The Country of the Story

"In the country of the story the writer is king," wrote Shirley Jackson, in an essay she called Notes For A Young Writer.

Hi. I’m Courtney, and I’m glad you’re here.

I’m a writer, the kind people call “emerging,” which is a nice euphemism for “hasn’t published anything yet,” for “probably a waste of time but at least it keeps the poor dear busy.”

Let me try again, more seriously: I’m a writer. As part of that practice, I spend a fair amount of time reading and taking notes, …