Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Closing Out 2016

Happy New Year, people! Over the past week, I’ve been spending time following some of my own advice in terms of looking back on what happened in my writing practice in 2016 (and, yes, looking ahead to what I hope to work on in 2017).

This means that I’m working on a version of Lisa Romeo’s “I Did It!” list and completing Annette Gendler’s latest workbook. (And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, that means you haven’t yet read the January issue of The Practicing Writer, which went out to subscribers a few days ago—and is available online for everyone for the remainder of this month.)

Meantime, over on my other blog, I’ve assembled the latest in a series of year-end posts regarding my past 12 months in Jewish books.

And I’ve also completed and sent in my final Poetry Has Value update, covering December and providing a year-round earnings total. I don’t know when our PHV leader will post those updates, but the November batch is now available on the PHV site.

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Midweek Notes from a Practicing Writer

Quiet Americans Is Required Reading!

There’s something so special about knowing that my work moves educators enough to share it with their students. So an email that I received on Monday—conveyed via my publisher and requesting a desk copy of Quiet Americans—was a wonderful surprise.

This time, students in a class on “Literature of American Minorities” offered within a Michigan university are the ones who are being asked to read the stories. It means so very much to me to know that the book is being included on the syllabus. (And yes, I’ve asked to see the full syllabus so I can see the other books included there. I’m always learning, too!) (more…)