As 2011 rapidly lurches towards its end, I’m delighted to be able to say that if everything happens as it’s supposed to I will have not one, not two, but three new books out in 2012.

You already know about one, my novel Lullaby for the Rain Girl, coming from Dark Regions Press. (And if you don’t know about it, you have but to scroll down these blog ( Read more... )

What makes a great work of literature great?

I was pondering this question last weekend at a performance of Arthur Miller’s cerebral drama After the Fall at Theater J in Washington, DC. It’s a fine production, skillfully directed, well acted, and featuring a truly beautiful set design. But you may be forgiven if you’ve never even heard of After the ( Read more... )

Interview by Chris Morey. Reprinted from the Dark Regions Newsletter, October 13, 2011.


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I’m happy to announce that my new novel, Lullaby for the Rain Girl, is now available for preorder from Dark Regions Press. The book is scheduled for release in January, and you can read all about it (as well as reserve your copy) here:

http://www.darkregions.com/lullaby-for-the-rain-girl-by-christopher-conlon/

Why preorder, you ask? Why not just ( Read more... )

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I outlived my mother today.

I’m not sure what there is to say about it. I never remember the dates of family milestones, but this one sticks in my mind because it’s so easy to recall: my mother, who died in 1981, lived exactly forty-nine years, ten days.

Today, August 18, 2011, I’ve lived forty-nine years, eleven days.

I’ve never really written about ( Read more... )

It’s always a little scary when a major retailer, one that’s been around long enough that it’s hard to remember a time they weren’t there, goes under.

Yet the liquidation of the Borders chain only makes obvious what’s been clear to a lot of people for some time: that the era of the super-mega-bookstore is nearing its end. In his farewell statement ( Read more... )

Network. Starring William Holden, Peter Finch, and Faye Dunaway. Directed by Sidney Lumet.

Rocky. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, and Burgess Meredith. Directed by John G. Avildsen.

In an interview I saw on TV not long ago, the late Sidney Lumet, the director of the seminal ’70s film Network, was mentioning the various Academy Awards that ( Read more... )

Taxi Driver. Starring Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

When I was thirteen, I was in love with two girls.

Well, okay: I was in love with dozens of girls, really. In 1976 probably every girl I knew within a couple of years of my age who didn’t actually resemble a refugee from The Mole People was at some point the object ( Read more... )

Seven Beauties. Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, and Shirley Stoler. Directed by Lina Wertmüller.

Seven Beauties was the first foreign language film I ever saw, although at the time I didn’t actually realize it was a foreign language film.

How is this possible? I first saw Seven Beauties (technically a 1975 film but not released in the U.S ( Read more... )