Charred-Topper
Over 1,000 people entered a contest to be a columnist for McSweeney's, and Stef Willen, the wonderful young woman who edits my writing, was one of the five winners.
Thanks to her win, she now writes a twice-monthly column for McSweeney's. Her first is her winning entry, Total Loss: A Column About Inventorying Other People's Tragedies. It's wonderful writing, and extremely interesting -- it's about her part-time work as a fire insurance investigator, counting the charred remains of people's lives.
I think you'll enjoy reading it, and I hope you'll vote for it. The column that gets the most votes wins the grand prize, and she's totally deserving, and you'd make me thrilled to pieces if she wins.
Please vote HERE!
And share this with friends, ask them to read her piece, and vote, too!
It may be the Goddess Effect but her column was ahead by a couple of dozen votes when I clicked. Best of luck to her!
BlogDog at October 11, 2010 6:47 AM
Yay! Thank you. She's a great person and a wonderful writer.
Amy Alkon at October 11, 2010 11:02 AM
Shades of Edgar Allan Poe! I'm picturing poor Mr Mumford's skeletal frame in an orange jumpsuit, fingers trembling over a pile of Preparation H in the corner of his prison cell...
Martin at October 11, 2010 11:41 AM
I want to read more! She's an amazing writer!
Sarah at October 11, 2010 1:27 PM
Terrific. She got my vote!
Feebie at October 11, 2010 2:32 PM
The Afghanistan essay is incredibly powerful. I hope people are fair and read all the essays before voting on them. Of the five, I like your friend's and the Afghanistan essay the most.
Eric at October 11, 2010 2:37 PM
What was the with the prep H? Is it like ammonium nitrate or something?
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at October 12, 2010 12:16 AM
I loved "Total Loss" and happily voted for it! It read like a quirky seriocomic noir. In fact, I was reminded a little of DOUBLE INDEMNITY, with Mumford's "twisted hopes and crooked dreams" literally going up in smoke. I've already Bookmarked the column for future reading. Go Stef!
DorianTB at October 15, 2010 10:35 AM
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