The Real Peter Taylor

Doing our best to keep alive the writing wisdom and craft advice of “arguably the best American short story writer of all time." Born @sewaneewriters.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Peter on the tediousness of novels

[Stephanie K. Merrill @skmerrill3]

@OracleCourt @ParnassusBooks1 Also wonderful is the poetry of Eleanor Ross Taylor, Peter Taylor's wife.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@magicabilities I can deal with the dungeon but I beseech you, please, give me use of a thesaurus, at least one day a week. Have mercy!

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Peter on the tediousness of novels

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@JHyphenTKelly @ParnassusBooks1 Indelible is a good word to describe the mark he makes on people. I took a class with Madison Smartt Bell when I was in my early 20s and drifting through Baltimore. He turned me on to Taylor.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

#AnneTyler said this of Taylor: "You could give a creative writing class on no other text but his stories and that class would come out fully educated." Order your copy @ParnassusBooks1

https://t.co/T4VwWayUYZ

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@skmerrill3 @ParnassusBooks1 She was sidestepped for a long time by the critical establishment. Which collection of hers would you recommend?

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Keep your aim true and your ambitions honest.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Show him you did, Peter!

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Madison Smartt Bell said Taylor was “arguably the best American short story writer of all time” and Ann Beattie laments "the mystery is only why he isn’t better known."
Read her whole interview on Taylor and then get yourself a copy of this book.

https://t.co/MXGlgco3tH

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Also for free here: https://t.co/7UuKfSKsrn

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

First sentence of Taylor's "A Spinster's Tale": My brother would often get drunk when I was a little girl, but that put a different sort of fear into me from what Mr. Speed did." Read the whole story @NarrativeMag:
https://t.co/qtkojDNjRv

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@creator_grimm I'd rather be both: read in my time and after.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@sarah_wwang @phrydas @JessiPhillips99 @JSchrodt @lisadonovan108 @ninalohman "[H]e did not look back now, but went on and on, thinking of the blue-grass meadow that she had traversed when a little child, believing that it had no beginning and no end." In other news, I meant to tag @ButtermilkRoad, not that other random Lisa Donovan.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

No @phrydas no @sarah_wwang no @JessiPhillips99 no @JSchrodt no @lisadonovan108 no @ninalohman ... Just me swimming alone tonight. Peaceful but not as fun.

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

Spent the past weeks telling agents about my "comps." Necessary to do if you want to get your work out there but also remember P.T.'s advice: "Most good writers...didn't answer the demands of an audience; they created a whole new one. And that's what you should aspire to."

[The Real Peter Taylor @OracleCourt]

@lynnsstrong "A Wife of Nashville" by Peter Taylor. No one seems to read him anymore. Madison Smartt Bell advised me to read Taylor 8 years ago and I haven't been the same since.