Wednesday’s WIP: Good Times
Honestly, I don’t have any one thing to focus on in this week’s “work-in-progress” post. Here are a bunch of moments/circumstances from the past week that have made me feel happy, engaged, and optimistic–about writing and books and my life in general.
Last Tuesday night (September 17), I attended a wonderful event at the Society of Illustrators that featured Israeli graphic novelist Rutu Modan. If you follow my other blog, you already know how much I loved Modan’s most recent book, The Property, when I read it this summer. So I was thrilled to meet Modan (and have her sign my copy of her book), and delighted to cover the event for The Jewish Week‘s “Well Versed” blog, where my account appeared on Wednesday.
On Thursday, I headed over to the Center for Fiction for an event featuring novelists Jonathan Dee and Pamela Erens “in conversation.” I’ve known Jonathan since my MFA days (he’s on the faculty of the MFA program I went to, although I never had the chance to work with him). I’ve gotten to know Pamela more recently, and she has impressed me not only with her writing but with her generosity toward me and other writers. Poor Pamela had almost no voice, which made the “conversation” part difficult, but Jonathan valiantly and expertly read from both his and Pamela’s newest novels. (I bought copies of both!)
Over the weekend, I finished a draft of the October edition of The Practicing Writer. I especially enjoyed editing the Q&A with Kelly Luce that highlights the issue. (If you want to get a sneak peek into the wonderful new book of Kelly’s that’s at the heart of that piece, check out this gorgeous video.)
I love The Practicing Writer, but I’m also proud whenever the newsletter that I produce at my day job–what I think of as “the newsletter that I get paid to work on”–goes out. In the event that you’re interested in seeing it, the September-October issue, which was distributed and posted on Monday, is right here.
On a more personal note, three of my most valued friends–people I’ve known since my freshman year of college–independently happened to make their ways to New York this past week, and I was able to spend time with each of them. I can’t tell you how much this lifted my spirits.
So, it has been a pretty good week, and I am feeling very fortunate. Any of you have recent high points of your own that you’d like to share?