Friday Finds for Writers
Writing-related resources, news, and reflections to enjoy over the weekend. (more…)
Posts Tagged‘Essays’
Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
Singing for My Supper (Technically, Lecturing for My Lunch)
I’ve written here about the New York Society Library before. It’s a lovely, lovely institution where yesterday I gave a brief “Writing Life” talk titled “Writing Contests 101.”
The group was delightful, and I had a wonderful time. After the session, the librarian who had invited me to speak, Carolyn Waters, treated me to a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant.
(I didn’t “advertise” this event ahead of time, because it was limited to Library members only. But I’m happy to share the resource handout that I distributed there.) (more…)
Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
On Saying No
I receive a lot of writing-related requests. Within the past week, for example, two authors have asked me to blurb their novels. Someone else asked me to recommend a Yiddish translator in a certain part of the country. Another person wrote to request that I check out his website and maybe recommend it to all of you. And an author asked me to recommend where to submit his just-published book for reviews (and also, for post-publication prizes).
Here’s how I responded to those requests. (more…)
Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
An Evening Out
One evening this past week, my sister and I ventured out together for an author talk here in Manhattan by our family friend Dr. Sandeep Jauhar (Sandeep is married to a sister of one of my sister’s best friends). We looked on with pride while Sandeep discussed the issues at the heart of his latest book, Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician, and responded to questions from the audience.
I haven’t yet read the new book (but the copy circulating among our family members, pictured to the left, is now in my possession). But I did read (and admire) Sandeep’s previous book; you may remember the Q&A that I conducted with him in a long-ago issue of The Practicing Writer. (more…)
Work-in-Progress: Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer
(Still experimenting with a new title/format for these midweek posts. Thanks for bearing with me!)
‘TIS THE SEASON
Well, not exactly. But my extended family has found, these past several years, that it’s often easier for all of us to gather for a holiday on less-than-exact dates that are at least in the general vicinity of the holiday in question.
Thus, last weekend found us pre-celebrating Hanukkah. Below, one of the gifts Auntie Erika bestowed: B.J. Novak’s The Book With No Pictures (the picture doesn’t capture the excitement/joy that the gift evoked as soon as it was unwrapped; this was one of my more inspired/successful choices!).
WRITING
This week brought the conclusion of the terrific workshop I’ve been part of this fall. It also brought an effort–now stalled, I admit–to work on a new essay. And it brought a poetry acceptance (more about that soon, I trust!).
I knew the workshop was coming to an end. I suspected that the essay might not “work.” And I hoped the poem might find its home.
But I did not, in any way, anticipate this lovely note which arrived via email yesterday, about one of the short stories in Quiet Americans: (more…)