Writing the Good Read

In Love with Miranda July

2007-06-18T22:15:00.000-04:00

For Mothers' Day, my husband gave me a book.

Please understand that this is the finest gift this girl can get. Oh sure, diamonds are nice and all, but give me pages and I'll be yours forever. Well, only if it's a good book, I guess.

He surprised me by looking about, finding this Web site, thinking, hey, Mj would like this, and ordering it to arrive before Moms' Day.

When I awoke that morning, he handed me Miranda July. Follow the link, damn it. I'll wait. You won't be sorry. If you don't laugh then you're DEAD.

So I spent a goodly (sorry, just spent a weekend in Williamsburg, Va.) amount of the day curled in a papasan chair devouring the book. Oh, and chocolate, because the boy bought me a Whitman's sampler. It was a DIVINE Mothers' Day.

Love the book. Love the husband. Love the kids. Sigh.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2007-06-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

Some time ago, I wrote about The Kite Runner. It was, I said, the best book I'd read in quite awhile. What was interesting to me then, is that my husband and I had both read it, one after the other. We don't often read the same books or if we do, we don't feel the same way about them. The Kite Runner was different -- we both liked it equally well.

So when A Thousand Splendid Suns was released, my husband ordered it and began it the day it arrived. A few days later, he handed it to me to begin.

Books are very intimate objects. I do not share them lightly. For me, a book handed over to you in bed is the most appropriate exchange. Books, like gifts, should be carefully chosen; respected. When I give someone a book, it is beyond a handshake. It is significant. A gift of a book to me is one of the most cherished items I can receive.

I enjoyed Hosseini's second book -- not as much as the first -- and truly, it's one tragic event after another (I'm not spoiling anything here; most of the book takes place in Kabul). But tragedy, I appreciate, and a glimpse into another culture is not only fascinating but so important. We should learn something about the people who have lived with one war after another. It helps me appreciate the comfort I have, the security and freedom I take for granted daily.

The Book Sale

2007-03-18T19:36:00.000-04:00

There is a singular pleasure in shopping for books at the library book sale. Comfortable among fellow bibliophiles, moving as though choreographed, sideways stepping , spine-reading heads held at an angle.

I spent a glorious part of the afternoon at the Charlottesville Friends of the Library book sale, buying, predictably, collections of essays and short stories. One juicy find is a biography of John Irving, possibly my favorite author of all time. (Irving is to books as Ben Folds is to music for me; if you have spent even an afternoon with me, you would know both these truths.) Another is a collection of the best stories of the 1980s, my coming-of-age era. Sigh.

But the best is yet to come as the sale really begins March 24 and wraps up, finally April 1, when everything's a quarter of the price. On April 2 they'll let you cart what's left away for free.

I'm planning to return, of course. I've got my hopes set on cookbooks and classics; a few favorite authors and whatever else captures my attention. The key to success with library book sales is low expectations and a broad range of reading interests.

If you see me there, do say hello. I always love to meet a fellow reader.

The Book List Meme

2007-02-19T09:41:00.000-05:00

Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicise the ones you want to read, put an X in front of the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole, put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

1. +The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. + The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. + The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. + The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. + Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. +Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. + Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. +A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. + Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. *Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. +The Stand (Stephen King)
19. + Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. +Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. +The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. +The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. +The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. *Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. +The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. + Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. +The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. +Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. +1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. +The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. +Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. +Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. +Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. +A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. +Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. +Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. +The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. * The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. +Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60.+ The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. +One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. +The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. *The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. * Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. +Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. *Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. +Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. +Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. +Ulysses (James Joyce)

Michael Castro and John Brandi at B & N in St. Louis Jan. 18

2007-01-11T14:54:00.000-05:00

The St. Louis Writers Guild presents a reading Thursday, January 18th at 7pm, at the Barnes & Noble Ladue Crossing Store featuring poet and translator Michael Castro and New Mexico poet John Brandi. The store is located at Ladue & Highway 170 (taking the Ladue exit you can go straight across the street into the Ladue Crossing Shopping Plaza where the store is located).

MICHAEL CASTRO is well known locally as the founder of the River Styx Literary organization and the host of the long-lived Poetry Beat radio program. He is the author of ten books of poetry and translations. He will be reading from his new book of translations, A TRANSPARENT LION: SELECTED POETRY OF ATTILA JOZSEF. Attila Jozsef (1905-1937) is Hungary's greatest twentieth century poet.

JOHN BRANDI's dozens of publications include poetry, travel vignettes, essays, modern American haiku, translations of contemporary Mexican poetry. He has given innumerable readings in the U.S., France, England, Switzerland, India, and Mexico. Painter and collage master as well as a poet, he has exhibited in galleries in cities in the United States and is in several major collections. His books include: HEARTBEAT GEOGRAPHY: SELECTED & UNCOLLECTED POEMS 1966-1994, A QUESTION OF JOURNEY; VISITS TO THE CITY OF LIGHT, WEEDING THE COSMOS, and RELFECTIONS IN A LIZARD'S EYE. He is also the editor of THE UNSWEPT PATH, a collection of haiku by modern American writers.

When are you going to write a book?

2007-01-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

One of the top questions I am asked and still have not learned to answer satisfactorily is, "so when are you going to write a book?"

Ugh. I wish I knew, or I wish I were almost done, or significantly started or god, finished and going on my book tour.

It's not unlike being a senior in college poised to graduate, having majored in the Random Analysis of Something No One Has Ever Cared About. Upon facing graduation, a person at this juncture with this course of study, or any course of study for that matter is inevitably asked, "so what are you going to do when you graduate."

I think my generation has wholly owned the lack of available responses to this question. As an English major on paper, but a Writing major in reality, I stared down this question a lot. My answer was always weak and a little whiny. "I just want to write."

I had three fears as I ended my formal education:
1. I would continue to be poor.
2. I would continue with a lifelong career in mall-based retail employment.
3. I would be bored at work.

Fortunately, although I had trouble articulating it to those posing The Question, I did know what I was doing when I petitioned my liberal arts private college to allow me to write my own major, call it Writing, take every course in every kind of writing available and supplement with several hours of Independent Study. I was preparing myself to be able to handle any kind of job or opportunity that required decent writing skills that might surface. While it seemed wacky, I'm sure, to my family and friends, I knew that the only way I would be happily employed is if whatever occupation I held included writing and lots of it.

I'm pleased to say that my job does include a satisfying amount of wordsmithing. There is always plenty of action going on so boredom very rarely occurs. I supplement the need to write with freelance writing on occasion and of course, the blog posts that help keep the creativity drip splish sploshing away.

When will I write the book? That's not really the question. The question is, when will I finish it?

The Memoir Diet

2006-11-15T19:34:00.000-05:00

Continuing my steady diet of memoirs, I'm wrapping up Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. I'm delving into Running With Scissors.

In the middle, I read a book of my daughter's that I quite liked; Princess Academy, aimed at the 10-12 year old set, but I loved it just the same.

Thoughts about memoirs: Will it sell if it's not by . . .

a gay white man;
someone who grew up in a war-torn country;
a former or current drug addict;
a mental patient; or
a survivor of great and significant adversity?

The Reading Season

2006-11-07T20:15:00.000-05:00

The weather's gone cold and damp so I bury myself in blankets of books using pages to sustain me through travel, early darkness and the gloom that descends with the first frost. Over the last few days I've consumed The Glass Castle and The Tender Bar. Interesting to note they're both memoirs (of the pre-James Frey definition of the genre, let's assume, as I don't believe anyone's questioning their validity).

I have not read many memoirs in the past but these two have certainly captured my attention. I adored The Glass Castle, the first book in my current book club that I've truly enjoyed and didn't want to put down. The Tender Bar I liked for different reasons -- St. Louis readers will enjoy knowing that it is written by McGraw Millhaven's (of KMOX fame) cousin, and McGraw comes of age in the book alongside the author.

After an entire writing life of being told to "write what you know" the memoir seems a natural choice for a writer floundering around with fiction. How much life is it necessary to have lived to write a memoir? I wonder, as I approach another birthday, am I too young to write a memoir?

Mastering the Monkey Bars

2006-10-17T19:46:00.000-04:00

Remember the first time you stood on the ground and looked up at the monkey bars? Maybe you watched another kid swing his way across before you took your turn. What comes so naturally to us as children; introducing ourselves, trying new activities, can still as adults as long as we abandon that tiny part inside of us that cares what others think.

When you first tried to swing, arm to arm on the monkey bars, did you stop and wonder if the other kids would think you looked silly? Did you care? Did you wonder if you were the only one, if others would see you and think it looked like fun, too. Did you hope the others would stay and play?

Moving from St. Louis to Charlottesville, we made our transition, reaching our arms from one solid place to another, gut tingling fear in the middle, before we'd confidently grasped the next bar in our monkey bar move. Still holding onto both bars, dangling safely with both hands hanging on, I'm not quite ready to let go of that first bar, to keep moving till I get to the other side.

Recently, I wrote an article for The Commonspace, a St. Louis grassroots civics and culture publication. I've written for The Commonspace before, only this is my first time to contribute to the Expatriates column (I harbor a secret desire to ultimately write for every section of the publication). The piece is a little bit about letting go; a little about finding the next strong, safe place to hold onto.

It's a testament to then, a commitment to now.
Cross-posted to Leading Charlottesville.

Best Book We've Read in Years

2006-10-07T17:54:00.000-04:00

My husband and I, in the early years, rarely read the same books. Where I favored classics and modern literature, he maintained a steady diet of sci-fi. I married, happily, a reader. It would be impossible for me to happily grow old with someone who didn't understand my passion for books. We can spend hours reading in a room together, perfectly happy to share our love of the written word.

It has only been in the last few years that we began to read the some of the same books, enjoy the same authors. Now, granted, there are still categories of non-crossover; pink-covered chick lit books he won't touch; hardcore sci fi I have no interest in trying.

Last week he said, "This is the best book I've read in the last several years." He left the book for me to read when I was ready. I picked it up in the next couple of days and last night, I finished it. The book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It is amazing. That's all I'm going to say about it, you just have to read it. It is the best book I've read in years, as well.

When I finished, I glanced at the back cover and was slayed by the fact that it's the author's first novel. You'll see what I mean.

Reading Lolita

2006-09-30T15:44:00.000-04:00

I've been invited to join a book club. I'm wary, as I've never joined a book club, only had my own. The current book is Reading Lolita in Tehran. We were scheduled to meet on this past Tuesday. The meeting was cancelled at the last minute because, apparently, no one had finished reading the book, including the person who had selected it. It was just as well as by Tuesday night I was nursing what has become a hellacious cold.

I'm interested in meeting this group -- I know only one person, my neighbor Lisa, the person who invited me to join. I'm hoping we will reschedule before I forget everything I want to say about the book.

If you haven't read it, it's a bleak work of nonfiction. More than anything, it made me want to re-read The Great Gatsby and Lolita, two novels to which much content is devoted in the book. I like the concept of the book -- a memoir in books, as it is described. The concept alone reminds me of a bit of my own fiction I've set aside, more of a memoir in outfits, I guess, the stories linked by my ridiculous ability to recall in every major life event what I and what others wore. I may pick the piece up again; it's had time to rest and breathe, perhaps it's time to see if I can bring it to the final pages.

What is it about book clubs, I wonder? For years my friend Judy and her husband have been involved in a couples book club. Rarely does the entire club read the book. I really don't get the point, unless it's like another friend I have whose group of girlfriends have Bunko nights and rarely actually play the game.

Maybe it would better for me to relive my college days and enroll in a literature course where the reading is required and everyone shows up for class. Do these still exist?

Books for Writers to Read

2006-09-09T13:09:00.000-04:00

Book of Joe shares a list of must reads for writers. How many do you have already under your belt? I count 32 and, I guess, have some reading to do.

An Interview with Mary Troy

2006-09-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

Mary Troy (MFA University of Arkansas) is the author of three short story collections: Cookie Lily, 2004, The Alibi Cafe and other stories, 2003, and the collection Joe Baker is Dead, 1998, which was nominated for a PEN/Faulkner award. She has published stories widely in The Greensboro Review, Sou'wester, The American Literary Review, Boulevard, the Chicago Tribune, and other journals. Her essays have appeared in anthologies and newspapers. She won a Nelson Algren award, and had thrice been nominated for Pushcart Prizes.

Mostly, though, Mary Troy is a wonderful writer, a thoughtful reader and one of the best teachers I've ever had. Memory of her voice has inspired me to keep at it, through the years. She is the director of the MFA program at the University of Missouri -- St. Louis. Mary was kind enough to grant the following interview to Writing the Good Read.

Writing the Good Read: The other night, I met a 23 year-old guy who had just graduated from college with degrees in Art and English. He is at a complete loss for next steps. He wouldn't know his dream job if it fell in his lap (which, of course, is unlikely). He's considering an MFA program. What advice do you offer for graduates in his shoes? Should he, and others, work and gain some life experience before entering an MFA program?

Mary Troy: There are a number of ways I could answer your questions. I’ll start with the young man at a complete loss. That is no reason to enter an MFA Program or indeed to begin writing. Creative writing takes discipline and dedication, is hard work, is in fact not a hobby but a calling, a vocation. Sure anyone can tinker with it, piddle about, but few of those dilettantes make it. Writing is hard, and the harder it is for the writer, the easier it is for the reader. So I do not suggest anyone give up the large chunk of life it takes to become a writer just because nothing seems good or interesting or the “dream job” does not appear. On the other hand, no one knows if he will be willing to go the distance if he does not at least start, and if your friend has not taken at least a few workshops, I suggest he do so. I am not suggesting the large undertaking of an MFA program—which he would not likely get into right away anyway—but some undergrad classes, some writing groups that meet in bookstores and libraries, or some kind of combination of those. You do not know what you can do until you at least start. Now about the MFA, it is the PhD equivalent for the creative writer, and that means it is the appropriate and most desirable degree for teaching creative writing in a university. It is not the same as a Master’s, though community colleges and some small and tradition bound colleges see it as the same. It is also only as good as the publications which accompany it, so having an MFA degree and one published book can get you a job in a university, depending on the competition of course. Since there are lots of writers looking for work, the competition may have two or three books, and your one does not look so good. Without a book, the MFA will not find work teaching in a university, except as an adjunct of course. So the MFA is not a sure-fire path to a job or a career. The best way to look at the degree is as a short-cut to better writing, to good literary creations, and thus to publication, and a by-product of it could be a good job.

Also, about the life experience part of your question: yes, life experience is necessary. Flannery O’Connor said anyone who has survived childhood has enough to write about, but that is if the writer is wise enough to know it, to use his imagination and has gained some insights from all we go through in childhood. It does not mean we write about our childhoods. It means we understand rejection and cruelty and loneliness and desire and love and guilt and all the rest that makes us human. That said, stories and novels must be authentic, so one cannot write a story set in Baghdad without knowing anything more about Iraq that what is on the news. Flannery O’Connor was good in her chosen setting, Mississippi, one she understood intuitively, but would not have been able to write a novel set in Italy during WWII, no matter how good her imagination. One of the best new books of last year was Whiteman by Tony D’Souza, and it is set in the Ivory Coast, just before the last violent revolution. Tony was raised in Chicago and lived much of his life in Miami, but he could write with authenticity about the Ivory Coast because he lived there in the Peace Corps. In fact, many writers have taken their experiences in the Peace Corps and used it in novels. Sure there are other ways to get experience—working as a grocery clerk is experience, too, but the book set in Safeway may not be as fascinating as one set in a village in the Ivory Coast. Then again, the writing and the insights will make the book finally, not the subject matter or the setting. All this to say yes, it is important to do things, to travel, to find out, to think, to research, to investigate. You need insights, talent, and material.

WTGR: When you were my teacher, and I was a young, naive student, I remember asking what steps I should take to become a writer. You said, "Just write." For me, that has not been a problem. Writing has been a daily part of my life for a very long time. I have, thankfully, never been plagued with any kind of writer's block. For those who do get stuck staring at the keyboard or the page, what techniques or sources of inspiration do you use, or teach students to use, to move past the block?

MT: I have never had writers’ block, but I believe it is either a failure of imagination or a fear of not being good enough. If it is a failure of imagination, you are probably not destined to be a writer. If it is what it almost always is, though, fear of not being good enough, the answer to that is simple. You are right. You are not good enough. None of us are. If we ever think we are, we fall into apathy or write boring, formulaic works. We need to get better, and we can only do that by writing. Sure, what you write may be horrid now (though likely not as horrid as you think) but blessedly no one but you need see it. if you write something terrible, read it, throw it away, delete it. Then write something better. Writing is the cure for this block, that and remembering that no one but you need ever see anything you do not think is good enough. And even then, you know that the next piece will be better, and the next one better still. Even if this is not true—sometimes we get worse as we try to improve and even that is a good sign—you want to tell yourself it is. Writing is an art that gets better with practice, and will continue to improve forever. You may have to be 85 before you write that one masterpiece, but you will have been working on it for 20, 30, 40 or more years, producing many good works along the way. So the answer is the same—just write. Just try. Keep trying. Do not expect brilliance. And of course, reading is a great way to learn to write, and a wonderful motivator. As always, reading good stories makes me want to write that much more. Read the classics as well as what is in the literary journals right now. Read it all. Try not to read formulaic trash, but read more literature. It is inspiring. You do not read to copy or to imitate, though that is OK, but more to remind you of the joy in reading to reinforce why you do this, to become excited by language enough to want to try your own style.

WTGR: What notable graduates of the UMSL MFA program should we be seeking on bookstore shelves?

MT: Our program is only eight years old, and most of our students go part time, take four or so years to finish, so there are not many books out just yet. But Eric Robinson published a novel, Skip Macalester, just this past summer. John Ryan has a chapbook out, as does Colleen McKee (both of them are poets.) One of our graduates, Linda Wendling, has an agent for her wonderful novel, and three very recent grads have such marvelous theses that we expect them to be published very soon. They are Michael Nye, Kendra Hayden, and Reggie Poche, all fiction writers.

WTGR: When do you write? Please share a bit about your personal writing process, and what you're working on now. Do you have another book coming out?

MT: I write better in early in the day. As my life changes and I have more demands on me from the MFA program, I find I write only three days a week during the school year, and every day on my time off. I try to write from 8am to about 3pm on the days I can. I often read something before I begin, and that is often poetry, usually a Shakespeare sonnet. If I am at that place in the story where I cannot think of anything else anyway, I will not read first.
What I am working on now is another collection of short stories, my true love. I have 3 stories for the book already finished, will hope to finish 4 or 5 more in this calendar year. That could be nearly enough for a book. I am also working on a novel, that will take many many years and will always take second place to my stories.

I have no new book coming out now. My 3rd one was out two years ago, and is still winning awards—the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award was the last one, about nine months ago.

WTGR: What do you think of writing groups, workshops and other small, non-degree-related programs designed to help writers help themselves?

MT: They are very good for those who are not sure if they want to be writers, and also good for those who do want to be writers, are indeed writers, but need structure, are not yet ready to be their own critics. That said, one must be careful. The groups are only as good as the others in them, and some advice is just bad and wrong. Never get in a group in which you think you are the best writer in it. You will not learn anything. Try to be surrounded by writers who are better than you. (Not those who merely think they are better than you.) And beware of jealously, competition, power struggles that can occur even in groups in which there seems to be nothing to gain. Eventually, all writers must wean themselves from the groups, and this includes the academic workshops too. All writing is finally done alone in isolation and we are each our own best and final judge of our work. In the beginning, comments from smart people who are also writers and are struggling with the same things is very very helpful. but eventually the writer must learn to give himself that same advice and counsel, to be his own critic. Sometimes writers join writers’ groups for the social part, to know they are not alone, to alleviate the isolation. That is fine, I think. We all need groups now and then.

WTGR: Since this blog is Writing the Good Read, please share what you're reading and recommend any books that might be useful to writers-in-development.

MT: I just finished Elizabeth Strout’s new novel—Abide With Me. Very good. I already mentioned Whiteman by Tony D’Souza, also extraordinary. I like anything by Lewis Nordan and John Dufresne and Susan Perabo and William Trevor. I just read the Cottagers by Marshall Klimasewiski and liked it pretty well. I did not care for Anne Beattie’s new novel. One book I like for beginning writers is supposedly a textbook, but is so much more than that, is rather a wise and friendly way of looking at what makes a story or novel and it is The Lie That Tells A Truth by John Dufresne. And I believe reading the literary journals is more helpful than you can imagine for new writers. It is important to see what is being published right now, to read people before they become famous.

The Mayor's Son

2006-08-23T08:03:00.000-04:00

When I was a sophomore in college, one of my classmates was the mayor’s son. We were part of a group of would-be writers that formed a society, established for the purpose of hosting readings on campus and publishing the annual literary magazine. One afternoon, early in the fall semester, we were hanging around the English department, me, the mayor’s son, the future MFA poet and the goth girl.

Out of the blue, the mayor’s son asked me out. He said, “Would you want to go out with me sometime?” My reaction probably looked like horror. I recoiled, I’m sure. I was shocked and caught completely off guard. “I’m married!” I blurted. No softening, no concern for his feelings. It wasn’t him, it was me. He wasn’t, I realized later, considering the episode, an unappealing person. He was smart, we had common interests, was nice-looking and, after all, the mayor’s son. He was also maybe 20 to my seasoned 22 years of age. I gathered, quickly, that while we knew one another in the casual, going-to-classes way, that he hadn’t learned much about me at all. Not only was I married, but had a three-year-old son at home. No one had proposed anything as fantastic as a date to me in over four years.

Looking back, I still feel badly. I could have handled that better, I think. It was a reaction inspired by my deep belief in my lack of desirability. I looked at him as if he’d asked if I’d be interested in skinning a cat, murdering his ex-girlfriend, or robbing a bank with him that afternoon.

Later that semester, I was into poetry. I composed a poem that dealt with images of light and dark, good and evil. It was, simply, about apprehension, if there was an “about” at all. My poetry, particularly in the early days, usually sucks. I didn’t think this one was bad and shared it around, with some other work, with my writer friends. We did that; we were writers. I was hanging out in the hallway between classes when the mayor’s son approached me, a copy of my poem in his hand. “I read your poem,” he said. “Are you racist?” he asked.

Again, I found myself agape at this guy. How had this poem about light and dark been so utterly misunderstood? I read it again. I didn’t know what to say to him except that no, I was not and didn’t know what the hell he was talking about. I decided later that he’d decided to hate me because I had humiliated him when he asked me out. In anything I wrote that he read, he would find some subversive, terrible thing to pull out of it. He would be no fan of mine.

I think of the mayor’s son when I write and when I’m caught off guard, in equal measures. I try to pause before I answer a question I’m unprepared to hear and remind myself that not everyone who reads me knows me, or perhaps ever will. Writers should be prepared to be misunderstood here and there. Consider this a reminder to take a deep breath before you respond.

Reading List

2006-08-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

I found myself nodding in wholehearted agreement over this post by Dwight, offering up some shorter reading selections for the busy. These are also great travel reads. I'm going to be flying soon and I'm hoping I'll be allowed to carry on a book (must have my pages to survive the turbulence, the up, the down, the general gravitationally-induced panic).

On Teaching

2006-07-25T18:08:00.000-04:00

I have held life long respect for teachers and the teaching profession. There are many teachers in my family and I've had the great fortune of having many great and memorable teachers at all levels of my education.

A few years ago, I was approached with the opportunity to teach a course in public relations at Fontbonne University. The teaching bug certainly bit that first semester, as I nervously stood before my first class of college juniors and seniors. Teaching what you know, while you're living it, helps. As a public relations and communications professional, I was able to share with the class my daily work life one night a week. As a crisis would unfold or a creative challenge presented itself, the class had a front-row seat watching and participating in real-life PR.

As part of the class I offered some advice. Communications is about networking and keeping in touch. Get to know people, develop relationships and commit to learning not just the craft, but about the people who practice it. I ended every semester with the promise that any student could get in touch with me ever after and I would do what I could to answer questions and help nurture them in their careers. Several, to my delight, have taken me up on the offer.

I had to give up teaching when we moved from St. Louis to Charlottesville and while I'm happy to regain the time, I sure miss it. This week, in particular.

Today, I heard from one of my students from last year's class. A gifted student, he was having trouble deciding his career path, plagued with too many choices and capabilities. He's working as an intern in a PR firm this summer and absolutely loves it. He closed the e-mail by thanking me for being a great teacher and a good friend.

This is why we teach.

The Empty Space

2006-07-22T09:59:00.000-04:00

Last night, I dreamt that I'd lost a tooth. In the dream I pushed my tongue into the hole, worrying the space through the night. Upon waking, I ran my tongue over my teeth just to be sure it was a dream, and that all were intact.

Dream analysts probably have theories about missing teeth dreams. I don't care for these so I will not seek them. It's the space, rather than the missing tooth that intrigues me. It's like the idea upon drifting off to sleep that you can't quite recapture in the morning. It's the brilliance after your fourth beer that later reveals itself to be ridiculous or worse, unoriginal.

Is the hole some gap I'm trying to fill with words, friends and work? Or is it just a symbol of the boy, who has left us for a week, leaving an empty space at the table?

Learning to Write

2006-07-21T16:33:00.000-04:00

I have been very fortunate. While living in St. Louis, I had the experience of learning from a number of great writers. In school, I learned from Kirk Curnutt, Mary Troy, Jerry Harp, Bob Earleywine and George Hickenlooper, Sr. (yes, the father of the famous filmmaker). Although they were not formally my teachers, I've also had the opportunity to learn from Jason Sommer and Wayne Fields.

My father was my first writing teacher, ever encouraging me to read, write and try. When I was in college, my dad took his first stab at writing a play. I remember this clearly as I was in Prof. Hickenlooper's class, struggling unsuccessfully with my own screenplay. Today, just 11 or 12 years later, Dad is an accomplished playwright.

Recently, Dad, in his sixties-plus (he's a very young 71) attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop (well, one of the shorter, summer programs, anyway). Again, doing what I've always wanted to do. I put my seething jealousy aside long enough to hear about the program, how great it was, how helpful the instruction, how cool Iowa City is, how much he got out of it, etc.

I really want to go. I'm looking ahead to the next few years and would like to plan to attend. I'd love to hear from other grads of the program and get your thoughts.

Dispatches from the Desk

2006-07-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

I finished reading Anderson Cooper's book, Dispatches from the Edge. I found it a little weird. It was good, and interesting, but it had some holes, I thought. As a journalist, I like Cooper. I admire his daring and find his reporting from war zones thorough and in-depth. He seems to live his whole life as a journalist, though.

While the book shares much of his life with his mother (Gloria Vanderbilt) and the impact his father's death and his brother suicide had on his life, there's not much insight into his life, outside of the journalism, now.

If you have an interest in reading about Cooper's coverage of Hurricane Katrina or any of the world travels and war reporting he's done, pick it up.

Summer reading list

2006-07-20T19:53:00.000-04:00

A bit ago, Steve Whittaker posted a query about summer reading lists on his blog. (BTW, Steve, why is your blog showing up all super large print these days?) I love the idea of a summer reading list. I shared what I've got going between pages for these hot days, but I'm interested in what you're reading, too.

I developed a habit of reading entire author's works once I discover I like them. It all started the fall that everyone else went back to college and I, newly married, expecting my first child, incredibly lonely and depressed, did not. My writing teacher from the previous semester, Kirk Curnutt (great interview, here) had recommended two things: John Irving and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Since writing teachers have always held great sway with me, influencing more than I ever want them to know, I became acquainted with Irving that fall. I read everything. Chronologically, backwards, back to the beginning so I could appreciate the growth of the writer.

This style of reading set a precedent for me. Currently I'm doing the same with the work of Margaret Atwood. While I'm no where near as infatuated with Atwood as I am Irving, I do have an appreciation for her style, and enjoy the paperback editions as poolside reads (bought for $2.50 apiece at the New Dominion bookstore on the downtown mall).

Don DeLillo has reached into my reading life in much the same way. I read Underworld as part of a book club, and suddenly realized I'd read his work before, in the form of a short story, included as a chapter in the novel. The story? The Angel Esmerelda, written several years before the novel. It is a captivating, haunting story.

I have a theory that applies generally to movies about the squirm factor. If you're wondering what time it is before the car chase or before our hero has gotten the girl, then it's probably a bad movie. A similar theory, I think, applies to written works. If I still remember some piece of it later, and later still (years! eons!) then I deem it successful. If I can't get it out of my head, then dear author, you're mine and I'll line up at the bookshelves head cocked to the side, seeking out your earlier and earliest works.

Novel in a Month

2006-07-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

A good friend and fellow writer issued this challenge to me today.

I'm not sure I'm up for writing an entire novel in one month (maybe if I didn't have to work or eat) but maybe you are. Can you imagine how terrible some of the entries must be? I'm tempted to sign up and take the challenge. I know I'll likely be traveling to St. Louis twice in November and the family is coming to our house for Thanksgiving, so November is NOT the best time for this, but really, when is?

I'm sure the strictly reader audience of this blog is thinking that they'd have trouble stretching reading a novel into a month's timeframe. Depends on the novel, I guess.

Are you up for a novel in a month?

Darling Delmar

2006-07-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

When I was a senior in college, (a non-traditional commuter student with a five-year-old child, a full time job and a husband) I met a couple of guys who changed the course of my travels.

I was the editor of the school's literary magazine, The Griffin. Bob Earleywine, my writing teacher that semester, had suggested Steve Schreiner as guest reader for the event. Steve invited a couple of guys he knew to attend our school's annual reading, hosted by members of The Griffin's staff. That night, I met Jeff Hamilton and Scott McKelvie.

I remember being college coffee house captivated. The beer we drank at The Corner Bar after the reading induced an infatuation of sorts. I wanted to support everything these guys were doing. I wanted to be them when I grew up, whenever that might be. I wanted to roll around in whatever they were involved in. I wanted in.

Jeff and Scott are co-founders of Delmar, a St. Louis-based literary journal that has survived 11 print editions and now, has gone Web.

Soon after that meeting, and for many years after, when I had the time, (there was another child born, a career to begin) I devoted whatever public relations help I could, trying to help the St. Louis based literary journal gain readers, sell copies, publish another book. I met some incredible writers, went to (and helped organize) great readings that took place in neighborhoods all over St. Louis. It wasn't enough, but I always believed in what Delmar was doing and wanted to do. I still do.

Delmar is in a new phase of its life, persisting online. Take a look and perhaps you'll feel the same thrill I felt when I first met Scott and Jeff, over 11 years ago.

Writing the Good Read

2006-07-17T20:37:00.000-04:00

I've been a writer as long as I've been a reader. It's a neck to neck race in which I do, and want to do more. This blog is for readers and writers alike, a forum in which to share good reads, and items of interest for those who write.

Writing and reading are like water for many. A day without it leaves us gasping, parched. Come here for a sip and stay awhile.