Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
I’ve always believed that a story is created for the story’s sake, and not to fit a mold or template. I subscribed to the notion that if characters lived, they were intrinsic to the novel’s unfolding, and their agendas might differ from that of the author. There’s magic in that conflict between writer and work; …
Continue reading “Mixing Genres: Are We Committing Career Suicide?”
With Passover and Easter coming up, this seems like a good time to share some Jewish secrets. I love food because it heals everyone–people, dogs, iguanas, plants. A piece of dark chocolate nibbled while sipping a dessert wine; spaghetti slurped and splattering sauce; roasted sweet potatoes served with crisp, tender chicken; food can transform a …
Continue reading “Jewish Secrets From A Yiddishe Mama”
Don’t panic. This (infuriating) title is just an adaptation of lyrics from a song I can’t get out of my head. In case you’re puzzled, Rex Harrison posed a similar question in My Fair Lady, ridiculous as it seems, because given the choice between him and Audrey Hepburn, would any of us really choose to …
Continue reading “Gender Questions: Why Can’t A Woman Write More Like A Man?”
When I was little, I was often criticized for being too sensitive. I didn’t just cry in sad movies, I sobbed, and sometimes carried harrowing images of war, cruelty or injustice around with me for days. I rescued ants and relocated snails from places where they might be squished to hidden areas where they could …
Continue reading “Empathy”
Everything has a beginning. Life; romance; college; a scene in a movie; the letter ‘A’, starting us off on an alphabetical blogging bonanza. As a beginner writer a gazillion years ago navigating Writing 101, one of the first rules I learned from a group of heavyweight author-teachers was WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW. Yes but…what about …
Continue reading “Anthropology And Culture In Service To The Novel”
On Friday I did some creative writing. I often do, but this day was different because I plowed into my story and didn’t stop. That’s unusual for me. There are lots of distractions about: my cat (who looks like a cow) demands to go out and be let in and be fed and play in …
Continue reading “Hey There Writers, Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark”
Rejection sucks. There’s no better word to describe the feeling of just having swallowed a vacuum cleaner hose when: it’s taken you a year to pluck up the courage to phone The Man and ask him to escort you to a gala fundraiser, and he says no, he’d rather go out with Attila the Hun; …
Continue reading “Rejection: Honoring Your Creativity When No One Else Does”
The African bush is never still. Amidst the rustle of leaves and whisper of grass, the grunts and roars and deep cries of predator and prey, herds of elephants roam the landscape within carefully demarcated geographical areas. They congregate at waterholes and snack on a vast menu of delicacies: seeds, roots, fruit, flowers, leaves, branches, …
Continue reading “Friday Inspiration: The Elephant Whisperer”
Not so long ago, there were a whole lot of good reasons to go to university and earn a degree. This is increasingly up for debate, what with rising tuition costs, spiraling and unforgiving student debt and increasing numbers of graduates who find themselves armed to the teeth with glossy educations, near perfect GPAs, tons …
Continue reading “Honoring Creativity: What My MFA Taught Me, And What It Left Out”
We live our lives at dizzying speed. Things pass us by so quickly we miss a whole lot, and we’ve gotten used to this accelerated pace, even come to crave it. I’ve been trying to keep up, but to tell you the truth I often feel uncomfortable, as though I’m trying to fit into a …
Continue reading “Trusting The Reader, Trusting The Writer: Hidden Luxuries Of Literary Fiction”