Loaded Sentences

After reading Joe Finck's essay on Jim Thompson I decided I had to read After Dark, My Sweet. And I did. And it was great.

It reminded me several times how hard it is to pivot between sections or scenes with a good loaded-sentence, you know, one that sounds well constructed, it's short, precise, and loaded with information. It can be tough to create one that doesn't feel tacked on, like a cliffhanger in a serial TV show, or a children's book chapter ending. There are two sentences in particular that were so well crafted I can't stop thinking about them, it kind of makes my feet fall asleep.

The final sentence in the book, "I just kind of stopped all over," and a sentence in one of the final chapters that resides on it's own, "Rushing towards the end." Both of those sentences are so great. Very precise, retaining the odd voice of the narrator, who is unreliable and unstable. So, good. Nothing more right now, just a short bit of nonsense about what I am thinking about.

Maybe it's just that I'm sitting on my feet. That could be why they are sleeping. Ok. That's it now. Shut it down.

Wait, anything else? Yes. Read "Weegee Stories" by Robert Olen Butler. It's pretty awesome, the kind of shit that might shatter a puffin's cute little porcelain face. He does flash better than just about anyone.

InDigest Celebrates a Whole Year of InDigesting

There is a brand new issue of InDigest up online, right now!

We are celebrating our one-year anniversary by having some past contributors showcase some of their newest work.

Here is the scoop on the issue:

InPoetics:
New poetry from Stephen Burt, Ada Limon, Brad Liening, Meggie Elder, Jess Grover, and Erica Wright

InNarratives:
"The Town Secrets," an excerpt from a novel-in-progress, Kings of the Wild Frontier by Meakin Armstrong.

"Interior Illusions," an excerpt from a novella in progress of the same title by Lech Harris.

"Hunting Bambi," a new short story from J. Albin Larson.

InErratica:
In Blunt Force Trauma, a new column about underrepresented books and authors, columnist Joe Finck tackles the legacy of Jim Thompson, the classic pulp novelist.

In Bedside Stacks, Ashleigh A. Lambert takes on The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg by Geoff Herbach and Vacation by Deb Olin Unferth.

InMusic:
InDigest editor Dustin Luke Nelson interviews composer Ted Hearne, and John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats.

InGallery:
Paintings from Kara Hendershot.

Thanks, once again and always, for reading. We can't overstate how pleased we are to have the opportunity to publish new, interesting, and compelling work for just over a year now. And a special thanks to all who have lent a hand to make this past year possible. First, Dustin and I would like to thank Jesse Sawyer and Chris Koza, two of the founding editors of InDigest. This magazine would not exist without their presence in the beginning. And thanks to all who have given their time in some way or another over the year: Jeremy Smith, Reina Podell, Jay Peterson, Alex Lemon, Charles Greene, Ashleigh Lambert, Jess Grover, Ryan Thompson, Chris Thompson, Dan Wieken, and Neil Reiter - there are a probably a lot of people we are missing here, and we're sorry if we missed you. Suffice to say that David and Dustin are not InDigest by themselves, it takes a whole lot of people to keep this running. Thank you all. And thank you for reading.

David and Dustin
Editors, InDigest Magazine

Thanks for reading this blog, and InDigest, actually.