
18. Yes.
19. Yes.
20. The truth is, you’ll never know.

Michael Kardos is the author of the story collection One Last Good Time, forthcoming in February 2011 from Press 53. His website is michaelkardos.com.