Erika Dreifus

New Essay Online
New publication alert: Last Friday my essay titled “Five Ways for Writers to Avoid Oversharing” went live on The Missouri Review‘s blog. I’m grateful to TMR for giving the piece a home, and grateful that the responses I’ve received so far on Twitter and Facebook have been so encouraging.

As you’ll note if you read the piece, I was prompted to write the essay when another writer directed a casual comment my way on Twitter. The essay thus illustrates another instance in which a remark I couldn’t have anticipated or predicted has produced an entirely new piece of writing. (Another example: My online-poetry-course-instructor’s comment via email alluding to how promptly—”nay, early!”–I tended to submit my assignments produced this poem, which, as of now, has been published three times.) So, please, talk/write to me! 😉

Musical Interludes
Like so many others, I anticipated the Mad Men series finale with eagerness (how would the stories end?) and dread (why must the stories end?). I’ve been consoling myself this week by listening to this playlist of songs used to close episodes throughout the series. (Thanks to TIME for the playlist and for the accompanying article.)

Also most cheering: my friend and former writing teacher Sands Hall’s Monday appearance on Capital Public Radio. In this case, Sands was on the radio to share some of her most recent songwriting. Take a listen. And do feel free to revisit a Q&A with Sands that ran in The Practicing Writer way back when. As always, I’m awestruck by the multiple talents of people like Sands!

Fun with Fig Tree Books
I confess with some shame that I rarely leave the island of Manhattan to return to the borough of my birth (that would be Brooklyn). But I made the trip Monday evening to attend a joint reading oh-so-graciously hosted by Greenlight Books. The dynamic duo featured were Jonathan Papernick (whose The Book of Stone we at Fig Tree Books have just published), and Sara Nović (fun fact: Sara began writing her much-buzzed-about debut novel Girl at War while she was a student in one of Jon’s classes!). Jon and Sara are tag-teaming a number of appearances, all of which are listed over on the Fig Tree Books website along with Jon’s (and other Fig Tree authors’) additional events.

Speaking of Fig Tree Books: Like many others in the publishing world, our team is gearing up for next week’s BookExpo America. If you’ll be attending, please visit the FTB booth: #843A. I’d love to say hello.

And if you’re not heading to BEA, but you’re a book reviewer looking ahead to fall titles, please note that digital galleys of FTB’s fall titles are now available for request via Edelweiss. Please check out Ben Nadler’s The Sea Beach Line (slated for publication in October) and our re-issue of Edward Lewis Wallant’s The Pawnbroker (November), featuring a foreword by Dara Horn.