More on Grace Paley

A lovely essay about Grace.

I got out two of her story collections last night. Plots may not have figured highly in her work, but man, does she have voice, that most elusive--and vital--of all writing elements.

Grace Paley died

I've loved her writing since I discovered it in the late '70s. She has died of breast cancer. Here's her obit

My wonderful students

In the summer when it grows too warm to sit around my dining room table, we meet in the front yard. Here is my essay class, now over, though some of my students will continue in the fall with the memoir class. We do have fun.

Are you more cat or dog?

Light Sunday fare....

I'm a sucker for these sorts of silly quizzes. You can click on the link below to take the test. Here are my results:

You Are: 40% Dog, 60% Cat

You and cats have a lot in common. You're both smart and in charge - with a good amount of attitude. However, you do have a very playful side that occasionally comes out!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Report back with your results.

Harry Potter Harry Potter Harry Potter

At an Angels game last night, as we took our seats, I turned around and saw yet another person reading the latest Harry Potter.

Am I the only person I know who has not finished an entire Harry Potter novel? It's great that J.K. Rowling gets kids reading, and entrances adults as well, but I just cannot get into these books. I don't tend to not go for fantasy or science fiction (though I loved Dune and Stranger in a Strange Land) and never have. Not that I haven't always had a ton of things in my life from which I'd like to escape.

When I read fiction, which is most always, I'd rather spend my time with realism (however far-fetched): a literary/main stream novel or suspense. (I just read Diana Abu-Jaber's Origin, which fits both of those categories. She was just on the show. I loved the book.)

I have a good friend that adores Harry Potter. She is bright, funny and well-read. We talk about how reading inclinations evolve.

You Harry Potter fans out there--is this your favorite type of writing? Has it always been? Or was there a transforming moment where one minute you were, say, a lover of D.H. Lawrence or Lawrence Block, and the next moment it was Harry Potter? Seriously....! Inquiring minds want to know. This mind, anyhoo.

A few writerly web sites

If you are in need of prompts, here's a great site. Check it out.

Also, are you familiar with GoodReads.com? Writers and readers talking about books. I quite like it. Click here.

And paperbackswap.com (thanks to Judy) is a great place to request books and swap them for books you want. Read more here.

At the site for the American Society of Journalists and Authors, you can read the public section of The ASJA Monthly, which I edit. Click here and scan down the left side for The ASJA Monthly.

I know I missed a ton. I will post more in the coming days. And if you know of one you like, or even your own, please post it here.

Subscriptions survey

The other day as I was going through old Utne magazines, it occurred to me, once again, how much I love this magazine. I always seem to find articles that are priceless, and because Utne reprints articles found in other articles, I discover new journals--new to me, anyway. Brick is one such journal. In this particular Utne, I was reading about what Annie Proulx would be if she wasn't a writer. Cabinet maker was one. The article pointed to the issue of Brick that it was originally published in, so I went to the web site (Brick's) and ordered the 2003 journal. love Utne.

Then I began thinking of the magazines and papers that find their way into this house:

Utne
Los Angeles Times
Wall Street Journal
Poets & Writers
The Writer
Writer's Digest
Westways
Country Living
Interweave Knits
Yankee (a gift subscription from Noreen)
Boy's Life (Travis' magazine)

I used to subscribe to the New Yorker, but they arrived too quickly. I still have a pile I'm trying to get through. I also recently subscribed to The Atlantic Monthy, Food & Wine, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure but let them lapse.

What do you subscribe to, and what do you love most?

Fantasy writers wanted

I can't remember where I saw it--it was on one of the publishing reports, yesterday, I think--but I read that agents and publishers are looking for the next Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling. If you're a fantasy writer for adults and children, this may be your time.

I was thinking of my former student Lacy, who now lives in Colorado. Lacy....Lacy....you out there? How's that novel coming, the one that we loved so much?

Did anyone else see that write up? Where was it?

Back to Starletta's Kitchen

In Mosley's book, This Year Your Write Your Novel, which I mentioned in the last post, he talks about why it's important to work every day. I've also talked about his essay on writing in which he says you must visit with your work daily, and if you let three days go by, the dream of the work evaporates. (Google "Walter Mosley New York Times Writers on Writing" and you will find the essay I'm talking about.)

Starletta's Kitchen sat untouched for three weeks or more while I worked on the proposal and so when I picked it up this morning, it took a while to realize where I was at. I saw the blue pages of the new draft (Ron Carlson said he types different drafts on different colored paper so he knows what draft to grab for readings) and realized I had already gone through the entire mss., crossing things out, deleting, making notes for places to add, and had already begun typing out a new draft. Duh.

And so was reminded of Walter Mosley's advice to visit your work daily, else lose the drift, lose your place, and lose motivation.

.....

Travis and I were watching the Food Network last night and Bobby Flay (and if you watch the Food Network, you know who he is) said, "If you're not nervous about your passion, you're not passionate about it." I ran and wrote this down to share with you. So true. Often we misinterpret nervousness or anxiety and stop doing what it is that makes us anxious rather than throwing ourselves into it.

Cross your fingers

I spent the last three weeks or so getting another book proposal finished and in the mail. It's an illustrated journal, a spin-off of Pen on Fire. After Pen on Fire was published in late '04, I began receiving emails from readers who wondered if a journal was in the works. No, I'd say. And then more letters arrived and I started thinking, Hmm.....Maybe there should be.

So I teamed up with Andy Mitchell, a longtime student and illustrator (www.ajmitchellart.com), and put together a proposal. Of course it took longer than I would have liked. Doesn't everything?

But I got it into the mail last week and Delivery Confirmation confirms that the proposal was delivered.

It's a longshot. (Everything's a longshot, when it comes to publishing.) So we're waiting. Crossing fingers and waiting.

And tomorrow I will return to Starletta's Kitchen. In the hours before my son wakes up, that is. (I let him stay up late so he'll sleep in and I can use those early morning hours for writing.)

I feel so far away from the book now, having been away from it since June.

Have y'all read Mosley's This Year You Write Your Novel? I love that book. I should read it again.

How're your projects progressing? Do things slow down for you in the summer?

A letter

Every so often you receive an email from someone who was affected by your writing, and it serves to remind you of why you do what you do. Emails like the one below are one of the perks of slogging through and seeing your work get published. It brought tears to my eyes.

"After our correspondence last week I clicked over to your blog and finally (finally!) decided to read Pen on Fire. I’ve been resisting for a few years now, sort of like how you should go to the doctor and solve your health issue, but knowing that when you bite the bullet and do it you’ll have to make lifestyle changes that you’re not quite willing to make yet? Yep, that’s why I didn’t read it for a long time, but finally I was ready and I just could not put it down. Every chapter touched on something important that either reassured me or taught me something new. You’re a terrific teacher and a talented, honest writer, and I appreciate it so much. Good luck with your novel." - Gretchen Roberts, www.smartsimplewoman.com

Nice, huh?

Emails can go either way, of course. You can receive something that can dent your day, too.

Any recent emails in your life that simply made you glad?

Those who can ... teach!

Susan's comment on my last post got me thinking.

Every so often you still hear the cliche: Those who can't, teach.

Not true.

I know so many accomplished writers who teach not because they need the money but because they enjoy teaching or they feel teaching allows them to give something back.

Sure, teaching can be a drag. But after an all-day class like the one I taught today at UC-Irvine, I remember how much fun teaching can be. I have such respect for my students who could have been doing so many other things on this beautiful summer day but they chose to be sitting under florescent lights progressing their writing. There was gobs of talent in the classroom today, so much so that I felt invigorated.

This goes for all of my students. I'm lucky I get to help them along their path.

Desert heat

We're in the desert for our annual end-of-school vacation. Yesterday, as we left the Blue Coyote in Palm Springs, the car's thermostat said 120 degrees. Or was it 122? I can't remember; I was delerious.

Actually, it's not that bad. It's balmy at night in the pool.

Here are Brian's glasses. Well, his old glasses. Because the sun and the heat cracked them like marbles dropped in a kettle of boiling water.

My first summer vacation book: Sideways by Rex Pickett. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Laugh out loud funny and a tearjerker at the end. Enjoyed the movie and have been curious about how the book was. Some of the writing wasn't great but overall I loved it. A guy's book. Very enjoyable. Anyone else read it?

What are you reading and recommend?

Amy Tan snippet

Today, Reuters has an interview with Amy Tan.

At the end of the interview, she says, "I never talk about what a new book is about as it will leave me. There is a story in Chinese where a man goes to a magical place and is overwhelmed by the beauty and the peace. He has to leave and they tell him that if he tells anyone where this place is he will never find it again. That is the metaphor for writing. You are in a secret place and discovering it but once you tell people it is gone."

I write about this very thing in Pen on Fire, how talking about a work can cause it to evaporate. I used to talk about my works-in-progress so very much. Dangerous stuff.

Hence, shhhhhh........

Darfur

Real quick.....

Have you donated to Darfur yet? I just did. I've been meaning to, but you know how it goes.

So my class just ended, Trav is at a friend's, Bry is at a gig, and I turned on the TV--wishfully hoping for Angels baseball snippets? Instead, my attention is captured by images of a refugee camp accompanied by a Tony Bennett soundtrack and then Tony comes on and urges the viewer--me!--to donate to the cause, and I got right up and marched to the laptop and did it. TV rarely moves me to do a thing. I was moved.

Only $100, but it's something.

It's serious over there. I can't even imagine.

A cool web site I just discovered

I just came across this portal to all sorts of literary links. It's called New Pages.

Utne Magazine, one of my very favorite magazines (to which I subscribe), says, "NewPages.com, the best overall Internet portal to the alternative press, independently organizes pages of links to hundreds of magazines, independent publishers and bookstores, literary magazines, newsweeklies, and review sources. NewPages.com also publishes unique book and zine reviews, and an interesting weblog broadly covering the world of arts, publishing, and libraries."

Check it out! (Just don't spend so much time there that you forget to write.)

Fee-charging agents

A friend wrote to me and said a friend of his was interested in an agent who charged a "registration fee." This wasn't a fee to read the manuscript, the agent said.

Sounded like a crock to me.

So I asked Linda Konner, a literary agent in NYC that I met through ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors), and here's what she said:

"Registration fee? Hmmm... What precisely are you registering for? It does sound like a convenient variation on a reading fee which, as we know, isn't charged by respectable agents, eg, members of AAR (Association of Authors Representatives). Some agents will charge clients minimal expenses fees associated with the submission and follow-up of proposals and related author materials. But unless this agent is promising something beyond the standard agent duties, no up-front fees should be paid."

Enough said?

Can you spot a fake smile?

(If you tried this link the other day and it didn't work, try again; I re-pasted it.)

I don't generally go for tests and such, but this one was fun, and gave me much to--ahem--smile about.

Click here to take the test.

Report your results. I got 12 out of 20, which surprised me. I thought I knew fake smiles!

Cormac McCarthy and Oprah

There's an article by Eric Miles Williamson in today's Los Angeles Times about Cormac McCarthy and Oprah's concern with moral fiction.

Click here.

.

Anyone else see it?

Through the second draft--or is it the fourth?

I've reached the end of the second draft of Starletta's Kitchen, or is it the fourth draft? In his new little book, This Year You Write Your Novel, Walter Mosley says that reading through your novel completely is considered one entire draft. I've read through it twice, outlining it, making notes, following Carolyn See's directions on revising, so I guess that means I'll be going into draft number five.

Done through chipping away, every day, an hour or two, sometimes more. Making it a priority.

I have so much work to do! But the book is coming into focus. I need to take a look at the plots/subplots. Make sure enough is happening, make sure the structure is solid.

So, actually, there's still no end in sight...