I’m having a Saturday writing morning that’s deep into Crazy Lady Writer Head, thanks to too many exciting things to to work on at once. Plus my work-in-progress new novel, I have a novel to edit, a play to finish, a poetry manuscript to edit, and a memoir to edit. I feel like the bride above, who almost wants to call it off when it comes down to really doing the thing. It’s been a…
Valentine’s Day approaches, and over on Goodreads, someone asked me what are my favorite fictional couples. I cheated, of course, and managed to get in three pairs of lovers. First, I’d have to say Romeo and Juliet. There’s nothing like starry-eyed and highly sexed young lovers spouting the world’s most enchanting, poetic love lines as they barrel toward their doom. Right behind that pair are, for me, Jane Austen and Tom Lefroy in the book…
Sibling relationships and specifically sisters is what I’m thinking about. I’m finishing a new novel. It’s about two half-sisters who feud about an inherited cottage in Italy with its resident ghost of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Sisters — we love to explore these complicated lifetime pairings. In real life and literature, sisters stand out. From Jane Austen with her siblings, to Emily Dickinson and hers, to those fabulous Brontes, the stories of siblings have…
I’ve read that when people reincarnate, they may do so in batches, sticking together for their progressive learning. I find the idea mostly pleasing. But I hadn’t thought about how that might call for group exits. This fall-winter has knocked me on the head with two deaths. First my beloved brother (my only sibling) on October 10. Now my stepmother, January 19, last week. Death’s absoluteness blindsided me. You can’t plead for just one more…
The end of 2016 was very lucky for my poetry publishing. In this second installment on an embarrassment of riches, I’m delighted to share my poem, “Bird Bones”, which was recently published in the redoubtable Prairie Schooner. Thanks, editors! I also had work published in Eclectica‘s 20th anniversary anthology, Prairie Schooner, Atlanta Review, Panoply (who very kindly nominated my poem for a Pushcart Prize!) and Peacock Journal (where they put beauty first). Prairie Schooner had…
Because shouldn’t we all have a little extra help? And also a friend you can always talk to, who understands everything the way you see it, or even if he doesn’t, has wisdom gently offered? Yes, everyone should have this. In my completed novel, THE RENAISSANCE CLUB, (watch for announcement of its debut date), Renaissance genius sculptor and architect Bernini provides the magical wisdom and inspiration for young art historian May Gold, stuck in a going-nowhere…
My literary stocking overflowed this December. but I was so busy I didn’t have time to mention it to anyone but those who saw the stack of magazines on my coffee table. I’m taking it as a sign of the new year, a flowering, perspicacious publication kind of 2017. I also found a late December rose, two blooms that opened up and held for a miraculous week. All good omens for a new year. No…
This is our family every year in December. We’re the Hanukkah-Christmas celebrators. My brother and his family are observant Jews, and we celebrate Solstice and Christmas. And we get together and meld our holidays in love. This particular difficult year, it’s nice that Hanukkah and Christmas Eve are one day. Someone in the interfaith community said this coinciding of the two sacred holidays should be taken as a sign that tolerance and brotherhood are what…
It was quite a thing, writing 50,000 words in 30 days. I signed up telling all my colleagues I wouldn’t cross the finish line, that I had no intention of it. I wanted to write good words, not fast and plenty words. But guess what? I have a giant competitive streak in my nature. Every day when I checked my writing buddies’ progress, a few pulled ahead, of me. It got under my skin. I…
In the spirit of the holidays now upon us, I’d like to offer some fodder for those quiet times you find amid the activities and social life. Reading for me leads to writing, so I often start my writing day by either progressing in a novel or reading several poems. Sometimes digging into a craft book. So here are some recommendations for feeding your head. Story Genius by Lisa Cron. This is the one fiction…