Eleni Vlachos

Thanks for asking! Just finished Like Life by Lorrie Moore, a collection of short stories from '89 I believe. Absolutely love her writing.

Just started #James by Percival Everett after slogging through the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

#currentlyreading #nowreading

Tho I must say, I personally always heard rap & hip-hop as music. First song I heard/loved: Roxanne's Revenge.

Also just reserved his book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. ✨

YouTube video by Freakonomics Radio Network Rick Rubin on How to Make Something Great (Update) | People I (Mostly) Admire

For all you creatives--such an inspiring interview w/ #RickRubin on the creative process. He also helped naysayers hear hip-hop as "music" by mixing the familiar with the lesser known in Walk This Way. Is the known/unknown marriage a key to creating idea accessibility?
youtu.be/QGKFVmxbGBw?...

Yes! I watched part of The Substance but could not finish. Then I spite-read a review echoing the one you posted here (including problems with the premise). Though I will say that on-the-nose or paint-by-numbers entertainment is not a new phenomenon, it can be discouraging!

Cover of book Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

I am #currentlyreading Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar.

In the vein of Pound's observation "poetry is news that stays news," there is much to appreciate here in Akbar's astute observations. Have you read it?

#martyr #kavehakbar

Currently reading #LastExitToBrooklyn. A little rough around the edges (a little?) & most likely added "to read" due to author's lack of a guiding hand & my own novel's attempting same [(no use of " " -- even no apostrophes to avoid holding down the "shift" key (!) used "/" instead (eg, isn/t)].

Pelvis chickens 😆

Introducing...Paxon's Prose Pantomime! Interpretations of published prose

Introducing...Paxon's Prose Pantomime! A new weekly series where Paxon interprets prose from established literature via his pantomime talents. Up first: "they jog their hands around their waist..."

open.substack.com/pub/elenidvl...

Just finished reading #SelfHelp by #LorrieMoore. Picked up the collection after reading "How to become a writer." Such excellent work, published in 1985--how did I not know about this author/book? So good. Have you read any of her work?

I’ve made the (controversial) choice not to use quotation marks (speech tags) around dialogue in my #WIP. Should I die on this hill?

More in this short #Substack:
elenidvlachos.substack.com/p/dont-quote...

#litfic #literaryfiction #speechtags #writing #writers #howto #books #novels

Pictures of casinos on the book cover of Leaving Las Vegas

Finally bought this for my new #Kobo. How beautifully O' Brien breaks writing rules.

Admittedly, I was intrigued by the author's own life trajectory and autobiographical nature of this work. Have you read?

#nowreading #literaryfiction #litfic #writing #writers #books #novels #leavinglasvegas

In what other industry do we celebrate rejection?

My latest on tiered rejections: elenidvlachos.substack.com/p/for-the-lo...

Have you received a tiered rejection? ❌ Leave a comment below 📩

#tieredrejections #submitting #writers #writing #literaryjournals #literaryfiction

Thank you for the tip! I love Vuong's titles. I would be curious to give him another try. I ended up not enjoying The Emperor of Gladness as I got further into the story, but his writing can be so beautiful that I would give it another go.

Ah, interesting about the break! I felt the same way, but plodded on. Overall I ended up not enjoying the characters/story but the observations & language was still beautiful.

Ah! Enjoyed that book, overall. Maybe 3/4 of the way in I felt a bit lost/tired of the trajectory, but found my way back as I recall. Enjoy!

book cover with title The Emperor of Gladness, A novel by Ocean Vuong. Pic of a young man in orange slightly slouching.

Now reading! Enjoying the gorgeous prose so far ... have you read anything by Vuong?

#literaryfiction #vuong

Eleni D. Vlachos | Substack I write literary fiction exploring our need to be heard and the interplay between compassion, civilization, and wildness. Eleni's latest short story, A View of Hotel Poseidon, was published by Roi Fai...

Anyone else in the writing community here on Substack? Let me know your link. Mine follows:

elenidvlachos.substack.com?r=ez5db&utm_...

Stranger The word “xenos” translated as “stranger” in Greek embodies a range of meanings from possible enemy to a most welcoming “guest friend.”…

From my 2019 piece, Stranger.
"Xenos is the needle that weaves unknown threads into the fabric of civilization. Sometimes that needle is piercing, invasion, colonialism. Other times, it’s holding everything together — including our civilization."

medium.com/@elenivlacho...

Began #4321 by Paul Auster. Adjusting to 4 different lives of the protagonist, but enjoying overall. Have you read?

My husband thought it was Auster's own efforts to encapsulate his life's possibilities near the edge of his own end, which I find possible.

#nowreading #paulauster

"A View of Hotel Poseidon" by Eleni Vlachos Reviews are actual. Story is fictitious. *1 starwe all basically had to get drunk so we could make it through the night When the five-star reviews slipped, George’s family gossiped: He was never equip...

The story: www.roifaineantpress.com/post/a-view-...

YouTube video by You Big Talker New fiction #humor

Do people make trailers for short stories? It is a lot of fun. I made a 30-second trailer to celebrate A View of Hotel Poseidon. I think I captured its "tone."

#humor #fiction #shortstories

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Wr...

"A View of Hotel Poseidon" by Eleni Vlachos Reviews are actual. Story is fictitious. *1 starwe all basically had to get drunk so we could make it through the night When the five-star reviews slipped, George’s family gossiped: He was never equip...

A View of Hotel Poseidon takes a satirical look at the fictitious story behind actual terrible reviews of a hotel. For this is a time we all need to laugh, especially at our own species.

Big thanks to @rfpress.bsky.social (love the graphic!)

#newfiction

www.roifaineantpress.com/post/a-view-...

Hello living beings--check out the latest from Roi Fainéant Press, including some of my words arranged in a humorous fashion. Link below:

"A View of Hotel Poseidon" by Eleni Vlachos Reviews are actual. Story is fictitious. *1 starwe all basically had to get drunk so we could make it through the night When the five-star reviews slipped, George’s family gossiped: He was never equip...

It's live! www.roifaineantpress.com/post/a-view-...

Sunday! So excited to share this story with you, and read all of the incredible authors in this edition. You can follow this great press below ⏬

we all basically had to get drunk so we could make it through the night

Ready for some amazing fiction! Join us Sunday for a satirical look at the fictitious story behind actual terrible reviews of a hotel. “A View of Hotel Poseidon” by Eleni Vlachos @youbigtalker.bsky.social is a welcome bit of humor as our own Poseidon sinks under the weight of late stage capitalism.

So excited to be publishing my short story "A View of Hotel Poseidon" in the fab @rfpress.bsky.social Sunday!

Story is fictitious, reviews are actual. IRL the hotel's reviews were so bad they were comical. Bugs, bloody sheets, drunken staff. How did things get so bad?

#newfiction #shortstory

Just finished: Orbital (review on Goodreads)
Now reading: American Pastoral.

And you?