Author Archives: Susan Thornton Hobby

About Susan Thornton Hobby

Susan is a writer, editor, gardener and horseback rider who lives in Ellicott City, Maryland. She works as a consulting editor for Little Patuxent Review and a consultant for Howard County Poetry and Literature Society.

Book Review: Tara Hart’s The Colors of Absence

Posted on December 4, 2012

If the poetry in Tara Hart’s chapbook The Colors of Absence does nothing else, it should impel parents to reach out for their children, remembering to be grateful for the “maddeningly silken sack,” as Hart calls our babies, who may be grown, who may … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Reviews, Columbia MD, Howard Community College, Poetry, Pushcart Prize, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Shapeshifting Through a Short Story Collection

Posted on June 21, 2012

Depending on the shine of light or the turn of a page, author Edith Pearlman shifts from the point of view of a lost six-year-old girl to an addict of a drug made from a Brazilian beetle. From a fed-up … Continue reading →

Posted in Ann Patchett, Audacity, Blogs, Books, Boston MA, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Columbia MD, Edith Pearlman, Essays, Interviews, Literary Journals, National Book Award, PEN/Malamud Award, Readings, Short Fiction, The National Book Critics Circle Award, Writers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bloggers Gather for Self-Reflection

Posted on August 15, 2011

This story feels like an Escher drawing of hands drawing themselves: a blog post about a blog party in which writers talked about writing stories. On August 11, HoCoBlogs hosted a meet-up for writers at the Stanford Grill in Columbia, MD. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs, Columbia MD, HoCoBlogs, Parties, The Baltimore Sun | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Cool, Dark Make Believe World Under Our Grandmothers’ Tables

Posted on June 13, 2011

Under my great-grandma Coley’s ornate dining room table, I made the first make believe world that I can remember. The table’s four thick legs splayed out from a center pole and ended in wooden lions’ paws clutching wooden balls. Whenever … Continue reading →

Posted in Columbia MD, Make Believe, Painting, Poetry, Prose, Pushcart Prize, Readings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s All True, Hon, Vows Alvarez

Posted on January 24, 2011

Rafael Alvarez has spent most of his 52 years in Baltimore. He spent 23 years working at The Baltimore Sun, writing daily news stories on Baltimore’s odd collection of crimes and misdemeanors. Consequently, his journalism seems full of imaginary people and … Continue reading →

Posted in Baltimore, Essays, Prose Editor, Readings, Short Fiction, The Baltimore Sun, The Edgar Awards | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Saints Alive, It’s a Pushcart Nomination

Posted on December 17, 2010

I did not write or share my own poems other than whimsically until a time in my life several years ago when I turned to poems and poets with urgency and a deep need.–Tara Hart On his gold-rimmed card, St. … Continue reading →

Posted in Howard Community College, Poetry, Pushcart Prize, The Muse | Tagged | 4 Comments