Tayari's Blog: November 2005
November 30, 2005
Tayari's THIRTY-FIVE
I've got Stevie Wonder on my iPod. "Happy Birthday to ya! Haaaapppy Biiirrthday!" And of course, there's red velvet cake. And vodka gimlets. And very good shoes. And very very very good friends. Thanks everyone for such a good year. Love, Tayari
November 26, 2005
Podcasts?
Tayari has a new toy. Yes, my new iPod has arrived. Of course I will miss the dearly departed "Persephone" who was last seem in the Chicago O'Hare airport. If you see anyone listening to an iPod with the name "T-Lovely" engraved on the back, slap this person, retrieve the pod and I will give you a reward. I've named my new iPod "Andromeda." She's black and gorgeous.
Anyway, being without an iPod for a week made me realize that I wasn't making the most of the technology available to me. So I started investigating this "podcasting" thing I had heard so much about. I'm hooked. My question to you all is what podcasts (if any) do you listen to?
Posted at 09:03 AM | ![[comments]](http://www.tayarijones.com/images/comments.gif){kind=small}
Comments (5)
Category:
November 22, 2005
Tayari's Favorite Things
Monday, Oprah announced her "favorite things" for the holidays. You can go to her web site to check it out. You can even click for a printable shopping list. I hope you have several thousand dollars to blow, because Miz O is drawn to high-ticket items. ($150 corduroys anyone? $10,000 watch?)
Anyway, I was thinking of a gift guide for the writer in your life, even if that writer is yourself. So here are some tangible things that have enriched my writing life:
November 20, 2005
R.E.A.D. Divas Book Club
The R.E.A.D. Divas of Bloomington, Illinois invited me to their monthly book club meeting. They made the invitation way back in August. When I accepted, I had no idea how exhausted I'd be by November. But being a woman of my word, I traveled the 70 miles to Bloomington to attend the meeting. I am so glad that I did.
Walter Mosley Tells the Truth
Click here to check out Walter Mosley's article about politics and writing. Thanks, AE.)
"Books are entertainments," I am told. "No one wants to hear your ideas about how the world works or what's wrong with America." Of course they don't. The job of the writer is to take a close and uncomfortable look at the world they inhabit, the world we all inhabit, and the job of the novel is to make the corpse stink. If writing was always only a good adventure with a teary or cheery ending, books would not be worth the effort to read or to write.
Posted at 09:29 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
November 17, 2005
Requiem For an iPod
It's too painful to even blog about it. *sniff*
Posted at 02:03 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
November 15, 2005
Quotable Quote
One of my students brought this little gem to my attention:
A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
--G. K. Chesterton
English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)
November 14, 2005
In The Mood For a Bargain?
Amazon has put The Untelling on sale! Hardcovers are available for $6.99. Just in time for the holidays. (Smile). But really, it's a good opportunity because these are good books direct from the publisher. There are some other really low price books out there, but most of them are book club editions which are not printed on top quality paper. And, as always, you know you can email me and I will send you a signed book plate.
Posted at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Books You Read as A Kid
Liam is guesting over at theoldhag, God bless him. Anyway, he's linked to an article about what writers read to their children. Well, being as I have no children to read to, I thought I would write an article about the books I read and loved as a young person.
November 11, 2005
Report From The Road: Peace College
I'm back from my four-day residency at Peace College in Raleigh, NC. It was such a lovely experience. Peace College is a small women's college, much like my own alma mater, Spelman College.
Posted at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
November 10, 2005
"Universal" is a 4-letter word
The other day, at a bookstore event, I was asked "How much of your writing is 'black' and how much is 'universal.'" Holy cats. Are people STILL asking writers that????
This is one of those moments where I wish I could go back and say something different that what I said. The question caught me off-guard. I am pretty sure that the man, (who was white), didn't mean anything neccesarily offensive by the question. But, it's two days later and I am still, annoyed, alarmed, and more than a little pissed off.
Let me explain.
November 09, 2005
Report From The Road: Raleigh, NC
Yesterday I gave a reading at Quail Ridge bookstore in Raleigh, NC. What a nice event. As I was driving over with Carol Hiscoe of Peace College, I warned her. "Don't worry if there are no people there. I happens sometimes. I won't cry."
November 07, 2005
Report From The Road: Raleigh, NC
I think I am becoming addicted to B&Bs. Check out my digs.
Report From The Road: Raleigh, NC
I am blogging live from Raleigh, NC. I've returned to lovely Peace College to give the Goodmon Lecture. It's quite an honor. Since 1981, the Goodmon family have endowed this annual event in honor of Betty Lou Fletcher Goodman, a 1940 graduate of Peace College. It's a wonderful way to honor a family member, a gift that goes on and on, keeping the memory alive. I'll give a reading tonight. More details in the morning.
November 05, 2005
Report From The Road: Milledgeville, GA
When I was a little girl in Atlanta, kids would tease each other about Milledgeville, as it is the site of the state mental institution. A common taunt: "You better quit before they send you to Milledgeville." Well, I was sent to Milledgeville last week and I you know what? They've got something good going on there.
November 02, 2005
Novemeber is National Novel Writing Month
On your marks, get set, GO! The goal is to write a short novel of about 175 pages (50,000 words) by November 30, which happens to be my birthday. Shall we all sit down and get our collective scribble on? Yes, let's. Here's the NaNoWriMo website.