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The Wednesday Web Browser: Jim Shepard on Historical Fiction, Lisa Romeo on Beginnings, and My Machberet Update

by Erika Dreifus on
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Jim Shepard shares insights on writing fiction that works with “historical or real events.” Good, solid stuff there. (Thanks to Luna Park for the link.)
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Take a few moments to read Lisa Romeo’s smile-and-chuckle-inducing take on the challenges of “beginnings” right here.
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Over on My Machberet (“machberet” being the Hebrew word for “notebook”), I’ve recently posted about the Sydney Taylor Book Awards, a call to hear from Jewish women writers, and an opportunity to publish film reviews on Nextbook (warning–that’s not a paying gig, as far as I can tell, but there IS a non-cash grand prize for the “best” review). If you haven’t visited My Machberet in awhile (or ever), I invite and encourage you to do so. But please be forewarned that it’s my refuge from contentiousness and the dialogues des sourds I encounter too many other places. It is unabashedly pro-Israel.

I’ve had a really hard couple of weeks, so please, I beg you, do not post anti-Israel comments there (or here). I simply will not approve them. Believe me, I know what all the anti-Israel arguments are these days. It’s extremely unlikely anyone can tell me something I haven’t already read/heard, and it’s basically impossible that you’ll change my mind on this one.

Please remember that these blogs are my very own virtual living rooms: They’re my parties, and I’ll maintain the tenor that I want to. Todah rabah/thank you, and I hope those of you with particularly Jewish literary and cultural interests will nonetheless stop on by.

In Praise of Natalie Wexler

by Erika Dreifus on
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You know what happens when you revisit the site of a good friend who writes? You are even more impressed with your friend’s grasp of writing (and other matters), and you feel even luckier that this person is your friend. That’s what happened to me a few days ago when I checked in with my pal (from a shared Iowa Summer Writing Festival workshop more than a decade ago), Natalie Wexler.

Natalie, an essayist and an historical novelist, has posted an archive of excellent original columns on her site. The pieces stretch back to August 2007, and are sure to interest anyone interested in the following topics: self-publishing; the early history of the Supreme Court (one of Natalie’s particular fields of expertise and a subject central to her novel, A More Obedient Wife); writing about “bit players in history”; researching one’s historical fiction; and much more.

And to hear even more about/from Natalie, read our own archived interview from 2007.

Friday Find: Featured Resources for Practicing Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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Over on my Web site, you’ll find a “Resources” page designed to assist practicing fictionists, poets, and writers of creative nonfiction. A considerable chunk of the page is devoted to a chronological listing of the resources spotlighted in each month’s Practicing Writer newsletter. The newsletter will soon celebrate its fifth birthday, so I think this is a good time to remind you of the years’ worth of “finds” you can peruse via a single screen. Enjoy, and have a wonderful weekend.

Two Twists on New Year’s Resolutions for Writers

by Erika Dreifus on
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Not all writing-related resolutions must involve waking up an hour earlier to draft a few hundred words, or sending out a certain number of submissions each month. Just consider these two approaches:

The Book Publicity Blog has posted a set of (mainly) publicity-related resolutions you might want to adopt, especially if you have a new/forthcoming book. For example: “Set up a Google Alert for your book (or all your books if you’re a book publicist).” And “Make sure an author’s web presence is established early, as in, by the time galleys are sent to the media (typically four-six months before a book goes on sale).”

And since there’s a considerable amount of business e-mail in most practicing writers’ lives–requesting guidelines, pitching article ideas, submitting stories or essays or poems, corresponding about assignments, dealing with invoices and payment, etc.–we can surely benefit from a refresher course on how to handle e-mail communications via “10 Business E-Mail Etiquette New Year’s Resolutions.” Truly excellent material there.

The Wednesday Web Browser: Conference Call, Promotion via Book Groups, and Jayne Anne Phillips’s New Novel

by Erika Dreifus on
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Our friend from Fernham, Anne, who is planning a June conference in New York City, is in search of creative writers influenced by Virginia Woolf. Interested? Click here for more information.
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The indefatigable Josh Henkin is back with book group-based book promotion ideas, this time featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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When La Kakutani touts, I listen. Based on this review, Jayne Anne Phillips’s new novel, Lark and Termite, goes to the top of my tbr list.