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• I Feel Good All Over!
• 2010 is Right Around The Corner
• Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye!
• "F Love" or Why You Should Apply Broadly
• DORF Factor & One-Negro-At-A-Time Syndrome

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I Feel Good All Over!

Today was a good day. I seldom use this blog as a journal, but I felt like I really wanted to check in today.

This morning, I turned in my new novel, THE SILVER GIRL, to my editor at Algonquin. I don't know how she'll react to my revisions, but I can only tell you how I feel--- terrific. This book has probably been the most challenging project I have ever undertaken. I had so many upheavals in my life over the last four years and I was trying to keep writing all the way through. There were times when it looked like the story was going to die on the vine.

Friends, who mean well, would say "How's the writing going?" It wasn't going. It was like all my creative energy was going to just keeping my life together in a general way. There was nothing left for my characters.

But y'all, I did it.

I thought that maybe I should wait until the novel is at the final, final, final, stage to write this. But then, I decided that postponing giving thanks and putting off feeling accomplishment is just another way to sabotage myself. Undermining is not part of the agenda for 2010.

If you are working on something, I hope it's going well for you. If it's not going well, keep pushing. Your luck will change and when it does, celebrate it. I don't care how little the milestone is, mark it. Even if you just write a happy note in your journal. Do it.

Taking care of yourself is the first step to reaching any meaningful goal. You can't write if you're sick. You can't write if you aren't getting enough sleep. You can't write if you are in a bad relationship that damages your confidence. To write your best work, you have give yourself the care you deserve.

Posted at 07:38 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

2010 is Right Around The Corner

I almost wrote, "We'll I'm back home now," but after the holidays, it's hard to know where you are. Am I back home, or was I home when I was "home" for the holidays? The overlap with old-life and real-life is part of what makes the holidays so maddening, but also so stimulating for creativity. I have an idea for a new book and the voice really came to me over the last week. Something about displacement, I think. Anyway, I am back in my own-self apartment now getting ready for the new year.

I was also thinking, as I prepared to write this post, how lame it is that every year, everyone says the same thing as we approach January 1. We always say, "This year will be better than the last", or "This year I am going to take better care of myself." "This year, I am going to devote more time to my writing!". You get the idea.

Well, I can't help it. I am going to say all those same things again. Taking better care of yourself is a process and, if we're lucky, every year we get a little closer to our goals. If we have a bad year, we get set back, and we have to push even harder to get things in order again.

2007 was a miserable year for me and the smack-down lasted well into the middle of 2008. I won't get into it, but let's just say, I was catching hell on every front. 2009 felt like an opportunity to make a fresh start and I have it all I had. It was like the universe was helping me out. A $50,000 grant from the United States Artists Foundation gave me the financial flexibility to be able to take a semester off from teaching and to sequester myself in Martha's Vineyard to finish my novel. The money also gave me some wiggle room for some creature comforts like a new bed and a fancy new winter coat.

In this week before New Years I am trying to keep some of that momentum going. Of course I am doing life-hacker stuff like cleaning the apartment, unsubcribing to a lot of commercial email lists (bye bye Land's End!), and organizing my computer files. I am also getting a TV for the first time in twenty years(!).

Once I get the apartment together, and get things physically in shape for maximum productivity, I am going to turn int he other direction and stop demanding maximum productivity for myself. 2010 is going to be a year of balance for me. I want to work hard, but not too hard. I want to dial the stress back and learn to be more content with what I have. I want to learn to be more grateful. And happy.

Posted at 08:33 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Goodbye!

Kirkus Reviews has closed it's doors and I have to say that I am not sad to see it go. Their reviews of both of my books were so scathing that I actually teared up. For those not in the loop, Kirkus of a "pre-pub" review source, which it means that it weighed in on teh book before it even hit the shelves. For new writers, Kirkus often provided their very first review ever. The reviews in Kirkus went unsigned, so you didn't even know where to send the hit man.

One disturbing trend I see is echoed my Michael Bourett at DGLM. (Full disclosure, DGLM represents me.) In his farewell to Kirkus he says,

I don’t think any other publication can make an author cry the same way that Kirkus did. On more than one occasion I have warned an author before the review to be prepared, because if you’ve never read one of their reviews and they go after you, it can be soul-crushing.

But when they did give an author and book a good review, it always meant that much more. Pleasing them wasn’t easy, so doing so was all the more satisfying.

To me, that's giving power to people just for being harsh. It's like the abuse made it all the more important to win thier favor.

I think one of the reason Kirkus failed is because any publication that is known for playing one note-- snarky-- becomes known as an unreliable source for information. A consistently hard review source is just as corrupt as one that is habitually smiley.

For kicks, here's a post I put up a couple years ago after Kirkus savaged The Untelling. And while you're reading it, I'll be pouring myself a glass of prosecco.

Posted at 04:16 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

"F Love" or Why You Should Apply Broadly

Apply Smarter
Originally uploaded by quannumthrow

DORF Factor & One-Negro-At-A-Time Syndrome

I saw this great piece in Slate about the black music that gets featured on NPR. I have long since held that black folks and white folks tend to have different taste in black artists. Well, Josh Weiner has broken it down. He calls it the DORF factor.

In short, he notices that the black music featured on NPR tends to be by artists who are DEAD, OLD, RETRO, or FOREIGN. He also noticed that NPR seems sweet on black folks making music that is associated with white traditions, like Jeez Louise! Black folks singing opera!

I have noticed similar trends in the books by black authors who receive mainstream attention, but I have been reluctant to post about it. The reason is that I wouldn't want to seem to be begruding any black author the benefit of this attention. There is such an impulse to see an African or Carribbean writer getting lots of attention, and think "She's taking my spot!" But the real question is why is there just one spot? Or, why do I feel the need to compete with the other black writer on the list? Why do I not feel that I have been passed over in favor of the other writers on this list? Why can't an African-African writer be on the list alongside and African-Carribbean writer?

That said, the DORF factor is alive and well in literature, too. (The categories are a little bit different. For example, for "Retro" we should substitute "Historical". There should also be a category for black people who are the ONLY ONE-- in thier families, at their jobs, or somewhere.) But the main thrust of the article is that NPR doesn't honor muscians that actual living black people enjoy. (You will see I am not naming any names because I have no grudge against any writer. We are all out here doing the best we can, telling the story that we have to tell.)

This is not to say that no black folks enjoy the books that are reviewed in the NYT or on NPR, but when I look at what people are reading on the subway or in bookclubs, they are seldom the same lists. Obviously there are rule-proving exceptions,but you get the idea. Please note, that I am writing this not to criticize the writers who are featured in these formats. Nor am I suggesting that black readers are unsophisticated, as I reject the idea that NPR and NYT are the arbiters of all things smart. All I'm doing here is pointing out the disconnect.

(Here's the link to the Slate article that inspired this post)

Posted at 09:45 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

A Memento

I came home from Brazil to find a small box that had been delivered while I was away. I opened it to find the best gift ever-- a quilt sewn by my fifth grade class! My teacher, Ms. Gaither, preserved it all these years, but sent it to me to congratulate me on my novels.

Ms. Gaither-- who signed her letter "Thomasena", but I could never call her that!-- was a teacher who loved books as much as I did. Although we were technically a little old for story-hour, she would read to us in a dramatic and engaging fashion. I can still remember her reading The Pinballs and Philip Hall Like Me, I Reckon Maybe. When I do readings, Mrs. Gaither's delivery is what I aim for.

Although it was thirty years ago, I do recall the making of this quilt. My block was the one on the second row depicting a telephone. I wanted to do the boy and the girl on the top row-- they represented my favorite book that year, Alan and Naomi, but it was already taken. if you look in the lower right hand corner, you can see the blue ribbon we won in the city-wide Language Arts Festival!

I've tacked the quilt to the wall in my writing room. I consider it a vital souvineer of my personal history. Thank you so much, Ms. Gaither-- not just for sending the quilt, but for caring enough to keep it, and for being so kind to me when I was an awkward little girl with overly large teeth and an overly sensitive heart.

Posted at 08:07 AM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Opportunity Alert, but the Deadline is TIGHT

I just got this notice, so the deadline is TODAY, but I think it's worth posting. If you get some coffee in you, you can meet the deadline to apply for The Millay Colony for the arts.

All of you know that I love to go artists colonies and I recommend them to anyone who needs to get away and concentrate on work. The Millay Colony is special because they don't want a list of your accomplishments, or letters of reference. All they want is your work. This is an excellent opportunity for writers (and other artists) who are concerned that thier non-traditional backgrounds would put them at a disadvantage. The Millay Colony doesn't care who you know, what you've published, or where you've been. Just send your work.

Application and details, here.

Posted at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Notes From The Mountain

My buddy, Alex, has written up his reflections on our three-day junket up to Bread Loaf. Here are mine—in the same format.

1.
This is the fourth or fifth time that I have gone to Bread Loaf. The first time was in 2003 (at long last) as a fellow—an award given to new writers within a year or so of their first books. I remember being a little bit scared, worried that people could tell that I wasn’t quite of this world. By “this world” I mean the mostly white, really ambitious, buzz-wordy universe. Mostly there was no need for me to be so worried. Everyone was scared, but for different reasons. In the visits that follow, I go as a slacker. Maybe I offered a one hour class, but mostly I hung out. This time, as last time, I go to keep Natasha company. To hear her reading.

2.
Alex and I have a fun drive up. We’re good friends and we’re good together. I have a new complicated hairstyle, which he compliments me on. In the car, we work on our private language of friendship. We invent new sayings. The three hour drive from his place to the mountain seems to take nine, but we get there. Natasha and Randall Keenan are walking up the sidewalk in front of the yellow clapboard buildings. I jump on the brakes, hop out of the car and give squealing hugs.

3.
Alex goes to lots of craft talks and readings and learns things. But for me Bread Loaf is always about the people. Alex gives breathless reports of all that he’s gathered and tucked away in this busy mind. I ask him if my hair is okay.

4.
Bread Loaf is a place where you can see people you haven’t seen in ten or fifteen years. People you didn’t even know were still writing. It’s a place where people try and give it another shot. It’s also a place where you see the people you see all the time on the circuit. At Bread Loaf you can see people that you’ve only met on the internet.

5.
The mosquito situation is unbelievable.

6.
When I say “young” writer I don’t mean age. There are a lot of young writers up on the mountain. Dolen has just gotten her galley in the mail. I can feel her excitement rolling off her skin in electric waves. Other writers were at that sad moment when you realize your first book isn’t going to solve your problems. Still others, on the brink, were wearing lucky boots or special shirt for ten minute meeting the agents and editors. It’s like speed dating, but you feel like your life depends on it.

7.
I say to Natasha, “I think I may be aging out of this scene.” We’re at a restaurant off campus because we need a little quiet and a little adult food. We are doing last minute revisions to her new poems. She says, “Probably.” We order a really good bottle of wine.

8.
On Monday night, Natasha reads from her new manuscript. We over-dress a bit, giving a little extra with the shoes. When she steps to the podium, Dolen and I scream and stamp our feet like we are at a concert. Reciting, Natasha’s in familiar territory, investigating history, but these poems are tonally different than the elegiac pieces that made up Native Guard. These new verses ask pointed questions. She doesn’t let anyone off the hook. These poems grab you by the throat. You can see the intensity on her face, in the space between her eyes when she pronounces the words. Natasha is the real thing.

9.
The nest day, Alex and I get back in the bucket to drive back. We laugh a lot, sing Mariah Carey songs, and trade stories. I tell Alex that he seems like an elder statesman these days. He doesn’t say how I seem. When I get home, I feel like I have been gone forever, but it's just been three days. Waiting for me in front of my door is my manuscript, marked up by my friend, Renee. I am eager to see what she thinks, but I am too tired to even open the envelope.

Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

When Your Friend is Suddenly Large

I actually started this post just based on the cover of I'm So Happy For You by Lucinda Rosenfeld. I just loved the orange of the dress and how the fingers-crossed gesuture worked with the title to let us know exactly what this book is about. The plan was to post the cover and let that stand in for today's blog entry. The head line would be "Best Cover Ever" or something like that. But then, I poked around to see what the book was actually about and it motivated me to post in a little more detail.

I'm So Happy for You is a about a friendship that is wrecked when one of the friends starts to get all the good things that the other friend wants. Of course the "good things" are all sort of lame markers like a pretty house, a nice fiance, pregnacy, etc. (YAWN). But the root issue is worth thinking about.

What do you do when you and a friend are working toward the same goals and your friend suddenly blows up?

Here is how I almost lost a friend due to my own stupid insecurity. I have a friend who got sort of famous in the field. I wasn't jealous of her, but I felt sort of intimidated by her success. Before things started going so well, I used to call her all the time. When I shopped for shoes, I would send her a cell-phone picture. What do you think? Too slutty? But when she started hobnobbing in high places, I felt silly doing these things. I started to worry that what used to be BFF behavior was now a bother-- a distraction from her fabulous life. So what did I do? I withdrew.

Keep in mind that your friend is under the impression that she is the same person she always was. She's wondering why you aren't calling. She's thinking maybe you don't care anymore what she thinks of your shoes. Also, factor in this: if your friend's life in changing rapidly, she needs her girlfriends now more than ever. This is no time for you to get insecure and flake.

Remember, you're friends because you care about each other. It has nothing to do with your resumes.

Posted at 08:46 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

I Had No Idea I Was So Passionate About This

There was drama yesterday in the twitterverse about an organization that offers to help writers with the MFA application process—for $335. The virtual feathers flew! I went over to the website to see what all the noise was about. My take: I don’t think it’s a good idea to pay someone to whip your writing sample into shape for your application. I am not saying that you shouldn’t have someone look it over and accept feedback, but I do not encourage you to hire an MFA expert. Here’s why.

You want to find an MFA program that’s right for you, and your work. Abramson Leslie Consulting highlights the fact that all of their consultants are graduates from Iowa Writers Workshop. As many people know, this program is thought to be the best in the country. Whether it is the best or not, it is not the only program in the country and it may not be the right program for you. (Sandra Cisneros said she hated it.) You need to let your work find a good home for itself; if that is Iowa, so be it. If it’s not, that’s cool, too.

I think of this like love. Let’s say that someone offered to make you over in such a way that would lead to you being attractive to a Certain Person. Let’s say for the sake of this post, that this was even possible. So, once you have been accepted by the Certain Person is it going to be a good match, really? When you take off the wig and the mask? When you start speaking in your real accent? You need to be in a program that wants to work with you in your true voice. If the way you WRITE isn’t accepted by a particular program, do you think YOU will be accepted?

This is not to be naïve. I know that there are benefits to having the right pedigree. I am not one to downplay privilege and benefits. And yes, it never hurts to be associated with a hard-core hegemonic institution like the Iowa Writers Workshop. I have been to Bread Loaf and it seems that nearly everyone crossed paths before at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Iowa, etc. (However, I think this is as much a matter of socio-economic class than the pull of the actual institutions.)

This said, let us not lose fact that the MFA is an educational process. I got my MFA at Arizona State University—not exactly a name-droppy place. But I learned so much studying with Ron Carlson. I won’t say he made me a writer, but he helped me take my work to the next level and I will be grateful to him for the rest of my life. ASU was the right program for me. I don’t know if I would have written the book I wrote had I been at Iowa or Columbia or Wherever the Hell. (I was a Ph.D. student at The University of Iowa for three years in the early nineties and I can say, unequivocally, that those were the very worst years of my life. Just writing this has made me upset. Seriously. It may cost me my writing day.)

But to get back to my original point, don’t pay someone to help you fit into the mold of a particular program. If you want to go to school, get your team together and let them vet your manuscript. Pick a school because you want to work with their faculty. Choose a part of the country that won’t leave you isolated and depressed. (Ask me about trying to get my hair done in Iowa City. Ask me about trying to go on a date.) Go somewhere where you are wanted, where the faculty shows enthusiasm for you and your work. Talk to students at the school and see if you dig them. You want to go somewhere where you will be nourished as person, which will noursish you as a writer.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think that my sanity is worth so much more than to be able to coo over cocktails, “When I was in the Workshop….”

Posted at 08:36 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Pretty Little Boxes are For Pretty Little Girls

Today I ran across this interesting article about Jennifer Weiner’s dust-up with a bookstore in Boston. Apparently, the bookstore owners asked her to give a reading without any curse words. It’s not like Jennifer is Richard Pryor. Her work reflects a sort of average diction. The work “fuck” comes up here or there, but not generally as a transitive verb—if you know what I mean. Anyway, Jennifer is now #1 on the NYT list, so obvs this didn't hurt her, but it’s still something worth blogging about. I was once told to tone down the language. It took place at the public library in Phoenix. I won’t say that I was scarred for life by the incident, but I still remember the moment.

If you know my work, you’ll know that there are probably a grand total of seventeen curse words in my whole oeuvre. But about three of them occur in one of my favorite readings from The Untelling. I am speaking of the scene when the girls come home to find their crazy mom has locked them out of the house. The rebellious older sister curses up a tiny storm over this. But, I like to read the scene because it has a lot of dialogue and it’s kinda funny.

After I read this scene, a woman raised her hand. “Why did you put so many curse words in your book. Are you that kind of person or did your editor force you to be obscene to try and sell a book?” I was shocked. Obscene? A little naughty, maybe.. but obscene?

Despite the fact that I knew I wasn’t in the wrong, I felt oddly ashamed. The closest I can come to describing it is to say that I felt the way you do when you are all dressed up looking cute and someone tells you that you are showing too much cleavage or your dress is too short. I use this example because her criticism felt very gendered. I have been to so many readings by men who curse like they invented profanity. But when it comes to women writers, people are way more likely to try and make you reign it in.

After that experience at the library, I started feeling weird reading that section. I often ask my host before I go on the mike, “Is this place conservative? Can I say ‘fuck’ here?” That one woman in Phoenix with her bitter-orange complexion hsd given me a complex. She somehow tapped into the residue of my conservative southern upbringing. I spent so much of my life trying not to be a pretty little girl, living in pretty little box, and I had let a judgemental stranger stuff me back in.

About a year or two ago, I gave a reading in Atlanta. For the theme of the reading, it made sense to read the scene when Aria gets into a fight with her crack-addict neighbor in the front yard. And, you can bet there's some spicy language there. I started my worrying about saying "motherfucker" in a public place and a friend said, "Listen. They invited you here as a writer. They didn't ask you here to be a nice girl." He was right. If I am woman enough to write the book, I am woman enough to read it out loud.

Posted at 08:35 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Going Forth With Gratitude

I have heard back from many of the members of Team T and now it’s time to figure out what to do with their feedback. This is something that lots of writers deal with, particularly those who work in workshop settings. Of course, the big difference between Team T and a typical workshop is that I had the luxury of choosing the members of Team T and there is no one on the team whose opinions I don’t value. Below is a sort of guide to how I process feedback. (It’s applicable to the workshop setting if you first weed out the people who you don’t value.)

Fabulous Opportunities!

Du-Nu-Nu-Nu

That headline is my approximation of the Twilight Zone music. You all know that I am at VCCA, way out in the boondocks. For some reason I am having trouble hooking into my work. I've been feeling frustrated and sort of creatively starved. But here is my horoscope:

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): During his time in hiding, the Biblical prophet Elijah was kept alive by ravens who brought him food. John the Baptist survived on nothing but honey and locusts when he was roaming the wilderness. And I'm sure that some unexpected source of comfort and sustenance will likewise turn up during your wanderings, Sagittarius. It may not be what you're used to. You might even have to cultivate a taste for nourishment that seems foreign. But stick with it. You could learn to love it, and in the process become less dependent on stuff you thought you couldn't do without.

You can get your 'scope, here.

Posted at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

What's the Deal With Artists' Colonies?

I've jut gotten home again, but now I am packing another suitcase. This time, I am heading to the Virginia Center For The Creative Arts where I have been awarded a one-month residency. As many of you know, one reason I started this blog was to let people know what opportunities are available for writers. Forgive me if this information is a repeat, but I wanted to take a minute and let new people know a little more about residencies. Here are a few FAQs.

Q: What is a residency?
A: A residency is basically an artists' retreat. Sometimes it will be called a colony. As opposed to a conference, you don't have to do anything while you're there. You're supposed to write, but nobody checks up on you. If you want to you can spend the whole time napping and reading comic books. Sometimes writers need the time to just decompress. I write like mad when I am on a retreat, but I can understand those who just need to lie down and drink more water.

Q: Is it expensive?
A: Most residencies receive outside funding. Some, like Yaddo and MacDowell, require no contribution from the artists. Others, like VCCA, ask that the writers chip in about $30 a day. This is a fraction of the cost of the residency; outside sources provide the rest. Usually, you can explain your financial situation and the residency will work with you. Often there are scholarships and grants. Please, do not let money keep you from applying. Get in, then figure out the money situation.

Q: Do I have to be published to get in?
A: Nope. Most residencies try to have a mix of artists at different stages of their careers. You have to apply to be accepted and your work is looked at in terms of where you are in your career. One of my most favoritest undergraduates, Michael Fauver, went to Yaddo the year he finished college.. in the SUMMER.

Q: Who is going to be there?
A: Most of the residencies I have attended have been open to all artists, not just writers. Composers, poets, sculptors, dancers, painters, you name it. But other than that, you can also expect to meet a lot of sort of middle- to upper-middle class artists. Even if the residency is free, you have to be able to take time off from work, which suggests a certain leisure. However, some residencies offer a little grant to help you with your expenses at home while you are away.

Q: Ummm.. I am not white. Will I be The Only One?
A: Probably. But it's okay. The environment is usually pretty welcoming. I've only had one or two bad experiences and they have been pretty mild. A few hair questions, but whatevs. Then, there is Soul Mountain, which has a very strong commitment to diversity.

Q: How long do you have to stay?
A: Most last from two weeks to two months. I suggest applying for the whole two months, but then you see what you are offered and see how much time you are available to take. No one gets mad if you have to reduce, as long as you do it in advance so another writer can take advantage of the opening.

Q: Are the accommodations nice?
A: Some residencies are swanker than others. Yaddo and MacDowell are the dreamiest. But they are clean and you basically have what you need. Here are my photos from MacDowell from a couple years ago.

Q: What about the food?
A: In my experience, yummy. And even more yummy because I didn't have to cook or pay for it. Some places give you three squares, but almost all give you a sit down dinner. The ones that don't provide lunch usually have lunch fixings in the kitchen, but you have to assemble it yourself.

Q: Why should I go? I write at home.
A: If you can write well at home, stay there. I choose the go to colonies because I find it very helpful to be away from the demands of my life. I find that people who can't respect the fact that I am busy writing, so don't call me, can somehow understand that I am away at a colony. Also, it's just lovely to be in the company of other creative folks.

UPDATE: Here is a way over-comprehensive search of residencies for writers.

Posted at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Assembling Team T

I've just gotten done with the first read-through and basic edit of my new manuscript. I know that it's not a beautiful work of art yet, but I have done all I can do by myself. It's now time to bring in the first team of readers. Here's how I picked them.

It's My Anniversary

On this day in 2000, my agent called me and said that Warner Books wanted to publish my first novel, Leaving Atlanta. This was six months after she sent it out and about a year after I had completed work on the manuscript. It would be two more years before the novel was actually in stores.

I remember that I was so excited, but I didn't have anyone to celebrate with. This is when I was living in Arizona and basically had one friend-- she was busy that night. About three months earlier, I'd bought myself a bottle of champagne and two pretty glasses that I was going to break out whenever there was news. I was by myself but I washed one of the flutes and filled it to the rim with bubbly. The bottle was expensive, so I didn't it to go to waste, so I drank most of it.

Needless to say, this was not an evening that ended well, but it was still the best day of my life.

I guess it's only right that I am spending today punching in edits for the last chapter of my third novel. It's not pretty. It's noon and I am still in my pajamas, my hair is all over my head, and I am about to eat a crazy lunch of assorted leftovers. It's not a glamorous life, but I'm still doing it. That in itself is worth a champagne toast.

Posted at 10:48 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

Twit Hits and Table Flips

On Twitter yesterday, I noticed that novelist Alice Hoffman was not in such a great mood. The Boston Globe had given her new book a bad review. Hoffman called the reviewer a "moron" and even posted the reviewer's email address and phone numbers. I think we can call that putting out a Twit-Hit. (Gawker has the full story.)

Almost everybody in the twitterverse disapproved of Hoffman's reaction. About a month ago, Hoffman also complained on twitter about the treatment she received from Washington Post Book Review. Ron Charles, editor of that review, responded to her via twitter. (I must say he was very professional on that occaision, although he did loosen up a bit yesterday.)

I will admit that I thought Hoffman was coloring outside the lines a bit, but there was a part of me that was weirdly envious. It was exactly how I felt watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey. Remember on the finale when Teresa flipped that table? Haven't we all wanted to flip a table, but were too scared, too bourgie, too careful to do it?

When my first book came out, I got a sort of stupid review in The Washington Post. My poor little feelings were so hurt! Not only did the reviewer downplay the historical significance of The Atlanta Child Murders, but he also said that my writing was pretentious. There were also little factual mistakes. (For example, he identified Kenny as Octavia's stepfather, when he is actually an uncle.) It really made me want to flip a table. I am just really grateful that Twitter wasn't invented back in 2002. Twitter makes it way too easy to show the world your private petulant self.

But the question about the medium of twitter doesn't really address whether or not you should respond to reviewers.
I am not convinced that it helps you out at all, unless the reviewer did something that was ideologically problematic. Let's say the reviewer did something racially offensive. I think you can respond to that because it seems to be a matter of ideas, rather an issue of wounded feelings or personal taste. Also, I think responding to a bad review only brings attention to it. So Sensible Tayari is going to conclude that no, you shouldn't tweet in response to a negative review.

But Crazy Tayari says, flip that table, girl.

Posted at 08:30 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

What An Inspiring Class

Last week in Provincetown at the Fine Arts Work Center I led a workshop called "Tales From The Kidscape." At first, I was a little worried that teaching would sort of undermine the creative energy I had stored up from my month on Martha's Vineyard. I was worried for nothing. My class was made of up five remarkable women writers.

We were that rare class that just sort of clicked. I think it was because each of them approached the work of their classmates with an open and generous heart. All of us-- me included -- left Provincetown as a better writer than we were when we got there.

The snapshots above are mostly taken at the student readings when my class rocked the house. I was so proud that I thought I might just burst into flames. Their enthusiasm was contagious. After the class was over, I changed my plans, leaving P-town a day early so that I could get home and spend some quality time with my manuscript.

Posted at 11:38 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Just Say NO

Squirrels on Crack
Originally uploaded by Mr Jaded

Posted at 10:19 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

So, What's Your Book About?

How do you go about talking about a novel in a way that A) does justice to the project and B) makes it sound interesting. This is coming up for me a lot since many friendly people here on MV say, "So what are you up to while you're here." I say that I am working on a book and they say "tell me about it." I have this sort of short hand for The Silver Girl. I say: It's about bigamy. The lying cheating kind, not the religious kind.

That usually does the trick, but I am not sure it is a fair description of the novel. It's really about the daughters of a bigamist, one of whom infiltrates the life of the other under false pretenses. But that's sort of a lot to say, and it makes the whole thing sound trashy, when I am going to for a thoughtful meditation on the nature of family and the stubbornness of self-delusion. But see, that sounds boring.

I have run across two young writers who describe their books in terms of TV shows and movies. I don't want to use their specific examples, but they would say something like "My book is a cross between LoveJones and The Shining." I don't know if it is a good idea to talk about your book as the illegitimate offspring of other people's work. Every story is unique. If you can talk about it truthfully in terms of other books or movies, you probably need to rethink things.

At the end of the day, I am not sure you can really describe a novel in ten or so words in a way that really tells the truth. The indescribable part is the art, the magic of it. Think about Beloved. Can you imagine Toni Morrison at Yaddo, trying to describe her masterpiece-in-process: It's about a ex-slave woman who kills her baby. Then the baby comes back and tries to take her man. It's kind of like Roots meets "Fatal Attraction".

Posted at 09:18 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Something I Have To Do For Me

I am posting this just as I am taking off for a month in Martha’s Vineyard. I’m taking the time to be alone and to write. I’m excited and nervous at the same time, as I have never done anything quite like this before, and I have never been to the Vineyard. Yes, I have gone to writers residencies, but I have never embarked on real solitude. It’s a commitment, I won’t lie. Although a family friend gave me a good deal, I am still shelling out a few bucks on the rental. I’ll have to get there, which means I had to get my car (affectionately known as “The Bucket”) serviced, and there is just also the realness of preparing to leave home for a month.

Why all the drama? Why not just set up a DIY writing clinic in my apartment. I do have a dedicated room just for writing. I’m getting away because I feel that I have been distracted from myself by my life. I have been way too busy being too many things to too many people and I have really gotten out of touch with my work. I know that this happens to everyone, but I feel particularly frustrated because I spend so much time telling other writers to put themselves first. But here I am, in the same trap as everyone else.

I am trying not to set goals in terms of word count. Although, I want to challenge myself, I don’t want to crack the whip. I want to be motivated by the story, not by people telling me how long it has been since my last book, not by the ticking of my tenure clock. The only thing I am committing to is to sitting down for five days a week and spending at least two hours working. I know two hours seems like a modest commitment when I have all day, but I figure two hours is enough time to get the fire burning if it wants to burn.

I’ll still be blogging, but probably not as much. I imagine there will be more post about the nuts and bolts of writing a novel, as less about the business of being a novelist, which is probably a good thing.

Preparing for this trip feels so different than other times that I have gone away. Maybe because there is nothing in it for me but peace and quiet. There is no resume line to be gained. I am not nurturing a fantasy about meeting people or making contacts. I feel like I am preparing to meet up with an old friend, and that old friend is me.

Posted at 07:37 AM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

Tails, You Lose

Yellow Tail
Originally uploaded by sarah wymer

Posted at 08:27 AM | Comments (9)
Category: The Writing Life

Can You Help Me Get The Word Out?

I've already posted that I am teaching a class at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provinctetown, Massachusetts June 14-19. I am writing now to ask you to help me get the word out. I wuld appreciate it if you can post on your favorite writing listservs, mention it on your facebook page, or just tell somebody. The poor economy is hurting enrollment and if more people don't sign up, my class may be canceled. I've just found out that FAWC is offering a discount to students, so maybe this will be helpful to people who may want to participate but can't quite swing the tuition. (Email me for more info about the discount.)

Details about the program are below.

Thanks.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 02:34 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Opportunity Alert!

I have been itching to get to Martha's Vineyard. Don't ask me why. I have never been there. I am not rich. But I have been wanting so badly to go. I put out some feelers for cheap rentals and I think I may score a crash-pad for later in May. But here is the gem. I discovered the Martha's Vineyard Writers Residency. They are taking applications now for a residency in October.

Each resident is given a private room with a bath in an historic inn in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on the island of Martha’s Vineyard. Eight writers at a time are invited to form an intimate community of peers. The colorful gardens, covered porch and ample common rooms provide several venues in which to work, gather, contemplate or simply to relax.

Sounds lovely, doesn't it? The application is very easy-- all on line and no fee!-- and the folks organziing it get back with you really quickly.

Posted at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Book Hotness or Notness or Too Hotness

There's a lot of internet chatter today about authro photos. It all started with this NPR segment. Although the segment mostly talked about men and author photos, there is always a lot of conversation involving women who feel they are judged more by thier looks than by their work.

The simplistic conclusion is that women should look at pretty as they can. The NPR piece mentioned that People magazine only likes to review good-looking people.

However, for women there is a flip side. You don't want to be too pretty. If you're too pretty, people will think that you are dumb and who wants to read a book by a dumb person. Here is an really nice Marion Ettlinger photo that I paid for, but never use because I was counseled that it is too precious, too pretty. And you don't want to be too sexy, i.e. show cleavage. People will think you're dumb! So for women there is a lot of pressure to look good in just the right way. I wonder if the ideal book-hot look is sort of like the glamourous woman who gets cast as a librarian in a movie. All that sexiness but with glasses, a high neck-line, and restrained hair.

It's a drag. Nuanced, but still a drag.

Posted at 01:47 PM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

It's Okay to Take A Breather

I was on the phone yesterday with a poet-friend who was feeling very demoralized about all of the contests to which she had submitted her manuscript. (For those of you not in the poetry loop: Many poets publish their first books by sending the manuscripts to contests. There is a fee, usually about $20. The winner gets a small cash prize and publication. Winning the "right" contest can launch a career.) My friend was just plain wore out. She had taken on considerable student debt to get her MFA and she has spent hundreds of dollars in fees and postage. She has a love/hate relationship with the mailman. She was hoping for The Letter but she knew that he may be bringing a rejection letter. She said sometimes she wants to give up writing.

Here is my advice to her. I sent it in an email which I am pasting here, in case someone out there is going through the same thing.

Hey Lady,
I have been thinking about our conversation from yesterday. I don't want you to give up writing. Your work is too beautiful and too important for you to let it go. That wouldn't be fair to you; it wouldn't be fair to the poems; and it wouldn't be fair to the world. But I am thinking that maybe you should step back from trying so hard to get published.

I know that publishing is the way to take your career to the next level. I don't want to minimize what's at stake here for you. But as your friend, I am seeing the way this publishing process is eating you up. I think you should just take a break.

Give yourself a deadline for this time-out. I don't want you to let it stretch on for eternity. Maybe just for the summer. Mark it on your calendar. You will not pursue any more publishing opportunities until Sept. 1. I don't want you fiddling with the manuscript either. Spend this summer working on new poems. Seeing new things. Making fresh art.

Remember a couple years ago after The Break-Up, when I was determined to get out there and meet somebody new and I was running into knucklehead after knucklehead? I called myself being pro-active, but I was just making myself exhausted and insecure. You told me to take a break. You told me that I needed to chill, that I was in no condition to be subjecting myself to the opinion of all these random people. You gave me to the end of the year. At first it felt like I was giving up, but only two weeks after I took myself off the market, I came to understand it as the respite that I needed.

So, my dear friend. It's time for me to return the favor and give you this advice. Take a break, girl. Take a rest. It's time to take care of yourself.

xoxo,
Tayari

(artwork is called "Stifled" by Mystele, a Chicago folk artist.)

Posted at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Really Good Things Are Happening

To people who read this blog!

I wasn't planning on posting this until next week, but I am soooo sick with a terrible cold. Please forgive me, but I need to post this good news right away in an effort to cheer myself up. Please give these good folks a standing ovation.

Wag of The Finger but Also a Hug

Something happened today that I think is worth discussing for all of us out there in Writerland. A friend, a former student, and a terrific writer was accepted into MacDowell for the summer. After seeing my frowny-face report yesterday, he was reluctant to tell me. While I love him to death for having such a tender and sympathetic heart, I hope that he will know that he can ALWAYS tell me his good news. He's my student and I am happy for him, always. (And doesn't he know that his accomplishments are mine, too? I brag about him. BRAG.)

This is an issue that will come up again and again. If you are a teacher, and you're any good, you will have at least one student that passes you by in terms of success. That's the way it's meant to be. You teach them everything you know and they add to whatever they came with and let's hope they end up with something magical and better.

On the peer side of equation, this will happen again and again. You have to learn how to listen to your friends squeals of delight and be honestly happy for them-- even if you applied for the same position. On the flip side, as a friend, you have to choose friends who can celebrate with you. But also, you have to learn to be friend enough to keep the back-flips in check.

It's a delicate dance, but it's part of the choreography of this life we've chosen.

Posted at 12:43 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Apply For the NEA $25,000 Grant! **updated

Act Now!

This just arrived via txt message from a friend: Make sure you get that confirmation email after your submit your application. I had to send from three different computers before I got mine.

Posted at 01:20 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

The Black Southerner's Dilemma

A friend sent me a txt message this afternoon: “Look at the NYT Book Review.” When I pulled up the site on my blackberry, I didn’t have to wonder long which article she wanted me to see. The lead review today was for “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. The reviewer, Janet Maslin, describes it as “button pushing” and then goes on to make a pretty good case for the description. Here’s an excerpt

Here is a debut novel by a Southern-born white author who renders black maids’ voices in thick, dated dialect. (“Law have mercy,” one says, when asked to cooperate with the book project. “I reckon I’m on do it.”) It’s a story that purports to value the maids’ lives while subordinating them to Skeeter and her writing ambitions. And it celebrates noblesse oblige so readily that Skeeter’s act of daring earns her a gift from a local black church congregation. “This one, this is for the white lady,” the Reverend of that church says. “You tell her we love her, like she’s our own family.

Okay. I’ll admit it my buttons are pushed. These are buttons that have been pushed so often that the letters are worn off. Many of my black female friends have mentioned being approached by white (usually) southern writers who want to talk about their black nannies/mammies. Different people deal with it differently. One sister-poet smiles and says, “Oh, I can see you two really loved each other. Where is she now?” The answer is usually “I don’t know.” My friend is a class act and lets the implication hang in the air. Another friend sent me a furious email after being forced to listen to another (white southern) poet wav nostalgically about her wet nurse. “Wet nurse!” I said, “She’s our age and she had a WET NURSE?!?!” So anyway, all this is to say that the review of "The Help" almost made me gag on my red-velevet cupcake.

You could see this daming review as asign of capital-CH Change at the NYT. But when I thought about it for a second, the whole thing seemed to be part of a familiar narrative. And this is what I am calling the dilemma of the black southerner, DBS for short.

I am pretty sure that “The Help” is a crazy problematic racist novel. I am pretty sure that Janet Maslin is sincere in her outrage about it. I know that black domestic workers with golden hearts play big in the southern chick-lit field. I know that black men with similar hearts (and bodies to match!) also are staples in the genre. And yes, it drives me nuts. And if I were to read the very same review in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I would be perfectly comfortable enjoying the black-ink smack down.

However, the fact that it is in the New York Times gives me pause. Since I have moved to New York, I am often asked how I can stand it in the South. “Those people scare me,” my New York friends sometimes confide. Maybe I am overly sensitive, but that sort of thing pushes another set of my buttons. Lord knows that I don’t want to defend “The Help.” It the review is even slightly fair, the novel would still be really really problematic. (I mean, I couldn't even get down with The Secret Life of Bees!) However, I hate the way people “up north” use the south as evidence of their own cultural superiority. (Not to keep score, but the infamous monkey-cartoon was not published in The Birmingham News! The “drunken negro” cookies were in the West Village. And not to be overly personal, but the only time in my life I have been called by a racial slur to my face was in the Marriot Marquis near Times Square. The slur was “tar baby,” if you can believe that!)

It seems that acts of racism that occur above the Mason-Dixon Line are chalked up to individual bigotry and ignorance. But if someone from Mississippi does something prejudiced it is because southern culture itself is hopelessly corrupt. As a southern woman I take issue with this hierarchy of culture even when it indicts people I can’t stand.

So what’s a black southerner to do? I can’t decide which pushes my buttons more: southern racism or northern delight in pointing it out.

Posted at 02:27 PM | Comments (12)
Category: The Writing Life

AWP Wrap Up

I'm back home from AWP. For a minute there I was just too tired to really enjoy myself. On Friday evening, I was like a little kid who is so tired that she just starts crying for no reason. At the same time, I was like the kid who is dead tired but doesn't want go to bed in case she misses soemthing! It wasn't cute, but it was nothing that 8 hours of sleep and room service couldn't fix. Here are some pictures I took on Saturday night, after I got my second wind.

Click mosaic to see the photos close up.

Posted at 05:37 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

What You're Missing If You're Not Here

How do I love thee, Blog Family? I love y'all so much that paid $19.99 for one day on broadband service in my room. I am finally blogging from AWP-- two days in. The conference has been high-energy. It must be a Chicago thing, every time the conference in here, the festivities kick into high gear. (New York, despite it's rep, is a really crappy place to hold a conference. Go figure.)

Well, I don't have anything much insightful to say. So I am going to bullet-point the highlights. (photos are in the post below.)

Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies

It's that time of year again. The annual meeting of the Assocaited Writing Programs, AWP for short. When I asked a good friend what her plans were for this year's AWP, she said, "The usual: shaking hands and kissing babies." We got a good laugh out of that because AWP reallly is about making connections. (Here's a link an earlier post: To AWP or not to AWP.)

This year, AWP is in Chicago from February 11-15. I've got my ticket, hotel, outfits, etc., but for some reason I don't have that sparkle that I normally have when I'm in the final stretch. Maybe it's just because I am tired from my crazy travel schedule, or maybe it's the dreary weather. Last year, AWP happened to coincide with some crazy personal drama, so it's possible that I am having a flashback. But I really think it's because this year, the hustlers seem even more intense than usual.

My facebook account has been overrun with people sending me "invitations" to their AWP events. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be thought of, but I feel like I am being schmoozed before I have even arrived. When we arrive at AWP, we'll all be given a program letting us know what's happening when. That's invitation enough for me. If a person is inviting me to, say, a cocktail party, well that's another matter entirely.

I suspect that the economic crisis is going to make this year's meeting a little more frantic than usual. It's always pretty expensive to go, but this time it's going to be more a sacrifice and folks are going to be trying to get their money's worth. Also, universities are cutting back on their budgets for readings, etc. so the competition to be included on the roster just got that much more intense.

A friend of mine was sort of sneering at literary writers, alledging that they think they are too "cute" to hustle, unlike commerical writers who eill do anything to promote their word. I could only chuckle in response. Obviously, he has never been to AWP.

Posted at 08:58 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Loving Lauren

I've been living in NY for about two years. Sometimes I think I should take myself back to Georgia where I belong. On other days, I think-- oh yeah! THIS is what I came here for. This weekend was such a weekend. I spend quality time with my two favorite poet-boys, Rigoberto Gonzalez and Tyehimba Jess. Those of you in the know will point out that I spent plenty of time with them when we were all working together in Illinois. But NYC has sprinkled pixie-dust on both of them, so it's all different now.

I also got to spend some time with Lauren Cerand, my publicist and friend. Over lunch at Inoteca (another reason to live in NY!) she told me about her new projects. As always, hers are projects with conscience.

Payback is Divine

I am at a stage in my career as a writer that I sometimes am asked to nominate folks for awards, or reccommend contributors to journals. Usually, I pass these opportunities on to emerging writers. I am motivated by a desire to emulate the writing who helped me out when I was just a little pup. When I was in school at Spelman College, Dr. Cole explained to me that life was like a train ride. The scarifices of the older generation had paid my ticket and now it was my obligation to buy a ticket for someone else.

This made sense to me when I was just a teenager and I vowed to do my part, pay it forward, if you will. But now, I am thinking that it's time for me to think about paying it back.

Many times the best teachers and mentors are not the most famous writers you will ever know. A teacher at a liberal arts college who teaches four classes a term can change a life of a student, but not have much time for her own work. Maybe your best mentor was a person who taught you everything you need to know about character development although her own writing has not received the attention it deserves.

Paying it forward is all well and good, but I want everyone to think about paying it back. Think about the people that have been good to you and think what you can do to help them. If you run a reading series, extend an invitation. Editing a journal? Invite them to submit.

I know it's hard to think about your mentors as needing your help, but maybe they do.

Posted at 02:29 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

No End of The Year List Here

This won't come as a surprise to anyone: All my life I have been a reader. But this year, I have read almost nothing. I looked at Maud's wonderfully eclectic list of books and essays she enjoyed this year and I just hung my head. I bought a lot of books but I haven't read them. The only consistent reading I've done this year are the books I've read for my classes and the mysteries I read at the gym.

I am trying to figure out why I haven't been reading, since it is one of my favorite pastimes. I think a big part of it is my job. I love working at Rutgers, but it is demanding. We often have to come to campus for evening events. Also, my undergraduate classes require a LOT of reading. (Although on the bright side, reading for my Contemporary African American Lit class reacquainted me with some forgotten gems.)

Also, I've been bopping around a lot lately. I've given lots of readings and the international travel is really demanding. The experiences have been amazing, but they don't exactly lend themselves to cuddling up with a good book. (Of course, the addition of the slanket in my life should up the cuddle-quotient, but every time I slip on the slanket, I pass out on the couch!)

My reading goals for 2009 are modest: a book a month. And since I am going to be on the leave in the fall there will be a lot more time for me to live a writerly life, which in my view involves writing time, reading time, musing time, and sleeping time.

All this is to say that I don't feel qualified to offer up an end of the year reading list, but I welcome any suggestions you may have.

Posted at 07:08 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

Vital Stats of a Writer

This meme was started over at 32 Poems:

Age when I decided I wanted to be a writer: maybe 6? Probably earlier.
Age when I wrote my first short story: 15
Age when I first got my hands on a good word processor: 19. This is a long and sort of tragic story. I was such a nerd that the only thing I ever asked my parents for was a word processor. You wouldn't believe the hoops they put me through for it. You would have thought I was asking for a set of Louis Vuiton luggage.
Age when I first submitted a short story to a magazine: 18
Rejections prior to first short story sale: a couple.
Age when I sold my first short story: 19. I owe it all to the word processor.
Approximate number of short stories sold: Eight or so.
Age when I first sold a poem: I have never sold a poem. I have dated a few poets, that should count for something.
Poems sold: see above.
Year I first published a book: 2002
Books published or delivered and in the pipeline: 2
Number of titles in print: 2.
Age now: 38

I won't tag anyone for this meme; but if you want to do it, by all means, do.

Posted at 07:06 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Thank You P.M.S. Magazine!

The Editors of Poem.Memoir.Story and Honoree Jeffers have generously donated fifty copies of teh journal to the women of FEMRITE, the Ugandan women writers organization with whom I will give a workshop next month!

An all-women’s literary journal, PMS is published annually by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In addition to publishing established and emerging writers, they also publish a memoir each issue by a woman who isn't neccesarily a writer but is a witness to history.

Right now, PMS is gearing for for its next reading period: January 1- March 30. I urge everyone to subscribe to this terrific journal. Submissions, however, are only open to women. Guidelines are after the break.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

How I Picked The Winner

I am delighted to announce that I chose talented writers, Shelly Oria and Tara Cottrell, winner and runner-up of the Indiana Review short-fiction contest. Contests are a really good way for younger writers to A) get thier names out there, B) get published, and C) score some extra cash. In 2000, an excerpt from Leaving Atlanta won the Hurston/Wright Award for college writers, marking the start of my career and ending a good-news drought that I had lasted about seven years.

Here's how I went about chosing the winner for the Indiana Review contest. Maybe this will be helpful you as you enter competitions like this.

The first thing to know is that as final judge, I only get to see about twenty entries. So, your first challenge is to get past the screeners. These folks are usually younger people who work for the magazine who pretty quickly separate the wheat from the chaff. What does this mean to you? It means that you story needs to be really engaging on the first page. What else does it mean? It means that you could have written a story that you just KNOW the judge will love, but she may never see it. This can be sort of tricky when the judge has a different aesthetic or agenda than the screeners. (Case in point: I entered my story "Best Cousin" to a contest judged by legendary editor Shannon Ravenel. I had a feeling that the story would be right up her alley, but alas, I never made it past the screeners. The next year, Ms. Ravenel discovered the story on her own and published it in New Stories From The South.)

Once the stories get to me as a judge, I go out of my way to make it fair. I only read about three stories in a day. After that, I'm tired and the plots start running together. I don't think it's right for some writers to have thier work considered when I am fresh and stoked with coffee and some others to have their work considered when I am exhausted and hating life in general. (Keep in mind, though, that all judges don't do this, so my best advice is to make your story POP on the first page.)

I start sort of ranking the stories in a loose way. The ones I like, I put in a stack. By "like" I mean the ones that I wanted to keep reading. Stories that aren't all that great craft-wise sometimes end up in this stack. Beautifully written bores go in "like" stack, but at the bottom. By the time I have finished making the "like" stack, I run the rest of the contest like a NBA tournament. I read two stories together, pick which is the best and put it aside. Then I read another pair, pick a winner. Then pit those against each other.

When I get to the final two, I weigh the story's vision-- what is this story, and why does it matter? Is it complicated? Did it encourage me to think about something I've never thought about? Did I care? Was there emotional truth? Did anything impossible happen in tihs story? (This is a pet peeve of mine.)

Next, I consider craft-- Did I fall in love with phrases? Was the structure interesting? How about pacing? Does the title make sense? I look at the first and last lines in particular. I read a few lines of dialogue aloud. You get the idea.

Then, I pick my winner.

Posted at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

So Hard to Say Goodbye to Creme Brulee

I just saw an article in The Observer saying that due to the crappy economy, publishers are cutting back on fancy lunches. Oh that makes me sad. It's not that I often dine out with industry folk, but one of my fondest early memories from the start of my career involves those indulgent meals.

When I got word that Leaving Atlanta-- after 23 rejections-- was going to be published, I was told that I should come to New York to meet my editor. I had to do it on my own dime and I had to do it in a hurry because my editor was about 7 and half months pregnant. This was in 1999-- I was about twenty nine years old, and living on about $1,000 a month. I got my act together and bought a plane ticket and a simple dress that was expensive ($89!) but I thought it made me look smart.

This was my first "lunch." I don't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was fancy. Cloth napkins and the waiters pulled the chair out for me, which made me feel really awkward. The other folks around the table were my editor, her assistant, the PR person and her assistant. I was starving and the editor encouraged me to "get whatever you want." I did. I ate the place--apple salad with goat cheese, duck breast with a sweet sauce, creme brulee!-- to the ground. When I paused for air, I realized that I was the only one really eating. Even my pregnant editor nibbled at salad. (Years later, Lauren explained it to me: Women like that don't eat. When they go to lunch, they just lick their BlackBerries.)

Even though I felt a bit piggy as I finished off my dessert, I felt really special and I felt like I had a bright future in front of me. It was a fancy lunch that felt like a coming out party.

I hope this cut back on lunches is mainly for publishing execs who will have to cut down on treating one another outrageous mid-day decadence. Every first-time author should have it written in her contract: One meal in New York. Four courses. Wine. There are so many complications and disappointment waiting for her just up the road. Let's hope the publishers can find it in their hearts (and purses) to retain this one ritual of elegance and celebration.

Posted at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Less Amused

Hattie McDaniel | Black Hollywood Series
Originally uploaded by discoverblackheritage

Posted at 08:33 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Countdown to Ghana!

I've only three days remaining until I leave for Ghana. The preparations have been a whirlwind that started with five different vaccinations. The didn't hurt as much as I remember from my childhood vaccinations, but it wasn't exactly recreational. Also, seeing the list of recommended vaccines makes a person feel a little apprehensive about going on the trip in the first place. It's a little bit how going through a metal detector makes you afraid you're going to get shot, although technically it makes you safer.

I have received the program schedule and I must say that it looks pretty good. I am going to be staying in a lovely hotel. I never thought of Accra as a beach front sort of city, but it is. The festivities include a ballet performance by the National Ballet of Senegal and poetry galore. There will also be a screening of Sembene Ousmane's latest film. All of this fits right in with the theme of this year's theme: Manufacturing the New African Future: The Factor of Culture.

I am so excited. I just don't know what to do with myself!

Posted at 07:18 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

I Know it's JUST a Word, But Still...

I spent a lot of time talking to writers about their own work and about the work that they admire. Sometimes, particularly when the writer is a woman or a person of color, the dreaded "J" word comes up.

JUST.

As in, "I don't want to be ready by JUST black people." Or, "I love Toni Morrison so much. She isn't JUST a woman writer. She's an American Writer!" Or, "How can I get people to see not that I not JUST a Southern writer." "My book isn't JUST for Latinas!"

You get the idea and it drives me nuts.

My quarrell isn't with the idea that writers should be seen as having appeal to diverse readerships, but with the inherent put-down couched in that four-letter-word, JUST. I have never heard the dominant readership "just-ed". Can you imagine overhearing this conversation at a cocktail party? "I so love Franzen. I wish he had a wider readership. His work isn't just for white people, you know."

The word "just" implies unimportant, small potatoes, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth best.

But stil, the point is valid. Writers-- particularly writers who have been excluded from the dominant discourse-- want access to other venues. But how to phrase in such a way that doesn't A) insult the readership you have and B) feed your own inferiority complex?

The key, I think is to switch up the language, switch up your thinking. For example, instead of saying, "I want to be read by more that JUST black people," say (and THINK) In addition to black readers, I want to reach the Latina book clubs." How about this: "Ernest J. Gains writes hauntingly about black life in the south. He is a great American writer."

In other words: repsect your readers, respect your community, and respect yourself.

Click here for the soundtrack.

Posted at 07:37 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

How To Do An Email Interview

As you know, the internet age has changed the way that writers communicate with readers. For the most part, this is a good thing. One development is the advent of the email interview. Although they can be done well, this medium really lends itself to sloppy work. I have done my share of interviews in this way, and I would like to share some helpful hints for interviewers.

1) Read the book and come up with a set of questions that reflect your knowledge of the subject and/or the author's career. One obvious reason is that you will have a better conversation if you know what you're talking about. Secondly, authors have better radar than 12th grade English teachers. They know when you don't know about them or their work and it sort of erodes good will.

2) Ask specific questions. It really gets my goat when an interviewer sends me a list of really general questions. Such inquiries include "Tell me about yourself and your book?" "What is your process?" "Who are your influences?" I could write for pages on the answer to any of these questions. When I get such questions I feel like the interviewer just dashed off the email in five minutes, but then wants me to spend all day answering the questions. Not cool.

I did an email interview recently with Superstition Review. The young journalist sent me about twelve questions. Almost all of them referenced something really specific from my books, or from opinion articles I have published. I was duly impressed.

3) Do your homework. Try not to ask the writer a question, the answer to which is already on her website. For example "Where did you go to college?" is not a good question. A better way is to say, "I see you went to Spelman College. Do you recommend women's colleges to aspiring writers?" You'll get a much better answer out of me that way, and it establishes that you really are interested.

4)Try the back-and-forth model. When I do email interviews, I ask the person to send me one question at a time. I answer and then the interviewer can read it over and then ask another question, possibly a follow up. This flows more like a real conversation-- a real interview. It may take a little more time, but it makes for a more interesting experience for both parties and it makes things more lively for the third party, the reader.

5) If you are interviewing someone for your blog, or other publication, remember that the writer has graciously agreed to be interviewed. Don't approach her like you are doing her a favor. An email interview is usually more work for her than it is for you, so be nice. Say thank you.

Posted at 07:59 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Self-Steam

I ran across a little malapropism while grading undergraduate essays. The student misheard the term "self-esteem" and wrote "Everyone needs some self-steam to keep going." I chuckled did my damage with my red pen, but I have been thinking about it all weekend and have come to regard it as a little present for the universe.

Self-steam is going to be my motto for this week. I'll use my self-steam to get myself to the gym, to get some work done on this novel, to fill out applications for grants and other opportunities.

So there you have it. What are you going to do with your self-steam this week?

Posted at 08:24 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

A Little Q&A Etiquette

No, No, No, No, No, NO NO!
Originally uploaded by Alicia

Author has written a NOVEL about a family in crisis-- alcoholism, violence, incest, the whole 9. Reader raises hand. "How much of this is about your life? Was your family like that? Did you just change the names?"

I think this sort of question is way out of line. If a writer has chosen to write a memoir, it's acceptable to ask questions of a more personal nature if these matters are covered in the book. If the writer is a novelist, it is no more appropriate to ask if she has experienced the same violence as her characters than it would be to ask a stranger on the train whether she had experienced incest in her life.

I don't know where it comes from-- this idea that the purpose of meeting an author in person is to get her to confess that the novel is merely a fictionalized version of her real life. I can't imagine that this is helpful to writers as they approach their work. The last thing I need to think about as I explore a storyline is whether I want someone to think it's really about me. Until quite recently, it is a concern that has never crossed my mind.

I am writing a novel now which about a married man who has a secret family. Someone said to me, aren't you worried about how your parents are going to take it? Actually, I wasn't worried at all, but maybe I should be?

Peter Hedges opens his wonderful novel "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" with a dedication that also serves as a disclaimer. "To my mother, who is not fat and my father who is not dead." I have been thinking that perhaps I should dedicate my new novel with a similar defensive strategy. "To my father-- Mack Henry, and to my mother--Barbara Ann, who is his only wife."

Posted at 02:41 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Feeling like Royalty

Today, I received a royalty check! Twenty-five dollars and five cents was this quarter's haul for the audio book version of Leaving Atlanta. I can't tell you how happy it makes me.

At this stage in my career,I can say that I am very proud of the work that I have published, so the money I make feels very honest and very clean. The first check I received for my writing was a $100 honorarium I received for my first published story which appeared in a now-defunct magazine called Catalyst. The editor was an up and coming Atlanta writer by the name of Pearl Cleage.

So what will I do with my twenty-five bucks? I'm thinking maybe I will buy myself a new notebook and a fancy chocolate bar. Or maybe two glasses of champagne.

Posted at 08:01 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Up, Up and Away!

I just wanted to take a second before I dash to work to thank you all for your email and comment hugs when I was having such a hard time with my writing last week. I really recommend that you go and read the comments. There is some serious practical wisdom there.) I think I have found a way to balance my responsibilities.

I am taking it easy on the twittering, as Lauren has advised. When I told her about my Tweetdeck, an application that allows me to twitter with several dozen people at the time she said "DISMANTLE IT." And I had to admit that she sort of had a point. (Y'all, I was twittering so much that the LA Times noticed when I quit.) Also I am blocking off a couple of days in the week to just putter around and write. Other advice I am taking includes not beating up on myself for the times I don't write. (Like today-- not writing, all school work, and I am not freaking out.) And last but not least, a great tip from Laraine, who-- unlike me--, pays attention when the flight attendant says

Posted at 07:30 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Tayari Jones by Curt Richter

The Universe is really cooperating with me lately. Twice I was sitting here thinking that it would be nice to have a new photo. I love, love, my Ettlinger shot, and the picture on the layout of the blog has tremendous sentimental value, but I was thinking that I would like to switch it up a little bit from time to time. Then, viola! Curt Richter sent me this lovely potrait that we took when I was in Key West in January.

Posted at 10:41 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

JC Book Festival

Today, I spent the afternoon at the first annual Jersey City Book Festival. For the most part, I spent the day sitting at a table waiting for my books to get up and sell themselves. I have to admit, I am not good at the flag-down-and-pitch model of book marketing.

Although many authors argue that self-publishing is terrible for a writer's career, every time I go to a local book festival, I leave with a whole new respect for authors who have made themselves into a one-person book writing, marketing, and distribution team. The authors at Van Horst Park were out there really doing their thing. Some people had T-shirts advertising the books, everyone had bookmarks, and posters. If people pass a table on the way to the pastry vendor, they have to at least hear the author out first. (A couple of years ago, I was at a book festival and an author whipped a credit card machine out of her satchel.)

Pretty impressive.

I left early. I just didn't have the stamina. You should have seen me sneaking out the back with with my paltry little display folded up and stuffed in my tote bag. I sold, like, a book and a half. Before my next novel comes out, I am going to have to take some notes from the writers who are doing it for themselves.

Posted at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Return to Reality

Well this is the last night before school starts for me. As I scrape together an outfit for tomorrow, I am sadly aware of how far I have drifted from the girl I once was-- new lunchbox, new shoes, fresh pencils. Now that I am on the opposite side of the desk, the start of the school year means the sad end of my summer writing spree.

This year, I plan to teach myself something. I am sorry to tell you that last school year, I only wrote about a chapter or so. This year I am going to do better by myself and my work. I am setting up conrete writing times that are as regular as my office hours. I am also keeping a journal where I check in once a week with my progress. And, of course, I'll keep updating on my twitter account.

There may be a little slow down in the blogging while I get my constitution together, but I will still post regularly. I promise.

Posted at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Can I Borrow Your Minds For a Sec?

Hey everybody. Greetings from Atlanta, my natural habitat. The trip is going fine. I've spent some quality time with Dear Old Dad and have caught up with some old friends. (I was in a really cute store in College Park and the proprietress turned out to be a grade school classmate!) I have taken pictures, but I don't have my cord. I'll post them when get my act together.

I don't know if I told you, but I am here to give the convocation address at Georgia College and State University, out in Milledgeville. The deal is that the incoming freshmen are all reading Leaving Atlanta. I'll give a few Q&As on Tuesday morning, but in the evening, I'll give a speach. The organizers told me to tell them what I think young people need to know starting college.

My first thought was that this would be a breeze since I have lots of opinions. But I have been working on this speach for almost a month now and it's, well, CORNY. Of course they need to know to follow thier dreams. Of course they need to know to be open to new ideas. Blah, blah, blah. I think they key is to employ fiction writing techniques. You know: get away from abstract ideas and get to something specific.

I am wondering, hoping, pleading, that you folks can share some advice given to you early in your life that made a difference. Tell me who said it and how. If you can still remember it, there was something about that moment that made it stick. Tell me what it was. You can do it in comments, or email.

Thanks!

Posted at 08:55 AM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Rushdie's New Roomie?

Sherry Jones asked her publisher, Random House, to send her new book to Islamic studies scholar Denise Spellberg, hoping to get a blurb. Spellberg wrote back telling the editor that Jones's novel, Jewel of the Medina, was so offensive that it would be the same as declaring war against Islam. Random house pulled the book and Jones is madder than a wet hen.

This has sparked the usual conversations about who gets to write what. You know that argument. And we can probably guess that a lot of people who would never read a novel written by an actual Muslim woman would proably read this. I'm thinking about the Memoirs of a Geisha crowd and all those Tony Hillerman readers. This quote from a Guardian article profiling Alexie, should be considered:

He (Alexie) says he has always argued that non-Indian artists doing Indian work should certainly enjoy success, "but I think, for instance, Tony Hillerman's work [mystery novels set around reservations] should be classified as what it is - colonial literature... I think there's an arrogance amongst white Americans about their relationship to the oppressed people that prevents them from seeing themselves as coming from a position of privilege."

On another note, I sort of empathize with the scholar who refused a blurb. I was in that situation once. I was asked to blurb a book that I found so offensive that it made my teeth hurt. Even the letter asking for the blurb was so problematic that I almost hired an exorcist. After a lot of soul searching, I decided to tell the editor that this book wasn't the racial feel-good novel, she was making it out to be. My letter was met with a curt "thank you for your opinion" and the book went on with production. I don't know if I was trying to save the author from embarassment, or if I wanted to make sure that I wasn't condoning with my silence. In the end it didn't matter because they blew me off anyway. And the book did just fine.

Posted at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Up and At Em!

I may have mentioned that I like to get up early. Tayari Jones, the mild-mannered novelist is just the secret identity of a super-hero(ine) called MORNING GIRL! Well, someone must have slipped some Kryptonite in my Lillet last night. Although I had my writing room tidied by 9 pm and I was all jammied up and tucked into bed by 10, I didn't wake up until 8:30. That's ten and half hours. Anyway, I got up, had some coffee, and was still feeling a little drowzy until I found this link on Misstra Know It All. Rise and Shine Everybody!

Posted at 08:25 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Brigdes Over Troubled Waters

Are you halfway through a project and sort of feeling all alone, adrift in a sea of half-way-though-ness? Trust me, I know the feeling. To get to the other side, I have a suggestion for you. Warning: It’s a little bit warm and fuzzy, verging on the touchy-feely, but it really worked for me.

Here’s the idea: Right now, today, WRITE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS as though your book is all finished and being published tomorrow. The purpose of the exercise is not so that you can fantasize about what it would be like to have your book coming out; this is a time for you to take stock of all the people who have helped you along the way. It’s easy to feel all alone out here and forget that lots of people are pulling for you.

Take your time with it. Thank people that you don’t even talk to anymore. Don’t do the negative spin. For example: “Special thanks to my ex, who taught me everything I will ever need to know about betrayal…” That is not in line with this assignment. Instead, thank that loser for how supportive he was when he first met you. But don't call him a loser. This is an attitude-banishing endeavor!

Craft the document. Make it beautiful. This is no time for a laundry list. Imagine that you are telling the world how much your support group means to you.

Okay, once you have written your acknowledgements, write a letter or send an email to someone on the list and tell her thank you. I recommend that you thank someone who won’t be expecting a thank. Don’t choose your partner or your writing group. Do something special for the laundrymat lady who always says “Hey there, book writer! Hurry up! I need something to read.” Or what about the secretary at your job who looks the other way while you score extra paper and padded envelopes to help you make submissions. Try taking it way back and giving a shout to somebody who encouraged you when you were just a little tyke scribbling around. Remember, just as that person encouraged you, you can actually encourage that person by letting her know what she means to you!

For kicks, here are my acknowledgement pages from Leaving Atlanta.

Posted at 04:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Let Us Tweet!

I've had my Twitter account for about a year or so, but haven't really figured out what to do with it. For those of you unfamiliar with Twitter, it's a website where you can enter a couple lines of text. The prompt question is What Are You Doing? I could sort of see how it was a neat idea, but then I couldn't quite get the point. Everyone in the blogosphere was into Twitter for a while, but the whole thing felt a little bit pet-rock, if you know what I mean.

But for the last couple of days, I have been updating my twitter with the progress I am making on my writing. I put it over there and not here on the blog because everyone in our blog community isn't writing a novel and it's hard to imagine that people would be all that interested to know that I wrote so much today I had to refill my inkpen. (Although this was a happy little milestone.)

Then I had the idea that any of us that want to, should use twitter to track our progress. We can all be twitter friends and send encouragement, and just to sort of keep each other going. You can tweet anything you want-- word count, problems you meet along the way, celebrations when you finish a chapter, a poem, a stanza, whatever!

Here's my twitter page. Feel free to "follow" and I will add you and I'll follow you back! (Get started with Twitter here.)

Posted at 08:50 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Sunday Summer Links!

This is "Classic"

Just when you thought there was nothing more to say about "street lit", Omar Tyree steps up to the plate. He likes to call his books "urban classics", though. (I don't know if you can declare your own work to be "classic", but I don't want to split hairs.)

So Mr. Tyree is calling it quits. Apparently, the market has gotten to raunchy for even him. Although he believes himself to be the founder of the genre, he says that the readership has failed to evolve. Apparently he tried to write a wee bit more seriously and the readers gave him no love. He says women readers wrote to him having tantrums because he is not as exciting a writer as Zane. (Entire article here.)

Here's a snippet:

That replacement of significant voice had nothing to do with the publishers preferring "street lit" over "responsible lit." It had all to do with an urban audience who preferred grit over polish. And that love for grit, crime, sex, broken hearts, drama, and other bullshit, reinforced the sales that I enjoyed for Diary of a Groupie in 2003, and What They Want in 2006. These were both books where I wrote about the subjects of sex, idolization, blackmail, and black women getting their fantasy freaks on, that urban readers had begun to love from my good friend Zane, and her various Sex Chronicles. Again, I can't knock a sister for expressing her inner freak. I would want a woman confident enough to show me what she got as well, just not on every other page.

As you all know, I am chillaxing in the Adirondacks, so I can't spend too much time thinking about this drama. But check it out. Tell me what you think in comments.

Posted at 03:13 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Is this procrastination?

I made a Wordle of what I wrote today!

Posted at 09:47 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

An Explanation and An Apology

Cross My Heart and Hope You Die (love the title!) is a forthcoming collection of personal essays about break up. When Michael Taeckens asked me to contribute, I jumped at the opportunity. For one, I am crazy about Michael and also the other contributors are so fabulous. Sadly, when it comes to break up stories, I’ve got lots of material. Jaw-dropping material. Don’t even get me started.

Well, I couldn’t even get myself started, even with such great material such as the boyfriend who snorted my diet pills when I was at work. (After years of on-and-off again, that was the last straw. Forget the pun.) I even had garden variety drama like the One Who Wouldn’t Commit. Or the one who was committed, but to somebody else. (That’s a heartbreaker. Funny. Tragic. And it involves AWP, a fake chinchilla coat, Rita Dove, a historic Baltimore blizzard, a boy named Sue, and a drink called a “Green Sneaker.” There’s even a coda. Yesterday, he had the nerve to try and add me as a friend on Facebook!) So there was no shortage of inspiration.

But I couldn’t write it. Not one of the stories. It seems I have a block against writing about people I know. Maybe this is why I am a fiction writer, rather than a memoirist. I felt like I was narc-ing on these men, although they are a loutish bunch and by and large deserve to be shamed in a public forum. But I just couldn’t do it. I can’t explain it even to myself. It’s not like I am too high-minded to explore the revenge angle. I sat at my computer and had no idea where to start. I don’t know how to write first person when it’s me. My mind was racing, full of ideas, and I couldn’t cough up a word past “I”.

So sorry, Michael. Cross my heart, I really wanted to participate. I guess I am just not cut out to tell the truth. Sigh.

Posted at 08:43 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Boo Hoo!

Posted at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Rejection Correction: The Playlist

Posted at 08:22 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Take Some Advice from Soul II Soul

Remember that song? Keep on moving/Don't stop/like the hands of time. It's track 1 on my rejection recovery CD. I am posting a version of it today in honor of all the folks who have emailed to say that Bread Loaf has sent out its rejection letters. At least six friends didn't get in this year. I am giving the same message to everyone. IT DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING.

Rejections happen. Rejections hurt. And I am not saying that it wouldn't have been fabulous for you to have been accepted with a scholarship. It would have been a great experience, but not being admitted does not mean that your writing is not good, that your book is not important. (Just think about the way you evaluate other people's work. Would you say Gee, I thought this book was really good until I found out the author didn't get into Bread Loaf!)

I was rejected from Bread Loaf three times before I was admitted with a juicy fellowship. Just think about that. Three times, I wasn't good enough to get in, but then, *bam*, a fellowship? You have to know there is a certain randomness there. Another example: Three times I wasn't even chosen as a runner-up for the Hurston/Wright Award. I looked at their yearly rejection as the antidote to my New Year's optimism. Then, in 2000, *bam*, first prize. The year before when I sent excerpts from the same novel, *goose egg*.

So, to all of you that got the thin envelope from Bread Loaf yesterday, have yourself some ice cream. You can email me and I'll send you a cyber hug. Then, get back to your desk. You have important work to do.

Posted at 07:48 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

The Mentoring Campsite Rules

I must confess that I love reading Dan Savage's advice column. I read it on line and I also listen the "Savage Lovecast." Great stuff. I never post about it here because, well, it's not that type of blog! However, here is an exception.

I was checking out the column today, and he referred to the "campsite rule." He meant it in reference to dating much younger people. The Campsite Rule is that you have to leave them in better shape than you found them. I nodded in agreement, as that seems like a pretty reasonable boundary.

Then, I thought that the same should be true for writing mentors and workshop leaders. I have seen people just broken down in workshop by a cruel workshop leader. I have seen people get critiques of thier work that leave them never wanting to write again. These mentors/leaders have broken The Campsite Rules.

My beloved RC always obeyed TCR. I couldn't quite understand it when I was a student. There was once this guy in our workshop who was TERRIBLE. He wasn't in the program; he was more of a gate-crasher. His work was some of the worst I have seen to date. You should have seen the eye-rollling from those of us In The Program. And even worse from those of us With Aid. But RC lead the dicussion and even silenced the student who was prepared to go through line by line pointing out cliches.

I went to RC's office after class, as I was prone to do. He was such a wonderful teacher that I wanted to get all the face time I could without crossing the line over into stalking territory. I asked him why he didn't tell that guy how terrible he was. RC shrugged and said, "Why?" He then explained that the goal of the creative writing class is to get everyone jazzed to revise. "I am not in the business of getting anyone to quit."

Posted at 07:59 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Way Back Wednesday

When I was in the eleventh grade, I wrote a short story called "The Pursuit of Michael Thomas." I wrote a lot of short stories back then, but I submitted this one for a contest at Pace Academy, an exclusive Atlanta private school. So exclusive, in fact, that I had never heard of it.

Short version of this story is that I won the contest. In my bio, I mark this as the start of my writing career. And perhaps it is.

I am posting here the story. It's short. Just about five pages, double spaced. It contains every mistake I warn my undergrads about. I am really fast and loose with the adverbs, for example. My characters have rather fancy names. (What is it about being a young writer that makes you want to name characters "Mignon" and "Angelique"?)

I remember my mother typing it for me. We argued about a line on the first page. The character in my original said, "Don't talk so loud!" and my mother made me change it to "loudly". (No one had told us about the adverb rule.)

I am sort of proud of this story, bad as it is. I wasn't a happy teenager. By the time I made it to tenth grade, I have been to four schools in as many years. I was sort of an invisible girl. Medium brown complexion, hair that wasn't tossable. Only one pair of designer jeans-- a gift from neighbors for whom I babysat. Picture me, writer in a school that stressed math and science. Every term I brought home my report card, 2As, 2Bs, 2Cs. Enough to get by.

I would not have had the confidence to enter the contest were in not for Mrs. Patricia Ramon, the English teacher who noticed that I was the only person to finish East of Eden, all 400-some pages. (I loved it.) She showed me the contest notice.

"Would you be interested in something like this?"
"Yes, ma'am."

So here it is. My little story. My precious beginning.

Posted at 11:40 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

I, Too, Have Had The Assistant's Blues

Like KJA over at The Root, I have also served as a writer's assistant. I won't say too much about my experiences, but I will say that it is a hard and personal job. Most people end up with the assistant's gig because they respect the writer whom they assist. I don't think anyone comes out the other side with that shame sheen. How could you? As the assistant, it's your job to keep the person's public self looking good. This, of course, means you see the private self which isn't always so cute.

I am not giving any clues as to which sister-writer I helped keep it together, but I will tell you that I did get my feelings hurt sometimes. But more importantly, I learned a lot about what was ahead of me as a black woman writer. When I read KJA's article in The Root, I cringed at the anecdote about the writer being afraid to praise a black student's writing for fear of seeming "biased."

I watched my own boss deal with such situations, and there is no good way out. I watched her navigate a lot of treacherous highway. I didn't always agree with how she handled it, but I was paying attention, and taking notes. I don't look back at my time as a writers assistant as the happiest time of my life, but I am glad I did it. Although the publishing world has on a few occaisions shown me nastiness that caught me by surprise, my assistant years gave me, at the very least, a glimpse of what was to come and I've done my best to be ready for it.

Posted at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Writers & Readers, DC

This is a photo I just received from an event I did in DC last year. I didn't post about it at the time because I was waiting for the photos, and then life happened. You know how that is.

I want to report on it anyway, because it was such a wonderful and enriching project. "Writers & Readers" is a book club/lecture series for GED students in the Washington, DC area. It's sponsored by the State Education Department. If you are a writer in the DC area, see if you can work with this organization. Get your books to people who need them.

Posted at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

24th Annual Celebration of Black Writing

Just a heads up for those of you in Philly. I'm going to be participating in the 24th Annual Celebration of Black Writing in Philadelphia. May 22-24.

I'm on a panel called "Violence In Our Communities" along with Sapphire, Nathan McCall, W. Marvin Dulaney, Solomon Jones, Chuck “D”. My child of the 80's heart is going pitter-pat. I am dying dying to ask Chuck D (would I call him "Mister D?") what he thinks about his former co-revolutionary, Flavor Flav. Do I dare? Will be able to keep from bellowing "Bass! How low can you go?" (That was my jam, freshman year.) And Sapphire! I was crazy about her when I was in college.

Oh, and also, I am giving a panel called "Opportunities For Writers." It's basically what we do here. I want to get the word out to writers about opportunities like artists colonies, workshops, grants, etc.

Posted at 11:34 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

PEN Blog Posts

I am running out the door to today's PEN events:

PEN Festival Here I Come!

Today I am headed over to the PEN World Voices Festival. Many thanks to Dr. Alexandrova who got me on my feet again. I am going to hop on the subway loaded down like an old lady on the Greyhound. I'll have my cough drops, my aspirin, some trail mix (so I won't be taking drugs on an empty stomach), water bottle... but I will be there!

Here is the agenda for today:

3:30-5pm: Writing The Story of Life in Fact and Fiction.
Writers who have used the same material for fiction and for autobiography are going to talk about the choices and process. This summer I read A.M. Homes' novel "In A Country of Mothers" and her memoir "The Mistress' Daughter". I was sometimes quite disoriented because there were whole passages in common between the two books. I am eager to hear her talk about it on the panel.

5:30-6:30: Leaving Home
Debut novelists from five different countries talk about writing from a country other than home. As a person whose debut was called Leaving Atlanta, you can see how I would be into this.

8pm: "Wristcutters"
This is a screening of a film based on Etgar Keret's short story "Kneller's Happy Campers."

Posted at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

So Disappointed!

I was so thrilled a couple of weeks ago to be chosen as a special correspondent for the Pen World Voices Festival. I was assigned a certain number of events and I was to attend the sessions and the blog on the pen site. Today at 6pm was to be my first assignment: "History In The Mirror" --three writers talk about art and activism. I was dying to meet Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina.

Sadly, I think I am just too sick to go. Even if I were to try to be a hero, my coughing would disrupt the event. I went to the doctor today and she prescribed me some cough medicine with codeine--guaranteed to know me out-- but I didn't take it because I was hoping to be healthy enough to go.

Well, I'm not.

(And I'll just end with that pun.)

Posted at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Dare I Take the "ONE STAR CHALLENGE?"

John Scalzi is daring writers to post the skankiest amazon reviews posted about their books. My first thought was "How funny! I'll do it!" Afterall, self-deprecating is the new black these days. So I tootled over to amazon to look at the one-stars. It wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. So then, I thought I wouldn't participate. But THAT is the same as backing down from a challenge. Besides, not participating would be in the category of "fear/shame" and am I not working hard to get those nasty trolls out of my life and my consciousness?

So, with no further ado. Here are my ugliest amazon reviews for The Untelling. Weirdly enough, nobody hates on Leaving Atlanta. Well, almost nobody...

See, look at me. Stalling. Why is this so hard? Okay. Here goes.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 12:03 PM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

An Opportunity, A Remembrance

I've just found out that McSweeny's is taking applications for the the Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award. The award is for a woman, 32 years old, or younger. Amanda was a friend of ours who passed away in 2003, at the age of 32.

thx, Erika.

Posted at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Mom Friendly, I Swear!

I got a google alert today letting me know that somebody was blogging about me. I must say those little notices warm my heart. I happily clicked the link to find that The Shelf Life was commenting on the fact that "50 States of Literature" picked Leaving Atlanta as the best of Georgia.

Then, I looked more closely and saw what she had written. I would be lying if if I didn't say it didn't hurt my feelings a litle bit. The long of the short of it is that she didn't approve of the choice. I would still be whimpering if she was basing this on having read the book, but her objection was that she just didn't like the description. She even asks readers for other suggestions of what better represents Georgia. "As a mom" she doesn't think she could stomach my book.

Sigh.

Posted at 08:34 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Fantastic Things Are Happening

to people who read this blog!

SCHOLARSHIPS TO SPLIT ROCK!

I've just found out that there are scholarships available for the Split Rock Summer Arts Programs! I'll be teaching a class all about the coming of age story, so you can just imagine how thrilled I was to find out about the scholarships. You should visit the site to see which one is best for you to apply. There is even one designated for African American artists.

And how did I find out about this opportunity? Erika over at Practicing Writing! You should sign up for her free newsletter.

Posted at 07:56 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Ah, Youth!

Every now and then, I run into some artifact from my past. In this case, it was the 2001 edition of Grants and Awards Available to American Writers. Nowadays, the Grants and Awards is a searchable database, but back in the day, it was a soft-bound book you could hold in your hands.

I found my copy in a box labeled "Leaving Atlanta." I ordered the book in 2001, when my first novel had been accepted for publication, but had not yet been produced. My copy of the book is full of highlighted passages and notes scrawled in the margins. You would not believe my level of fabulousness. Pulitzer Prize? Highlighted in green. Beside such awards as The Rome Prize which were designated as internal nomination only I wrote "research this." I even identified prizes for which my friends would be eligible.

That year, I applied for everything. With my tired desk jet printer I produced letter after letter... "Dear Sir/Madame, I am writing to find out more information.... enclosed is a SASE..." I loved working so hard on creating opportunities for myself. I even wrote to George Washington University to inquire about the Jenny McKean Moore Writer in Residence position. Six years, and three application cyles later, I actually ended up with the job-- and loved every minute of it.

There is something to be said for the wide-openness with which a young writer approaches the world. I want that self back. I want to be that young lady who has the confidence of having a book accepted for publication, but hasn't yet known the heartbreaks that come along with putting herself out there.

I still apply for everything, but it's different now. Not as much fun. Years ago, a jaded older writer said to me, "Apply for everything. Every day I hear about someone getting something they don't deserve. It's only a matter of time before the same thing happens to you!" I am ashamed to say that I have even repeated these words as my own.

I know it's almost April, and a little late to make New Year's resolutions, but I am hereby resolving to recapture the eager young writer who lives somewhere inside of me. I am going get that joy back. I am going to cup all that optimism in my hands like a winking firefly.

Posted at 04:26 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Back Up Plans

Since I got the ixnay from MacDowell, I did some research on writers retreats that you have to pay for. (MacDowell and many others are free; this is why there is such a rigorous admittance process. For the ones listed here, the only issue is whether your money is green.)

REJECTED!

crocodile tears
Originally uploaded by artgyrl

Posted at 07:18 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

Ouch. Deborah Gregory's Sad Story

I met Deborah Gregory about a million years ago at the very start of my writing career. I was about twenty-six at my first paying gig at a community college in Baltimore. She was on a panel talking about "The Cheetah Girls" and also liposuction. All I remember is that she was dressed from the rooter-to-the-tooter in cheetah patterned clothing and I thought "what is THAT all about?" Well, it was about The Cheetah Girls, a gizzlion-dollar empire based on Gregory's books. Apparently Disney is making all the money. (and I mean ALL of it.)

Gregory said she's pocketed $125,000 over the last nine years in option fees and payments for her title as co-producer of the movies. Although she's asked for them, she has never gotten "net profit participation statements" from Disney, spelling out details of expenses and revenues. If anyone is getting rich on this formidable franchise, Gregory noted, it's not the woman who created it.

Posted at 01:07 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Just Say No... Nicely

Here's part three of my what-do-when post. I'm thinking of starting a little advice column. So email me your writing related questions. Okay, onto the post. Here's the scenario: you have just read the letter from an events organizer inviting you to give a reading. You have carefully evaluated the offer and you have concluded that these people must be crazy. What's the best way to say no?

You're Invited... Now What?

This is part two of the post I started on Monday concerning opportunities offered at AWP and other conferences. It is not unusual to meet someone who may promise to invite you to give a reading. Imagine yourself in the hotel bar and someone says, "Hey, would you like to come to our campus and give a reading." Of course, you'll say "yes," even though you don't know the terms of the invitation.

A few days, or weeks later, you may receive an email from the person formally inviting you. This letter should have the terms-- how much your will be paid and what is expected of you for the visit. Hopefully, they are offering you a zillion trillion dollars. Sometimes the offer is more modest. How do you decide if you want to do the event? Here are some things to consider.

See You Sunday?

Hello, New Yorkers. I'll be reading at Sunday Salon, on February 10 along with Tony D'Souza, Matthew Cheney, and Frances Madeson. It happens this coming Sunday at Stain Bar, located in 766 Grand Street in Williamsburg. Time: 7pm.

Posted at 07:19 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Post AWP Advice

First off: don't worry. I will not blog about AWP all week. This will probably be the last one, particularly since we got hundreds of applications (amazing!) for the MFA at Rutgers-Newark and I will be crazy busy sorting through the pile choosing our next exciting group of writers. (Maybe I'll post on do's and don't for applications. Does that sound like a good idea?)

But meanwhile on to the the question at hand. Often after attending conferences, writers will start receiving invitations to read, conduct workshops, submit to journals, etc. Several of my younger writers pals have asked me how to handled these situations. Today's installment is about what to do about editors and agents who are on the make at the conference.

Opportunities

This just in:

Off To Key West!

I am on my way to the Key West Literay Seminars. I'll be back in a few days, but I am taking my laptop and my digital camera, so there will be reports and photos. One member of our blog community, Jaci, won a scholarship, so I will be looking forward to seeing her there.

Meanwhile, I better sign off and find my sunglasses and sunscreen!

Posted at 06:46 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Sweet Carleen

Carleen Brice, friend o' the blog, and author of the Essence Book Club pick, Orange Mint and Honey, noticed that I seemed a little, well, exhausted here on the blog. She sent me a perfect pick me up-- homemade orange-mint bath salts. Big hugs Carleen. I really really appreciate it.

Posted at 05:01 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

To AWP, or not to AWP

I recently got an email from a blog community member with one line: Should I go to AWP? My answer: It depends.

"AWP" is the annual meeting of the Associated Writing Programs and this year it is in NYC and it is sold out. So, any answer I give is probably for next year.

I went to my first AWP back in 1997, when I was a graduate student at The University of Georgia. While I was there, I struck up a friendship with Jewell Parker Rhodes who offered me the chance to be her protege at Arizona State University. A month later, I was driving across the country to start a new life.

So, this would make it seem that my answer is YES! GO TO AWP.

But not so fast. I think the question is what you hope to gain. AWP is a good place for finding out a little more about the business of writing and teaching writing. You are not likely to meet an agent, but you may meet someone who runs a really cool small press. If you are a "literary" writer or poet, you may make connections that can lead to invitations to give paid readings at universities.

Some people complain that AWP is to cliquey. I cant say this is exactly false. You will see lots of people squealing "Oh my God!" while hugging enthusiastically. Your first time out, you may feel like a gate-crasher at a family reunion. But folks are generally pretty nice, particularly at the bar.

AWP also gives you a chance to meet the directors of various MFA programs, pick up brochures, meet students in the programs and ask them real candid questions. (Talk to them at the bar, after 10pm, and you'll get the truth!)

The diversity factor can be an issue, but I am happy to report that AWP has come a long way since it was jokingly referred to as "All White Poets." There are many panels discussing the issues that affect writers of color, and you will often find writers of colors on panels that have little to do with ethnicity. (imagine that!)

One real drawback is the matter of cost. By the time you pay to register, get your plane fare, and hotel-- this little venture can easily run you in the area of $1000. That's about how much it costs to be a bridesmaid. (Ask me how I know.) I wouldn't recommend that you go into debt to attend AWP, but if you have the cash (or outside funding), I'd say go ahead.

Okay. Those are my thoughts. I've got to scram. I'm headed to the Key West Literary Seminars tomorrow!!

(Here's a link to the pictures I took at last year's conference.)

Posted at 12:06 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Do The Hustle!

I was cruisng Galleycat when I saw a picture of a black person and almost choked on my croissant aux amandes. Tbe brother in question is Troy Tompkins who managed to get himself a profile in the NYT. What's his claim to fame? Apparently, he managed to get Simon and Schuster to take a look at his self-published YA novel by writing a press release and signing it "Alan Chase". There is no Alan Chase; he just thought that it would make him seem classiser if he seemed to have a real publicist. (It's cheaper, too. Let me tell you.)

Now, there is a little controversy as to whether Tompkins is being rewarded for being dishonest. That whole part of the conversation goes into the yawn-zone for me.

The thing that makes me wonder is whether or not it seems to other folks that black writers seem to get attention for thier ability to hustle, self-promote, and beat the system, but how much talk is happening about our actual writing?

Posted at 06:48 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Much Love to Our Guest Bloggers!

This year, a number of members of our blog community were kind enough to share thier experiences with the rest of us. As we bid goodbye to 2007, I wanted to thank them for thier contribuitions. Here's a little recap of thier generous offerings:

Holday Dos and Don'ts

Holiday Gift


Originally uploaded by mattbaldelli

Posted at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Tonight's The Night!

Tonight is the National Book Awards dinner! Natasha T., who is judging the poetry award, invited me to come along. (Yes, she asked me. I did not beg. Very much.) I won't be live-blogging the event--I don't want to be blackberrying under the table like I never been nowhere before-- but I will take pictures, but only when it seems appropriate, as I would not want to embarrass my host by going all paparazzi on Edwidge Danticat.

Luckily for everyone, some of my favorite bloggers are not so reserved, so for the blow by blow, visit Ed over at The Return of The Reluctant.

P.S. After having to be almost CARRIED OUT of the Hurston/Wright Awards due to my high heel situation, I am sort of taking it easy on the shoes this time.

Posted at 07:13 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

This is NOT my Lucky Sweater

I bought the sweater picture here when I was living in Arizona. It was about 103 degrees outside. The purchase of the sweater was an expression of my confidence that I would get into Yaddo. Just after I mailed the application, I fell in with a rough crowd, the Name-It-And-Claim-It Crew. "You have to put it out there in the universe that you are going to The Yaddo!"

I did want to make it clear to the universe that I planned to spend January in upstate New York. That I had every intention of spending the winter of 2001 drinking hot chocolate with famous people while working on my masterpiece. And besides, you can get a fluffy wool sweater really cheap in Arizona.

So, I bought the sweater.

And I didn't get in. Everytime I went into my walk-in closet (which doubled as an office in those days) the sweater mocked me and all my positive thinking.

Flash forward to one year later. The tags were still on the sweater. Arizona was still the third hottest state in the union. I received a letter in the mail. The MacDowell Colony had granted me a winter residency for 2003!

I took the sweater with me and when I arrived, I tore the tags off with my teeth.

Posted at 10:03 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

The Big O Speaks!

Oprah has announced her new book club pick: Love In The Time of Cholera. There was a time in my career when I sort of dreamed of winning the Oprah lottery. Remember when she used to pick books by unknowns? Well, over Galleycat, folks are noticing that the book club picks and getting maler and maler. And Jennifer Weiner puts her two cents in.

I wonder if the great O goes out of her way to make sure that she doesn't appear too partisan to the demographic groups to which she belongs. In other words, does she try not to pick too many books by, say, black people, or say, women, in an effort to seem unbiased. I think we have all been in that situation ourselves.

I have been asked to nominate a writer for this or that thing and often another black woman writer would come to mind. I have been to known to hesitate, Would it look funny for me to pick another sister? But then, I figure, other people have no qualms about picking someone that shares their demographics. And besides, how could I look a black woman writer in the eye and tell her that I thought she was the best pick for the position, but I didn't pick her because she was a black woman writer?

Oh the absurdity of our American (writing) Lives.

Posted at 11:42 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

Knock Knock! Who's There?

Two exciting publishing opportunites!

Memories of Bread Loaf

I was on flickr and found a message from Charles Rice-Gonzalez. I followed the link and discovered his photos from Bread Loaf. They make mine seem so lame and genteel. On the up side, there is nothing like looking at photos of writers in motion to cheer up a Wednesday afternoon.

Posted at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Girls Write Now

Girls Write Now is celebrating ten years of connecting high school girls with writing mentors. Won't you please come out to our fundraising birthday celebration on October 18? It's in NY. I'm reading and so is Janice Earlbaum. Not totally convinced? What if I told you that it we be held at the fabulous The Slipper Room on the Lower East Side? What if I told you that it is a yet another sparkly luxlotus project?

Well, if that doesn't impress you, what about this?

Girls Write Now provides at-risk high school girls with emerging writing talent the unique opportunity to be custom matched with a professional woman writer who serves as her individual mentor and writing coach, meeting with her weekly for one entire school year, and for up to four years.The year is punctuated by three public readings, college and career prep seminars, a social action series, field trips to cultural events, and endless opportunities for scholarships and publication. The magic of the program is reflected in a solid nine-year track record, a 65-percent member retention rate, a 100-percent college acceptance rate, an annual anthology of original writing, and the seven-genre portfolios each student emerges equipped with each season.

So shall I see you there?

Posted at 06:18 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Won't Ask, Can't Tell, Won't Say, Why Ask

As any writer with a new book will tell you-- it's a rare experience to be interviewed by someone who has actually read your book. I have been asked several times to prepare five or six questions for an interviewer to ask me. I've shown up at the studio with the questions printed up. The first couple of times, I was surprised by this, but my publicist convinced me that this was a good thing. After all, if I was the one writing the questions, I would know the best way to answer them to put the book in a good light. I never quite got comfortable with this.

There are a couple of stories in the blogosphere today that have put this subject on my mind again. The first concerns the Tyra Banks Show. Apparently, after reading the essay Violet Blue published in O Magazine, Miz Banks invited her to be on the show. Imagine Violet's Blue's surprize when she found out the producers of the show had written out her answers in advance! (The whole sordid tale, here.)

I know the above is just the Tyra show and we aren't expecting any deepness there, but still.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:30 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Opportunities For Writers

There are some deadlines coming up, so here's a post.

Meet Guest Blogger, Tara Betts

You may remember about a year ago when I wrote a post about poet, Tara Betts. I had just heard her at a spoken word event in Washington, DC. The event struck me because Tara, who got her start in slam poetry-- even appearing on HBOs "Def Poetry Jam"-- was completing her MFA from New England College. I watch her her negogiate the scene in that DC coffee shop. At just 32, she was an elder in the crowd. I knew there was a story there. When she was invited to the 2007 National Poetry Slam to participate in "Legends of Slam" I asked her to bring a report back. To be honest, I was anticpating a piece that I could title "Life After Slam," or something like that. But as always, Tara avoids the obvious and the simple. You'll find her post below.

Posted at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

My How We've Grown

I ran across this digital copy of my first author photo. I took this picture in the year 1999 after I got word that A) my book would be published and B)my publisher would not pay for a photo. (At this stage in my life, I had never even heard of Marion Ettlinger!)I didn't know what to do. A girlfriend said her boyfriend was a professoinal photographer and he lived in New Mexico. I was living in Arizona and I figure that a trip to the next-door state seemed reasonable.

The trip was 8 hours by car and New Mexico was a much higher altitude and it was COLD. Furthermore, New Mexico has a pretty significant tourist trade, so the only room we would afford was located the east side of Espanola-- the black tar herion capitol of the nation.

The boyfriend showed up and took this photo of me against the wall of a Super 8 hotel. I felt fortunate that it came out as well as it did.

Posted at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Planning Your Writerly Summer

Mail bag!

Just curious - what does it take to get your dance card so completely filled in for the summer? Do you get a break before you start up the round of applications and inquiries for next year? Can you tell us how much time/effort went into organizing your summer schedule? --AT

Thanks, AT, for your question. Below you'll find some tips!

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:33 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Links and Such

The Privilege of "Youth"

In November, I will be 37 years old, which will make me 2 years over the hill. The hill I am thinking about in particular is the "young writer" category. Every year there are "exciting" lists of the best new writers under a certain age. Twice this month, I have been asked if I were under thirty-five. "Oh darn," the person said. "I wanted to nominate you for something."

I have always felt a little iffy about such lists-- it's even worse now that I have aged out. My question is what does age have to do with what is new in writing. My concern has grown as I have worked with many fine writers who are over 35, over 45, over 55, who are busy writing thier first novels. These writers are certainly new writers, but they are not going to be eligible for these splashy lists.

I now am wondering if these lists are inherently biased in terms of socio-economic class. Think about it. Most of what anyone, not just writers, accomplish at a young age has much to do with that person's family background. It takes a few years for the boot-strappy among us catch up with the accomplishments of the silver-spoon crowd.

Why shouldn't these lists of new writers be determined by the author's publishing history? I know that "Best New Writers Who Have Published Two or Fewer Books" doesn't have the same ring of "Best New Writers Under 30", but it makes a whole lot more sense.

Posted at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Info-train!

Each of the students in my class at Callaloo is asked to bring in a writing resource or opportunity and share it with the class. Gimbiya (on the right) and Nicole (in the middle) made thier offerings today. The info was too good to keep to ourselves.

One Week Down, One To Go!

Well, the first week of Callaloo is over. Here are my students from the first session. You can see that they are a nice looking bunch of folks, but what you can't see is that they are really smart.

Posted at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Funky Q&A With Abdel Shakur

Abdel Shakur is the editor of Indiana Review. I met him this past February at the AWP Conference in Atlanta. He's a baby-faced brother, with an old-school aesthetic. Yesterday, he sent me an email telling me that he was about to start accepting submissions for a special issue on Funk. I was a little confused.

T: For some reason when I think of Indiana, "funky" isn't exactly what comes to mind. Actually, for me, nothing much comes to mind. Well, the Jackson 5, but that was a long time ago. What has possessed Indiana Review to "Focus on the Funk" ?

A: Well, I should say right off the top that Indiana Review's editorial staff is comprised of MFA students in Indiana University's creative writing program. Although Indiana may not be the funkiest place you can imagine (even though "I'm going back to Indiana," is the hit!), we have a diverse group of writers with some very funky aesthetics.

T: So how did you come up with the idea? And then, was it hard to get it approved?

A: Actually, I really wasn't trying to do a special issue this year. The editor position at IR is for only one year, and a lot of my focus this year is on strengthening the magazine as an institution. But I was soliciting work for the new issue and I contacted poet Thomas Sayers Ellis. He sent me a beautiful series of photographs he took at the James Brown memorial in Harlem. That got me to thinking. I saw James Brown in concert when he came to Bloomington last year;he had this energy that was just so, so, good. That energy is one of the essences of funk for me. Plus, my dad raised me on P-Funk, so it's a family thang as well.

T: What is "Funk" exactly?

A: George Clinton said that funk has the power to move and re-move, and I think that's a good place to start. Instead of trying to define exactly what funk "is," it's probably a lot more productive to describe what it does. Funk is completely dynamic and organic. It's all about change and subversion. Like a hamhock in your cornflakes. The purpose of the special section is not necessarily to make IR the arbiters of funkiness, but to offer our readers a range of engaging interpretations of funk. Hopefully we'll feature some work that makes you want to jump back and kiss yourself.

T: If people want to submit, where can they go for more info?

A: You can find more information at our website and blog. When our reading period opens September 1 st (we'll still be accepting regular submissions, by the way) if you have work you'd like us to consider for this special section, please mark it "Attn: Funk Editor". Indiana Review can only contain so much funk, so we'll only be reading for this section during the month of September. Any submissions after that will be returned.

T: "Funk Editor." I bet you love that. Are you having that printed on your business cards? OK, let's play a game. I name something and you say funky or not funky.

A: Okay

T:The Brand New Heavies?
A: Funky.
T: Preternaturally funky.

T: Nina Simone?
A: The high priestess of funk. Check out "Mississippi Goddamn"

T: Golf?
A: It's just not funky. Lo siento. However, Tiger Woods-- despite himself, funky at times.

T: Geckos?
A: Unfunky. Salamanders-- funky, definitely.

T: Cat Stevens?
A: Possibly funky. They don’t let him fly on airplanes no more.

T: Yoga?
A: No offense to yoga, but not funky.

T: Toni Morrison?
A: Sula’s got some funk.

T: Orchids?
A: Beautiful, but not funky.

T: Kevin Federline?
A: Dirty, certainly. Funky? No.

T: Barack Obama?
A: It's too early to tell. But Michelle, on the other hand, has a PhD in Funk.

Posted at 02:55 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Summer Report: The Cave Canem Song

by Guest Blogger, NICOLE SEALEY

In 2004, I applied and was accepted to Cave Canem’s (CC) New York regional poetry workshop with Patricia Smith and, as my mother would say, “[began] to smell myself” soon after. In other words, I got cocky. I just knew I was a shoe-in for the summer retreat that same year. I mean, I got into Patricia’s workshop, and she’s an award winning stage and page poet. How hard could it be? So, I decided to apply for—and get into—the summer retreat, and wear the coveted title of “fellow” humbly. All that to say, I did not get in that year…or the next.

Though I’ve been writing creatively since I was eight (even won an essay contest in 3rd grade for my letter to Santa), I wasn’t quite ready to be a poetry fellow. CC knew this and demanded more of me and my work. Come to think of it, I am grateful for that time and the opportunity that followed. Rejection gave me the time needed to ready myself and my writing. In 2006, I was accepted. The third time was definitely my charm.

To prepare I began thinking about subjects I want to write about, writing in different forms and reading, reading, reading. I thought a lot about women in prison and teen-aged mothers. I tried my hand at Sonnets and Villanelles (my favorite form). I read Tyehimba Jess’ Leadbelly, Terrance Hayes’ Hip Logic, Patricia Smith’s Teahouse of the Almighty and others. And, after all that, I was still felt unprepared and anxious—not at all knowing what to expect or what they expected of me. This was just the prep, the warm-up…CC would be the intensive, and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)
Category: Guest Bloggers , The Writing Life

A Room of My Own or Just One I Can Borrow

I don't know when I became such a whiner and a diva. I wrote my first novel, Leaving Atlanta, in two places-- on a wobbly picnic table crammed onto my tiny porch overlooking a parking lot and in a corner of a walk-in closet. Despite my humble beginnings, I am now looking for a ideal spot to do my work.

(I should say that I am only an entry-level diva. Maya Angelou , a more practiced diva, writes in a 5-star hotel. She takes all the paintings off the wall, and orders up a bottle of sherry, while her driver waits outside. I am thinking more of a clean space. 4 walls. Maybe access to a coffee machine. No phone or email. Perhaps a water dispenser and flowers once a week?)

Here are the options:

Back To Life, Back to Reality

Well, my time here at MacDowell is over. The seven weeks were well spent. I’ve posted my final word-o-meter below. I cam here with the goal of writing fifty good-looking pages and I am leaving with one-hundred. I’ve also gained something else. I am feeling at home again with my manuscript.

For “Tombstone Tuesday”, I went around to the various studios to find the names of writers that you would recognize. I felt especially moved by the names of those writers who have passed away. What I didn’t post on the blog were the signatures of the writers whom we haven’t heard of who are still chugging away.

There are so many names on the wall of folks I know—I’ve met them at festivals, conferences, etc. Some of them signed their names on the wall ten years ago, but they haven’t yet published. I don’t know where they are today, but I hope that they are still writing, still making art. I hope they are at home with their manuscripts (their paintings, their sculptures, or compositions) and still moving forward.

I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting dozens of artists in all different fields, at all different levels of their careers. There are whippersnappers just starting out and veterans taking breaks from the limelight. Some people are in residence for the whole summer, while others could only take two weeks away from their jobs, kids, lives. Being here reminds me that there are many ways to be an artist. You just make the most of the time and opportunities that you have. No matter what our positions are, I think we all – to quote Renee Simms—“jazz” our way through.

Before I end this post, I want to thank you all for hanging in there with me and the blog. I know haven’t posted as often as I usually do and being here, I am sort of out of the loop of things happening in the literary world. Thanks for stopping by anyway. Thank you for all the letters, cards, and care packages you sent. I know everybody is busy, so thank you thank you for sharing your time with me.

I’m hitting the road now. I’ll post again as I get myself settled.

Love,

Tayari

Posted at 07:31 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Summer Report: Tin House Workshops

FeLicia Elam, a member of our blog community, attened the Tin House Summer Writers Workshops this summer. Now that she's back, I asked her a few questions. See our Q&A below. (If you are interested in summer workshops in your area, visit the AWP website or pick up a copy of Poets & Writers Magazine!)

Q&A with FeLicia Elam:
Tayari: How did you first start attending workshops? How did you choose the Tin House workshop?
FeLicia: Attending workshops came as a natural progression of my writing career. Initially I wrote stories until I felt comfortable sharing them. Then I found a critique group and stayed with them for three years, completing nine stories and getting two published. When I wanted a challenge as a writer so I could grow, I started attending week-long, intensive workshops.

This year I was accepted into Tin House at Reed College in my new city, Portland, Oregon. I applied to Tin House because they have an excellent quarterly magazine and a publishing company. Additionally, Tin House is known for pulling in top notch writers, and their students have a habit of returning. I have attended two ten-week long workshops here and could tell how much my writing has improved.

Once you decided on Tin House, how did you decide which writer you wanted to work with?
I had to select three teachers from the short story section in order of choice; not all workshops give that option. I got my first pick, Colson Whitehead. He’s one of today’s top writers, well-respected with four published works since 1999. A key to getting the most from workshops is to choose carefully. Find a writer who writes similarly to you. If you’re not familiar with the writers, read some of their work and then determine who best fits your style.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:13 AM | Comments (5)
Category: Guest Bloggers , The Writing Life

Who is Harriet Klausner?

Is she the nicest woman in the book world? A secret agent of Amazon.com? Who knows, but Bloggasm has been looking into it. Kelausner has submitedt more than 12,000 on-line reviews since the year 2000. It seems that most of all her reviews are positive, which sort of hurt my feelings since I thought the 5 stars she gave me on amazon were something special. (Ten stars if you add up the scores for both books.)

Some authors complain that she reads books too quickly-- after all, at 12,000 books in 7 years, she is averaging more than four books a day. I did notice that she mis-identified the character "Kenny" in Leaving Atlanta. She calls him Octavia mother's boyfriend, when Kenny is really the mother's brother. (He is called "Uncle Kenny" throughout the text!)

I wasn't sure if this was due to quick reading or to certain assumptions that people make about working class households, particularly female-headed ones. More than one reviewer made this mistake, although I deliberately didn't give Octavia's mother a boyfriend. I often use this example in my classes to illustrate that sometimes you work really hard to avoid stereoptypes and your readers can put them in for you.

But back to Klausner-- the funny this is that most people are so annoyed that she gives so many positive reviews. I just think of her as the anti-Kirkus. They don't really read the books either, but they procede to slam just about everybody.

(thx ed for the link)

Posted at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Tombstone Tuesday!

Dudley Randall, publisher of Broadside Press stayed here. I love thinking of Dudley Randall, that great warrior of poetry who hustled so hard for so long, putting his feet up in the The Watson Studio. (This studio currently occupied by a composer, Yevgeniy Sharlat. I must thank him for letting me take a look around.)

You may remember when I first got here that I mentioned that some studios are pretty fancy? Well, this one is-- inside and out!

Posted at 12:12 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Dag-nabbit!

I am so sorry! I made a mistake last month when I said that this was the year for New Jersey Artists Grants for writing. It's next year. So sorry for the inconvenience and any disappointment!

Posted at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Beyond the McMillian Moment

In yesterday’s NYT, Martha Southgate wonders why there are so few African American writers of literary fiction. She asked around and gets the opinion of writers and publishers alike. (She even has a quote from me.)

As is de rigueur for such conversations, some space is given to what I am calling "The McMillian Moment." This occurred when the publication of Terry McMillian’s blockbuster, Waiting to Exhale, made it clear that black people read books, too. This was reason to celebrate, but the sinister flip side of this statement has gone unchallenged: that a white readership will not send a book by a black writer to the top of the charts. And, the sad reality, that books by African American authors seldom reach the middle of the charts either.

In Southgate’s article, Calvin Reid, a senior news editor at Publishers Weekly says it’s about economics, not race-- but the two have never been separate in this country. It’s true that publishers are reluctant to sign up an author whose books do not have good sales records. Large corporations cannot satisfy their shareholders with stacks of gorgeous reviews but no accompanying revenue.

The result of this is a lack of support for diversity and innovation in the field of African American literature. Let’s just think about it. Across the board, literary fiction sells fewer copies that mysteries, romances, thrillers and other genre fiction. If you are an author of literary fiction that doesn’t have access to the “wider population”, you must write something that will appeal to a broad swatch of the population to which you do have access. This means that work that is experimental, quirky, disturbing, lengthy, etc. has very little chance of making acceptable numbers to ensure another contract for its author. I know this is true of all writers—publishing is a nasty business-- but it provides a special challenge for African American writers.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:43 AM | Comments (17)
Category: The Writing Life

CC Countdown!

Tomorrow marks the start of the 2007 Cave Canem Workshops! The chosen poets will take part in a week-long total emersion experience-- classes, readings, fellowshipping... you get the idea. Nicole Sealy, of this blog community, was thrilled to be accepted and promised us a guest post with pictures upon her return.

There seems to be some sort of issue with the CC website today, but I am putting the link anyway. Since I am a humble writer of prose, I can't be a member of Cave Canem, but I am a true devotee. I found these cool pics on flickr. And check out the great Rachel Eliza Griffith's photo album from the Cave Canem 10 Year Reunion.

Those of us who can't be there, can at least dream...

Have a great week, CC Poets. Take lots of pictures for us.

Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Bubblicious!

So here I am in New Jersey. Two fabulous poets, Ruth Ellen Kocher and Ross Gay, swoop by as they are preparing for thier fabulous vacation in Madrid. Of course, since I am still in cardboard hell, my place isn't exactly in the best shape for my first soiree, but I sort of scoot the debris out of the way so the jet-setters can at least sit down.

They did sit. I had no wine to offer, or even cold water. I made do with what I had. "I just unpacked some glasses. Would you like to play with the bubble wrap?"

As you can see from the photo, they did.

Happy Travels, You Two. Stay out of trouble and bring me something back!

Posted at 05:28 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

If You Get into Breadloaf As A Waiter

Take it. I have known a couple of folks who have, in the past, been offered waitstaff position were insulted enough to refuse the offer. I can completely understand that reaction. It sounds crazy. Go to Vermont to a writers conference and they want you to wait tables? Isn't that like being a servant???

But really, it's not like that. The waitstaff are thought to be the shining stars of the conference. They give a special reading and are often brought back the next year to serve on social staff or in other plum positions. So don't freak out. Say yes.

OK. Really. I must finish packing.

Posted at 06:56 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Community Service

Hi Folks, It's time for a group effort. Tis the season to start thinking about State Artists Grants. Every state has an arts council that awards grants to its artists. These no-strings-attached awards range from about $3,000- $7,500.

The applications are usually simple-- little more than just a writing sample. Writers at all stages in their careers are welcome to apply and I know many unpublished writers who have scored in this arena. The deadlines, by and large, are in the summer.

So what do I want you to do? I'd like you to google and find out when your state's artist council is accpeting applications. Put it in comments. Let us know the deadline, the website, and whether it is poetry or prose this year.

I googled New Jersey (my new home!) and discovered this site. Applications are accepted in the month of July only. This year is for prose.

Posted at 07:35 AM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

Dick Cavett's Hissy Fit

Galleycat is snarking about the NYT's premium content which includes a blog by Dick Cavett. In this blog, Cavett recounts an experience he had 30 years ago. I agree with Galleycat that scandal is a dish best served piping hot, but I still enjoyed the recounting of Cavett's experience, even if it happened when I was in kindergarden. Apparently Cavett was told that his publisher wasn't supplying bookstores with his book:

Cavett's publisher was Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, one of the bookstores he visits is a Kroch-Brentano outlet, and his response to the book shortage is to get on the phone and demand to speak with William Jovanovich himself. When that doesn't pan out, he threatens the president of HBJ that if the books don't show up soon, "I'll cancel the Dinah Shore Show, the Carson Show, the Today Show and all the rest of this so-called selling tour and come home."

Oh to be able to put one's privileged little foot down! When I was on tour in Arizona, I was shocked to discover that there were no copies of The Untelling in any of the major chains. I was almost in tears-- book tour is such an emotional crazy-zone. I called my publisher. I called the publicist. I was told by my editor than the chains hadn't ordered my books because there "wasn't much of an African American population in Arizona."

See, if I was Dick Cavett, I would have been able to threaten to cancel all my fabulous interviews. But, whoops. I didn't have any. I wonder if it had anything to do with the same reason my books hadn't been ordered. So what did I do? I went back to my hotel room, ordered room service, and cried.

More on my book-touring, here.

Posted at 10:31 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Out Of Print?

As I have always understood it, a book goes out of print when the publisher not to print any new copies and this usually happens when the book fails to sell a minimum of copies each year. Of course, it's a bummer when your book goes out of print, but it means that you can have the rights back and maybe get another publisher interested in it and that publisher may give you a revival. (That's the best case scenairio, of course.) For most out of print books, that's just the end of the road. The novel goes to that great book section in the sky.

Well, Simon and Schuster has decided change things a little. Now, they are not taking books out of print in the usual way. The books with sluggish sales are now going to be available by print-on-demand. In a sad way, this is good news because it means that no books will ever be truly unavailble.

The Author's Guild is up in arms, and rightly so. I was orginally on the fence. Afterall, isn't better for your book to be available in some form? And how many authors really have that up-from-the-ashes experience of being brought back into print?

But at the end of the day, I am going to side with the Author's Guild. It's not right for Simon and Schuster to keep authors from being able to seek a better deal. The print on demand should be an option, not the only policy.

Posted at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

So Sorry, Ladylee

Ladylee emailed me the other day and asked me to particpate in a blog "tag." I wasn't able to join in. I'm sort of in the middle of a major lifestyle adjustment: moving to Jersey City. Boxes are everywhere and I am sort of freaking out, but all in all, this is a good thing. I woke up yesterday and there was a marathon passing by my window. I opened a closet door and found a picture of Elvis. There's a metphor in there somewhere. I'll let you know when I find it.

More details to come....

Posted at 01:41 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

The Port Townsend Writers' Conference

Are you still without summer writing plans? This may be the last opportunity, but it's a good one. The Port Townsend Writers' Conference, held in Washington State July 15-22, is still taking applications and there are scholarships available! Jump on it.

This conference seems really different and kind of exciting. The program offers two tracks-- one for new work and another for works in progress. The faculty is accomplished and diverse and did I mention that there are scholarships available? Hop on over there and check it out.

Let me warn you. For some reason they are using blog software for thier website, so it can be a little tricky getting to the info you need. But take a minute and meander through and get yourself a scholarship! (Or you can just write a check if that's how you roll.) I think you start here and read the rules, and then move forward.

Posted at 06:36 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Free Summer Workshop for H.S. Students

The Hurston/Wright Creative Writing Intensive for High School Students offers tuition-free, three-week long workshops that will enable high school students to become effective communicators. These workshops are only available to students residing in Prince George's County Maryland or Washington, D.C. Dates are July 8-27.

Don't miss out, the submission deadline is May 18, 2007. Apply Now!

More information here!

Posted at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Today's Word: SYMBIOTIC

Ladylee has a post up on her site today that is all about me. I am flattered to pieces, but I would be dishonest if I did not tell you that she gives me way too much credit. Yes, I have been in touch with her since we first met when she joined this blog community. And maybe I have given her a little bit of advice. But she has no idea how inspirational she is to me! That's the beautiful thing about a writing community. Everyone is enriched.

Ladylee has a Ph.d. in biochemistry and that makes her a little bit different from me. (Here is a recent example: "us chemists think stories of setting ourselves on fire and having explosions are the funniest thing in the world after the fact, especially if we don't get hurt....") But one of the things we have in common is that we love writing and reading and writing about what we read and reading about what we write. This is not about publishing contracts, prizes, or anything else connected with the marketing side. This is about art.

One of the things that I find so inspiring about Dr. Ladylee is that she has a secure life and career doing her biochemical thing, but she is still following her dream, her drive, her (dare I say) calling. This is every bit as praise-worthy as the college student working full time to pay tuition. She's working overtime at her job and putting that money aside in a fund just for writing classes, writing workshops, etc. She looks out for your younger siblings, takes care of her cat (Oscar Tyrone), belongs to a book club, and keeps her outrageous blog. (And when I couldn't start my car, I sent her an SOS and she gave me a jump!) She has written a guest post for us here at this blog and she has promised us another, reporting on her experience taking a writing workshop in Atlanta. I can't wait to read what she has to say.

Why? Because this is real life, the real life of a writer. You have to make time for it, when you don't have time. You do it even though you don't know what's going to happen next.

The story of someone like Ladylee who is finding her way teaches me and humbles me much more than the speeches big-time writers give while accepting some big award. You know the ones when they talk about the hard-knock lives they once led. Those stories make for good sound-bytes because they are told in the context of the happy ending. The stories that keep me going are the stories of working writers while they are making a dollar out of fifteen cents. These are the stories that make she sit down, shut up, and get to work.

Posted at 06:53 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Read This With Some Caution, Okay?

There is an interesting event taking place on May 5, here in the DC Area. It's called "Conversations and Connections: Practical Advice on Getting Published." I am a little ambivalent about posting about this.

On the one hand, I sort of feel silly about being apprehensive. I mean, what's not to like about this event. It's affordable ($35!), and sponsored by really reputable organizations like Johns Hopkins University and the Bethesda Writers Center. So, it's not like this is just another plot to scam money from aspiring writers by promising them to magic word that will open the doors of publishing.

Also, I know that publishing advice is important. People need to know how the system works. They need workshops of writing query letters, on using the web, etc. So this workshop is a wonderful opportunity and it's even accessible on the Metro!

So what is my problem?

I guess what I want to do is tell folks about the conference, but I am always worried that too many folks care more about publishing than actual writing. My own philosophy is that I don't discuss publishing with people unless they have a polished manuscript in hand.

Think long and hard before going to the "How To Get Published" party. I have never heard one piece of news from the publishing industry that has encouraged me in my writing. I often say that I never would have finished my first novel, Leaving Atlanta, had I known what I know now about publishing. I wrote it not knowing that publishers tend not to like adult books with child protagonists; I didn't know that books with all black characters are not thought to be "universal". Who knew that the 2nd person point of view was a huge no-no? I didn't write Leaving Atlanta purposely climbing uphill. I didn't know I was working on a long-shot. All I knew is that I was telling a story, the story, my story. (Well, I knew my classmates didn't dig it, but that's a different matter.)

In truth, I think the biggest impediment to my current efforts is that I know to much about what happens in NY. It's so hard for me to keep my eyes on the page I am writing, to keep my heart with my characters, and not think about all manner of random issues like, "When I finish, will it be considered marketable?" or "Can I summarize this plot on one concise sentence?" or "Is it too literary?" or "Is it literary enough?" or any of the other good, but not writer-friendly concerns that come about when I think about publishing.

So, if you're ready to send out, go to the conference in Bethesda. Arm yourself with all the info you can to have a happy publishing experience. But if you are still working, stay home. Write. When you are all finished up, there will be another conference.

(thx. t.r.o.y. )

Posted at 09:51 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Book Reviewing Under Fire

This is serious business. The Atlanta Journal Constitution is planning to do away with it's book section. Sadly, it's not just the AJC that is making such terrible decisions; this is a national trend. The National Book Critics Circle is launching a campaign by which readers, writers, and reader/writers can make our voices heard.

Like all writers, I have received the smack-down in print, and limped away howling. (Look up Kirkus Reviews's mean-spirited takes on both my novels.) However, my main quarrel with book reviewing in this country is that not enough books are reviewed. So many wonderful books are overlooked each year because the major papers could not find the space or the care to review them. Both my novels were ignored by the almighty New York Times-- and books that don't get reviewed by the NYT are seldom chosen for any major awards, etc. I was once interested in teaching in a summer workshop and the organizer told me, "Get reviewed in The Times, I can put you on. If you aren't....."

Well, I wasn't. Luckily the NYT isn't the only newspaper in the world. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reviewed each of my books, and reviewed them well. By "well" I am not saying this because the reviewer gave a favorable opinion, but because the book was assigned to a person knowledgeable about the subject matter of my book, and knowledgeable about the literary traditions in which I situate myself. Such care was given because the AJC had a book review section with a capable, thoughtful, and intelligent editor, Teresa Weaver-- whose position has just been abolished.

I know many people say they don't read book reviews, preferring to "make up their own minds." While I endorse independent thought, I think it's wrong to look at reviewers just as taste-makers. They are not the literary equivalent to the commentators who comment on red-carpet fashion. Rather, book reviewers are part of a dialogue between writers and readers. They ask the hard questions and air the issues contained within a work of literature-- be in fiction or non fiction.

Book reviewers also provide us with an look at literature that is not sponsored by the publishers. If book reviews are abolished, all we have to inform us about new books with be ads paid for big publishers. Is it not enough that the books at the front tables of the big chain book stores are those whose publishers have the cash to buy such prime placement? Theoretically, a book reviewer is a source unconnected to the deep pockets of the three of four corporations that control all of New York publishing.

I am not naive. I know that often the reviewing business is afflicted with the same sickness that corrupts the publishing industry in general. All too often women, minorities, authors who publish on small presses, are shut out of the book review sections, and thereby all but disqualified from participating in our literary and book culture. But the book review pages of newspapers often discover and champion writers whose books deserve to be read and would be read, if only readers were aware of them.

You can go here to sign a petition imploring the AJC to keep Teresa Weaver and the book section. Please click. We need your help.

Posted at 12:25 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

It's CAKETRAIN season!

So, for those of you poets out there who were imspired by our very own NATASHA TRETHEWEY scoring the Pulitzer-- get busy. You've got to start somewhere and the Caketrain contest will put you on the right track. (Get it, that was a joke. Right track... Caketrain. hee hee.)

The judge is the magnificent Claudia Rankine, so this is no penny-ante competition. This is your chance!

Posted at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Summering At A Colony? FAQs!

Since I announced that I will be spending much of the summer at MacDowell, I've gotten quite a bit of email from folks who are colony-bound for the first time. I thought I would try and make a list Frequently Asked Questions for newbies.

Tayari, what colonies have you been to?
Yaddo, MacDowell, Ledig House, Chateau de Lavigny, and Gilbraltar Point.

I have heard that writers colonies are just party-central with your occasional orgy. Is this true? How can I get my work done?
I think the orgy days are long gone. At least I have not witnessed any, nor received any invitations.

The days are pretty solitary. You will likely spend the day in your studio. It is considered rude to knock on a fellow colonist's studio door without having made prior arrangements to do so. Of course, in a case of emergency, knock away. But if nothing is on fire, you just have to wait until the dinner hour to talk to that person.

The evenings are when the fun happens. Some colonies have ping-pong tables, checker boards, Scrabble and other nerdly entertainment. After dinner, folks tend to socialize.

But, wait a minute! I was really hoping to participate in an orgy or something! Are people allowed to get friendly? (wink wink)
Well, yes. But let me warn you. This is not Vegas. What happens at a colony will be instantly emailed to Brooklyn. You can try and be discrete, but really, how discrete can you be in such a close environment? So, don't do anything that you wouldn't want to see on a blog somewhere.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 10:38 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Blurbation

Jeffrey Ford has got a post up about giving blurbs-- you know, those author-endorsements printed on the backs of books. Ford has an interesting policy-- he gives no more than four a year. That's it. The four first books that deserve his stamp, get it. If your book comes out in November, you probably will have missed the Jeffrey Ford window. He makes a good argument for this policy. He doesn't want to give so many blurbs that his blurbs become meaningless. (I think my mother gave me similar advice about kissing too many boys.)

So that got me to thinking about blurbs. For the most part, I don't do them. I think I am a little too young, too green, to be going around giving other writers my thumbs up. There is one noteable exception: I get such a kick out of giving Pearl blurb-love. There is something Karmic about endorsing the first writer who ever endorsed me.

For my first novel, my editor and I made the list of authors whom we would solicit. It became clear that we had different ideas about the type of endorsements we would see. I managed to get a blurb from LESLIE MARMON SILKO. Since I had written my undergraduate thesis on her work, I was thrilled to pieces. My editor said, "Who?"

As a writer/reader, I look at blurbs to try and figure out the degrees of separation between the writers. Sometimes I look at the collection of gushing quotes and see a pattern. "I see," I might say. "There is a Bay Area thing going on here." A few blurbs leave me seething with jealously: How, how, how, HOW did Bernice McFadden score a blurb from the Almighty Toni Morrison? Ms. Morrison is famously unavailable for such things. I have only seen one other Morrisonian blurb in my whole life. That was A. J. Verdelle's The Good Negress. (No mystery there. It's a Princeton thing.)

So, tell me, good readers. How do you process blurbs? Do they sway you. Have you ever parted with $25 to buy a hardback book because of the praise on the back cover?

(thx, ed)

Posted at 07:26 PM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

Novelists In the News

Good News Are Happening...

To members of our blog community!

Callaloo Creative Writing Workshops

This August, I will be leading a fiction workshop at the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshops in College Station, Texas. Callaloo is a premiere literary journal, showcasing African Diaspora writers throughout the diaspora. A few years ago, editor Charles Rowell set up summer workshops to allow writing students a chance to work with working writers. This summer has a dynamite line up. In poetry, there is Tracy K. Smith and Terrance Hayes. The fiction faculty will be me and Mat Johnson.

The details are below, but act quickly, the post mark deadline is April 2!

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
Category: News , The Writing Life

Key West Literary Seminars

Spring has sprung and the memory of cold weather is behind you already. I hate to be the voice of reason, but remember that winter will be here again before you know it. Make plans now to visit Key West in January. I will be taking part in the Key West Literary Seminar for next year and I wanted to let you all know about it.

The program is two-fold. There are the seminars and the workshop. The workshop lasts four days and members of the 8-12 member class will learn from established writers. The seminars are panel discussions and such about writing, and the writing life. There are two seminar sessions, and, sadly the first is already sold out. Act now to take part in sesson two. Or, if you prefer, just register for the workshop.

I've never been to Key West, but by all accounts it's a pretty swanky destination. You'll see that the tuition is not too pricey ($450 for the seminar), and there is some financial aid available and even a special grant earmarked for teachers and librarians.

Check it out. I'd love to see you there.

Posted at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
Category: News , The Writing Life

The Ethics of the Hook Up

Last week, there was an interesting letter written in to The Ethicist. In summary, an MFA prof asked whether it was unethical for another prof to send a student's work in to be published without that student knowing. The letter-writer's real concern was that the other students would think this was favoritism. Well, at the end of the letter, was the writer's REAL NAME. I thought, "Wow. That's brave." Well, this week, The Ethicist apologized for missing the little request that name be withheld! Imagine the drama in the faculty lounge when she went to work on Monday. What a nightmare. Lets just hope she's already tenured.

But anyway, that brings us back to the real question. Do you think this sort of thing is okay? For a student to have her work sent to a journal by a big-time writer, really helps her chances to get in, and that makes it unfair, or at least unequal. But, if a writer sees something extraordinary in her student's work, isn't she right to help out?

As a person who has been a student in a writing program, I can really see both sides of the issue. I will freely admit that professorial connections did help me get an agent for my first novel-- so who am I to say such favors should not be offered. But at the same time, I have been the over-looked student that did not have the benefit of a guardian angel with major name-recognition. It can be really demoralizing to know that the goodies are being handed out, but not to you.

It's not much of an issue for me as a professor, because I am still pretty junior in the field. I don't have any hook-ups really to share. All I have to offer my students at this stage is my time and my attention.

(BTW, you have to go to the original to see what The Ethicist had to say about the matter.)

Posted at 12:18 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Like Kids? Like Writing? Like TV?

Here's an opportunity!

Call for Entries: The Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship

Nickelodeon is offering writing fellowships in live action and animated television to culturally and ethnically diverse, new writers. Participants will have hands-on experience writing spec scripts and pitching story ideas.

The program, developed to broaden Nickelodeon's outreach efforts, provides a salaried position for up to one year. The '07 - '08 cycle is tentatively scheduled to begin in October 2007.

The next submission period runs from January 2 - February 28, 2007. Applications and submission guidelines are available at website at www.nickwriting.com.

(thx. mr. reeder)

Posted at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Linky-Dink

Bookstore For Self-Published Authors

There is a bookstore opening in New York called New Voices which will sell only books by self-published authors. For a modest stocking fee of about three hundred dollars, this store will carry your self-published titles.

As you all know here, I go back and forth about self-publishing. On the one hand, I love the democracy of it. I love cutting out the corporate middle man. But on the other hand, it seems like there should be some sort of filter between the author and the reading public. (And we all remember what Mat thinks about it.) From what I see from the New Voices website, they do not discriminate against any books. If it is bound, they will sell it.

A telling thing about the website is that it says that the new store is "devoted to self-published authors." I have to wonder where is the devotion to the readers. I think it is a lot to ask of a reader to do the same work that editor's assistants do-- read through the slush pile. I am sure that there are great works amond the self-published titles sent into the store and I am sure that there are some real duds. As a reader, I want to have some sort of vetting system in place before I spend my time and money on a book.

This, I think, is the problem with the only criteria is that the book is self-published. A lot of people have strong feelings about self-published books, but the truth is that it is impossible to have an opinion about such a large category of work. All it means to say that a work is self-published is that the author wrote it. Some people have to interest in traditional publishing. Many have tried and failed. And, we must say that some books don't get published because they are too political, too experimental, too weird, too sexy.. etc. And a lot of books don't get picked up by traditional publishers because they are just too awful. The tricky thing about the concept behind New Voices is that there is no way to tell which is which.

I wish them well, as I support mostly all effort to connect books with readers, but I can't imagine myself browsing thier aisles.

(Thx T.R.O.Y. for telling me about this.)

Posted at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Working Out/ Writing Out

Did you know that in the introduction to The Artist's Way, you are supposed to commit to exercising? And did you notice in week two, when you make your "life pie" exercise is given an equal slice as ROMANCE? What gives?

Well, it seems that to feed your mind, you have to also take care of your body. I have been working out regularly with a trainer for about sixteen weeks. I can't say that I have had a Janet-Jackson-transformation, but I have noticed the difference on the page.

It's not that I come home from the gym and fall on my laptop and pound out ten pages, but at the gym, I've learned to control my breathing, which centers me when I am sitting at my computer. I'm working on my flexibility which lets me sit straighter and longer.

Also, working with a personal trainer has really been helpful to me as a teacher of writing. I am not great at working out. I have lead a pretty sedentary life so all this moving and lifting is new to me. To learn, I have to let myself be lead by my trainer. It has caused me to be more empathetic with my students. Experiencing beginners frustration and impatience with my workout reminds me of how my students must feel.

I'm working out three times a week, and you can see here that it ain't pretty. But it's important. To quote the Jennifers (Holliday and Hudson) "I am changing!"

Posted at 11:28 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Artist's Way , The Writing Life

Dontcha Wish...

I may be the only one not getting a big kick out of the American Idol auditions. (Well, maybe me and Rosie.) At first, I was having as much fun as anyone. (What are those people thinking???? The medley of desperate-seeming people singing "Dontcha wish your girlfriend..." was really classic.) And then, the queasies started setting in. Maybe I have the publishing version of PTSD? My kind kept drifting back to the time I once received a bundle of ten rejection letters in a single packet. I sat down and read them all. It was quite the hideous banquet.

When I saw the computer tech from Salt Lake City sing "Unchained Melody" with all his heart only to be rejected by Paula, Simon and Randy, I felt for the guy. I swear, I identified so hard thatI almost had a flashback.

When you get rejection letters for a novel manuscript, you get details as to why the editor isn't interested in your book. They can range from "not for us" to "this writer hasn't learned yet how to write fiction." And although I always tried to have faith in my story, there is that moment when I feared that I have made a fool of yourself for even trying.

So, next week when the American Idol auditions resume, I'll be watching reruns of Law and Order, CI. I prefer good old fashioned murder and mayhem to the carnage on that audition stage.

Posted at 08:23 PM | Comments (6)
Category: The Artist's Way , The Writing Life

Free-Lancers' Treasure Trove

This was on a writers listserv. It's a long listing of websites for freelancers. I have to tell you that I have not investigated each of the sites, but it seemed like a good resource.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Contest Alert

The deadline for applying to the Salem National Literary Awards is coming up. (Feb. 1) The contest covers the categories of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. The winners will be flown to Winston-Salem to accept the awards and read from their work. There is also a cash prize of $1,000.

And don't worry, I won't charge you a finder's fee.

Posted at 08:16 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

A Good Time for a Good Cause

** oops! There was a broken link in the post. I've fixed it. Here is the link to VONA.

This post is a 2-fer. Remember a few months ago when I was saying that we should all take a writerly vacation? Well, one summer writing opportunity is the VONA Workshops for writers of color which take place in San Francisco. (Full disclosure: I have attended this workshop and LOVED it.)

I've just gotten word from poet, Leslieann Hobayan, that VONA is putting on a fundraising extravaganza in NYC. (It's enough to make me want to hop on the Hound for one last NY run.)

SUPERNOVA
When: Jan. 18, 2007, 6:30 pm
Cost: $10-$20 (no one turned away for lack of funds)
Where: Bowery Poetry Club
212.614.0505
308 Bowery (First Street, between Houston & Bleecker)
F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker

SUPERNOVA brings together acclaimed writers at the Bowery Poetry Club. Suheir Hammad hosts this stellar event, which features Sapphire, Willie Perdomo, and Victor LaValle, with a special appearance by Beau Sia. During this electrifying evening, award-winning writers and veteran performers light up the stage with their unforgettable work in support of VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts) Summer Writing Workshops for writers of color.

Joining the internationally acclaimed VONA faculty on stage are VONA alumni. A raffle of the authors’ books will also take place at the event.

Posted at 10:32 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Bathing The Cat: A Metaphor

Over the New Year's holiday my cat, Johnny Baby, was banished to the animal hotel. (We had an allergic house guest.) Anyway, he came home in a rather malodorous condition. My first thought was to just let him air out, but after a few minutes, it became clear: Johnny Baby needed a bath.

Cats don't like to be bathed and people don't like to bathe them, but sometimes, you just have to do what you have to do. Procrastinating, I checked my email where I received a message from Jafari

Today's Daily Word
My Year: This new year marks a fresh start for me.

I considered bathing myself as a symbolic act, but I realised that bathing the cat was closer to the real work that has to be done.

As we jump into the new year, let's figure out what needs cleaning in our lives so we can get our writing off on the right foot. It's won't be easy. I had to drag Johnny Baby out from under the bed to even get him in the sink. I had to ask my mother for help, as washing a cat is a two person job. (You have to realise you can't go it alone.) Then, there is just the element of hard work. Scrubbing a cat is manual labor, no art to it. Just wet and dirty and a little bit dangerous. Finally, we blew him dry which he didn't like one bit. Now this is important. Cats hate to get wet. We were drying him and he fought that even harder. The message: relax and accept the balm. Sometimes it takes a moment to know when you've got a good thing. And finally, there is the maintenance issue. As soon as we got him all clean and dry, he started licking himself. Although the point of the bath was for me to teach him a lesson, at the final step he reminded me of something crucial. It's not enough just to clean up your act. Once you get it together, you have to keep it together.
More pics here.

Posted at 01:08 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Business Blog For Authors

I got an email today from Kay Lockener letting me know my one of my posts was going to be featured on the blog, Author MBA. I love acceptance letters of all kinds, so I wrote back an enthusiastic response. Then, I went over to the site to check things out and I was was really impressed. This is a wonderful clearing house of information for authors who want to know more about the business end of art. There is a daily post on the following schedule:

MON - Kay Lockner (career)
TUE - Linda Keller (bookselling)
WED - Jenn Stark (branding)
THU - "Take 5" (special feature)
FRI - "Best of the Biz" (market savvy)

I'd say this site is very boorkmark worthy. Here's the link again.

Posted at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

The B Side of Yesterday's Post

For some reason, the holidays bring out the worst in my personality. I don't mean that I get mean; I just get sort of weird. For example, last night, I was all nestled, snug in my bed when I had a thought about yesterday's blog entry. When I was going through my bedtime rituals, I was thinking how cool it is that writers are giving up the advance for a little TLC at smaller houses. Then, once I was lying down, I drifted into sleep and had something like a nightmare: What if a writer (say, ME) were to give up her advance, go to a small house, only to be ignored because some Big Shot (say, TERRY MACMILLAN)just switched over from Random House. I didn't wake up screaming, but it wasn't pretty. Anyway, I shook this off and tried to count sheep or something.

Sadly, the sheep wouldn't get into an orderly line to be counted, so I was frustrated in my half-waking state as I tried to organize the sheep. Then I thought of holiday presents I forgot to buy and I woke up again.

Once awake, my mind drifted back to that article from yesterday. Did anyone notice how many black authors were amond the "big names" who left thier big publishing houses? Chris Abani, Edwidge Danticat, Walter Mosely, Amiri Baraka. I hope I am not being too much of a grumpy (and sleep-deprived) smurf if I say that it is unusual to see that many black authors mentioned in an article that's not about being black. So this led me to wonder why black writers are disproportionately represented in this trend. I couldn't figure it out. I thought about it, mused over it, fretted over it, until I finally fell asleep.

Posted at 07:13 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

What's Up This Summer?

Artist Colonies:
These are retreats. You just go and do your thing. No classes or responsibilities. For most of these, you don't have to pay for your stay, though you are responsible for your travel. The deadlines for summer residencies are coming up, so I've listed them.

Yaddo, January 1
MacDowell, January 15
Virginia Center For The Creative Arts, January 15
Ragdale, January 15
Hall Farm, February 1
Vermont Studio Center, February 15
Blue Mountain Center, February 1

Summer Workshops:
These are one- to two-week workshops. You take classes, attend lectures, and readings. These can be a little bit costly, but there is financial aid available.

Hurston/Wright Writers Week
VONA Summer Workshops
Breadloaf Writers Conference*
Sewannee Writers Conference
Wesleyan Writers Conference
Writers At Work
Squaw Valley Community of Writers

*A little note on financial aid at Breadloaf. The financial aid is very competitive. One of the plum awards is as a waiter. I have known a few writers-- particularly writers of color-- who have refused waiter awards because they felt it would be demeaning. I know it goes against everything you know from the world, but if you get a waiter award, TAKE IT. It's a very high-profile post.

Posted at 08:50 PM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Newsweek Remembers Bebe... sort of

There is something resembling an obituary to Bebe Moore Campbell in the newest Newsweek. The Newsweek piece, called Will Sleaze Dominate Black Publishing, laments that writers like Campbell are less popular than authors of non-fiction tell-alls such as Karrine Stephans.

I have to say that I have had enough of this particular narrative.

I am not disputing that racy, celebrity laden books like Confessions of a Video Vixen outsell literary novels. Instead, I am getting sick of the way that commercial writers are set up as the antagonists of literary novelists. I don't think that I'm going too far in left field to wonder why this seems to be a discussion waged far more often when it comes to African American literature.

The Newsweek article follows LaTisha James ,who enters a Waldenbooks store looking for the latest in "groupie lit." Latisha had never heard of Bebe Moore Campbell. Despite the implications of the narrative, I am not sure if I am ready to see this as the beginning of the end of African American literature. Afterall, LaTisha James is only fourteen years old.

Newsweek probably considers itself to be honoring Bebe Moore Campbell with this "where have all the flowers gone" article, but I would say that it diminishes the achievements of Bebe Moore Campbell's wonderful career.

Bebe Moore Campbell started publishing at age 41. In a mere fifteen years, she wrote several best-selling books. (By this I mean New York Times bestselling.) Her session at the National Black Book Club Conference was standing room only. Just a few days later, in the same city, she packed the Barnes and Noble bookstore. My point here is that Bebe Moore Campbell was not a writer who languished in obscurity because all the black folks were too busy reading "sleaze". At the news of her passing, tributes sprang up all over the blogosphere. Bebe Moore Campbell didn't just have readers, she had fans.

As a literary novelist myself, I often find myself annoyed by interviewers who try and force me to say something unkind about black writers who do not write the type of literature that I do. The interviewer may something like, "So what do you think about all the new street literature that is nothing but sex and violence?" or "What do you think about the way that African American lit has gone downhill?" (I should also add that there is another question in this family: "How do you feel about chick-lit?") I decided a long time ago that I would never seek to define myself or my writing by denigrating other writers that share my demographic(s).

I wish Newsweek had found a way to memorialize Bebe Moore Campbell, without setting up an unproductive dichotomy between "serious" and "sleaze". This benefits no one and fails to do justice to Bebe's memory. After all, how can we forget that one of the themes of her work is finding common ground?

thx, carleen for the Newsweek link.

Posted at 10:03 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Tayari's Holiday Gift List

To follow in the tradition started last year, here is my list of holiday gift suggestions for the writer in your life... even if that writer is you!

Lunch, Dinner, Movie or something with a writer: The Center For New Words is auctioning off all sorts of writerly celebrity junkets. You can bid on a chance to hang out with Jill Nelson in Martha's Vineyard, Dorothy Allison will record the message on your home voice mail, Katha Pollit will critique your manuscript... You get the idea. It's for a good cause and the writer in your world will get a kick out of it. Bidding ends tomorrow!

Fountain pen: The joy of a fountain pen is that you have to refill it every now and then. I feel such an accomplishment when I realize that I have used a whole pen's worth of ink. Levenger makes great pens at different price ranges and they also carry a variety package of ink in six colors.

Flash drive: You don't want to lose your files. We've talked about this before. Back up your work. Back it up!

Adult Foot-Pajamas: I don't know about you, but I work best when I am comfortable. Also, when my inner-child is happy, my outer-adult is good to go. Currently, I am making-do with the flannel pjs, but I have asked Santa for the cashmere. (size M, please, Mr. Claus)

N'espresso Machine: This is a high ticket item, but it has really increased my productivity. Espresso in 30 seconds, no clean-up, no drama. I discovered this life-enhancer when I was at an artist's colony in Switzerland. And while you're at it, get the cute little cups to match!

Grants and Awards Database Subscription: PEN used to put out an actual BOOK that lists every single grant or award available to American writers. (Every grant listed is worth $500 or more) I bought the book version when I was first starting out. Now it's available as an on-line searchable database. There are so many awards out there, but if you are not on the "inside" how do you find out about them? By subscribing to this service!

Stamps: If the writer in your life is going to be applying for awards, residencies, publication, etc.. she is going to need some postage. And while you're at it, a gift card from Kinko's is helpful too. This sort of gift lets the writer in your life know that you believe in her and it also lights a fire under to her to get her to put herself out there.

Lovely Handkerchiefs and/or Tissues: In regards to the item above-- rejection happens. And it is not fun. If you send out a bunch of applications at the same time, you'll likely get a bunch of no-slips all at once too. Buy the writer in your life some tissue. Let her cry on your shoulder, then give her another book of stamps.

Posted at 04:02 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Self-Publishing

It's not just a black thing. Last week I linked to Mat Johson's take-no-prisoners essay called How Self-Publishing is Ruining a Generation of Black Writers. Today, I came across this article in The Miami Herald (via ed) about the author's role in marketing. When I saw this last line, I knew I had to post it:

His advice to authors is to get out and really work for their books: ``You need a platform to make a published book work. If you don't have a platform yet, you should self-publish your first book and give away enough copies to get a platform, and then use that platform to engage your readers so that you can sell the second one to a publisher and quit your day job.''

Simply put, this is some of the worst advice I have ever heard. And delusional.

Posted at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Restoring New Orleans

One artist at a time. A Studio In The Woods has a special residency program for artists displaced by hurricaine Katrina.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Letters to A Commerical Writer

Mat Johnson has a new series over at his blog called "Dear Black Commerical Fiction Writer...." His blog, irreverent and a little edgy, gives his take on the (black) writers life. Here is an entry giving his thoughts on self publishing. For contrast, here is a piece in the same subject by Tinesha Davis.

Mat recalls writing a crappy novel called White Chocolate Melts. Having cranked out a dog of a novel in the late 90s, I can certainly relate. And like Mat, I am SO GLAD I had never heard of iUniverse back then. I would have self-published that sucker.

Posted at 05:57 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

PW's Best of the Year

Hmm.. was it only two years ago when people were saying African American lit was the NEXT BIG THING? Well, as we used to say in the 80's.. PSYCHE!

Posted at 04:41 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

It's a Honor Just To Be Nominated

Well, tonight is the Hurston/Wright Awards at the DC Press Club. The Untelling is nominated in the category of fiction. I must confess that I am not really looking forward to it.

Three years ago, Leaving Atlanta was nominated in the category of debut fiction. I won the award, which was quite a thrill, but the experience of sitting around waiting for the verdict was something that is probably illegal under the Geneva Conventions. It was like a little slice of high school.

After my name was announced, I couldn't exactly run a victory lap in my sliver ball gown since all around the table were the fine writers who had not won!

So tonight, it's deja vu all over again. I've got a dress, and you know I've got the shoes. (And yes, I'll take pictures of the event.)

I want to win one of those awards that you don't know is coming. The kind where you are sitting at home in your footie-pajamas and get a magic phone call out of the blue. I can just see myself, "Hello... yes, this is she..." After that I'd be jumping up and down and blubbering with joy.

Well, y'all, wish me luck.

UPDATE: Kayne West has been kind enough to provide us with a little what NOT to do lesson.

Posted at 10:46 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

blogcrush

Meet Marlon James. Then go buy his book.

Posted at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Tomales Bay Photographs

Here they are! If you were at Tomales and see yourself, add a comment on the flickr site and I will update the caption.

Posted at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

No One Mis-spells OPRAH

Lauren Cerand has written a great essay about the role of lit bloggers in literary publicity. Among of things, she talks about the way that publicists disrespect bloggers by sending them mass emails addressed to "Dear Blogger." The best line is "no one spells Oprah wrong." This, of course, means that if people think you're important, they get it right. If they don't think you're important, you can tell. And why on earth would a blogger help someone who treats her like a peon?

I have to say that I have had the same experience. I get all sorts of emails from people asking me for my help. The letters are often addressed to "Dear Established Writer..." Every now again the person will say, "I haven't read your work, but...". (I kind of interpret this as "I haven't supported you in any way, but will you please go out of your way to support me?) Someone was once tone-deaf enough to say, "I bought Leaving Atlanta three years ago. I haven't read it yet, but I am honored for it to be on my shelf...." What's up with people?

Lauren makes as excellent point. When you ask for help, show some respect. Sending a query the wrong way can actually hurt you. Before you sent the rude query, you were an unknown person, but now, you are someone on the Trifling List. And let me tell you, that's a hard roster to get off of.

Posted at 04:47 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

A Family Reunion

Today, I read at the Tomales Bay Conference. I am never nervous when I read, but this time I felt a little shaky. Why? Because I was reading in front of Judith Ortiz Cofer and Ron Carlson, my mentors.

I know that I am a grown woman of 35 years old, the author of two novels, and the winner of an award or two... but I wanted nothing more than for these two to be proud of me. They were so good to me when I was scribbling on Leaving Atlanta. Imagine me: twenty-something, earnest, camped out in front of my professor's door on a Monday morning--manuscript in hand. And imagine my wonderful, patient, and even-tempered mentors deciding NOT to take out restraining orders.

Judith and Ron, you gave me something I can never pay back. Love to you both, always.

Posted at 12:58 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Ah-CHOO!

Hi, all. I am suffering from a pretty menacing cold-type ailment. Much love to my student, Vesper, who provided me with the amazing foaming vitamin C supplement. I have to crash, but I wanted to bring to your attention a neat contest from Kore Press.

Here's a quote from the website:
Deadline: October 31

(Prize is)$1,000 and chapbook publication by Kore Press will be awarded for a previously unpublished short story written by a woman. All women authors writing in English are eligible, regardless of nationality. Margot Livesey will judge. Submit a story of up to 8,000 words, postmarked by October 31, 2006. For complete guidelines, visit our website.

I love the idea of a single story printed up as a chap. If you win, you'll have to send me a copy, signed, sil vous plait.

And before I go back to frantically packing for Tomales Bay, here are some really disturbing stats provided by Kore Press, in answer to the question of why they publish woman writers:

Percentage of women and men writers featured in "general interest" magazines from September to December 2005:

The Atlantic Monthly
77% men,
23% women

Harper's
82% men,
18% women

New York Times's Magazine
71% men,
29% women

The New Yorker
79% men, 21% women

Vanity Fair
72% men, 28% women

On that note, I am taking my sniffling, sneezing, achy, coughing, stuffy-headed self to bed. Let's hope I wake up in time to catch my 7:00 am plane.

Posted at 08:30 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Writing Kids' Books Is Writing Too

There's a new entry up at Dystel and Goderich. Michael Bourrett, the agent in who specializes in children's literature, talks about writing and publishing books for young readers.

Nothing gets my goat more than writers who think that writing children’s books is easy. Let me rephrase that: Nothing gets my goat more than writers who think that writing good children’s books is easy. We get a lot of queries at DGLM, a fair share of them for picture books. I’m the guy around here whose world view most resembles that of a twelve-year-old, so naturally, I’m the guy who represents juvenile fiction and nonfiction. I see them all. And, I greatly respect all the writers who toil away at their keyboards day after day – even the ones I choose not to represent. But, I’m disturbed by the queries that say, “I wrote this picture book manuscript on a lark last night. Want to be my agent?”

Posted at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Take A Writerly Vacation

Next week, I am going to be teaching in the Tomales Bay Writing Workshops in Northern California. I am particularly excited about this experience because I will be working alongside two of my own mentors, Ron Carlson and Judith Cofer. When I was a beginning writer, I didn't know such workshop opportunities existed. I often think how my life would have been different if I had been given access to the many writing opportunities that my peers seem to have known about (magically) since birth.

So, in the interest of getting the word out, I want to spend this post talking about short-term workshops, Writerly Vacations.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Busy Day

Hi everyone, I am so sorry for the posting slow down. I am ripping and running. I am making my lesson plan for the week-long class I am teaching at Tomales Bay in Northern California. Also, I am reading tonight at George Washington University. I'll be reading something a little different so I have to practise. Did I mention that I am teaching my class this afternoon? So, please hang in there with me. Meanwhile, there is a new post at my agent's place. This is about the "death" of chick lit. Some of the issues she raises can also be applied to so-called "urban lit."

Posted at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

New Author Photo

Well, here is my new headshot, taken by the wonderful Marion Ettlinger. The woman is a magician. I am quite pleased with the picture, but now I am feeling a little weird after seeing this blog post that sort of pokes fun at writers who don't quite live up to their author photos. (thx, mermama)

I guess this means a sweet farewell to my old photo that you can see on the left side of this page. It was taken by my good buddy, Rick Powers, who has just been nominated for the National Book Award. Congrats, my friend. You deserve this and more.

UPDATE: My author photo is giving Sarah deja vu! What's your opinion?

Posted at 11:30 AM | Comments (13)
Category: The Writing Life

Chance of a Lifetime

Do you have a fiction manuscript that you need help with? Well, this is your lucky day. (I am not calling any names, but at least one member of our blog community has mentioned a certain 600 page manuscript....)

Nichelle Tramble, author of The Dying Ground and The Last King is offering up her services for charity. Go to ebay to bid on a FULL MANUSCRIPT CRITIQUE. All procedes benefit Love Without Boundaries, an organization that is working hard to alleviate the suffering of the world's children. Bid, support the cause, and get some feedback from a terrific writer. Sounds like win-win to me!

Posted at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Stephen King On Writing

One thing I love about Stephen King is that he talks so much about writing itself, not the madness of publishing. And think what you will about his writing, no one can question that he does a whole lot of it. He's got a great article in the Post. Here's a juicy paragraph:

There's a mystery about creative writing, but it's a boring mystery unless you're interested in this one small animal, sometimes quite vicious, that makes its home in the bushes. It's a scruffy little thing with fleas and often smells of whatever nasty mess it's been rolling in. It can never be more than semi-domesticated and isn't exactly known for its loyalty. ... believe me when I say there's little mystery or tragic romance about the rest of it, which is why they never show the working part in movies about writers, only the drinking, carousing and heroic puking in the gutter by the dawn's early light.

Dig this: The so-called "writing life" is basically sitting on your ass

Click here for the whole thing.

and thx to the champ, of course.

Posted at 09:01 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

My Agent Has A Blog!

My terrific agency, Dystel and Goderich Literary Management, has started a blog. Every week, they will talk about an issue pertinent to publishing. Today, Jane Dystel herself is at the helm, blogging about the failure of imagination of publishers when it comes to publicity.

One of the biggest issues I see with the books I sell to publishers these days is that there is no planning beforehand for promotion, publicity and advertising. Most of the time, the book is acquired with absolutely no thought as to how the Publisher will sell it. Oh sure, there is a sales estimate sometimes supplied by the sales department and sure, the author and agent are grilled about the author’s credentials and platform, and sure there is an author questionnaire that the author fills out (and is often never read by anyone) but after that – nothing.

Ain't that the truth.

Posted at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Avenge Your Favorite Author!

I have to admit that there is a lot of potential for drama here, but Amazon is letting readers respond to reviews. Yes, you can now put comments on people's comments. Here is my twisted prediction. I'll bet the author and the author's MOTHER are the most likely people to offer rebuttals...

as always, the best stuff comes from ed.

Posted at 06:06 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Where's Your Manuscript?

Over in Edland, I saw a post about J.K. Rowling being stopped by airport security. Why? Because she wouldn't put her manuscript for the last Harry Potter novel in her checked luggage. I don't blame her. I know that much her reluctance was due to the fact that her manuscript is really really valuable-- by this I mean valuable in terms of money. (My manuscript is really valuable to me in terms of sanity.) Anyway, this article got me to thinking about what writers do with thier works in progress. Me, I tend to have mine on my person all the time.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 06:53 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

One Black Person At A Time?

Martha Southgate goes off over at Elegant Variation:

I’m just sayin’—it’d be nice if there was some way for a few more (black) folks to get onto the cultural radar screen and have a chance for readers to discover them. Maybe more of us should have ill-advised hook ups with each other and booze it up and start nasty literary feuds and create the kind of gossip that white folks have been doing for years.

My take on this tomorrow....

Posted at 10:06 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Don't Worry About It

I received a message recently from a young writer who is afraid to send her novel to an agent for fear that someone will "steal" her work. My advice to her: Don't worry about it. It's not going to happen. While I am sure that her manuscript is so brilliant that whomever reads it will say, "I WISH I WAS THE ONE WHO WROTE THIS!" the person will not steal it, especially an agent.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 07:57 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Do You Dream?

I've been having this on-going debate with my mom about whether everyone has a dream. Since I have, for my whole compelte entire life, been wholy dedicated to the idea of being a writer, I can't really imagine people who don't have some dream or some passion. My mom insists that she never really had a dream. She is a wonderful professor and she says that this is now her passion, but it wasn't a passion that pushed her for her whole life. I was incredulous, saying that of course she had a dream when she was younger. You know, maybe she has repressed it or something. She sort of laughed at me and said that, no, she has never really had that experience. So now, I am thinking that my assessment of human nature has come from watching too many after-school specials in my youth.

What do you think? Do you think that everyone has a dream, or that some of us are dreamers and some of us aren't?

Posted at 07:17 PM | Comments (9)
Category: The Writing Life

Ladylee (& Brother) To The Rescue

When people talk about blogs, they often use the term "virtual" community. This afternoon, the famous Ladylee, proved this to be a misnomer. There was nothing virtual about her daring rescue this afternoon. I was stranded at my parent's house, with nothing to eat but Rasinettes and Diet Coke. My car, parked since January, would not start. (Surprise, surprise.) Who did I call with my SOS? None other than the Oldgirl. And she came a-running with her baby brother, Da'kari (aka Milk and Cookies.) That ain't virtual reality. It's the real deal. Want to see photos from the rescue mission? Click!

Posted at 04:55 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

My Ettlingerization

As you know, I journey to NYC last week to be photographed by Marion Ettlinger. If you visit her web site, you will see that she takes lovely photographs of writers. If you travel in writerly circles, you know what these folks look like in real life and you will understand that she is not only a photographer, but a magician as well.

I was supposed to get Ettlingered a couple of years ago, but there was a snafu with with timing and I ended up with a lovely photo taken by my neighbor, Richard Powers. That was a kick. But I still wanted my serious, dramatic, author photo. Last month, I emailed Marion and asked her if there were any openings. There were, and I hopped on the ‘Hound. On the four hour trip, I tried not to worry too much about my suitcase packed to the brim with all my best clothes

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Posted at 06:25 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

ready for my close-up

I am off to NYC for my Ettlingerization. And, yes, Ladylee, I AM taking the pink coat to the shoot! And to your other question, OldGirl, I will be traveling via The Hound.

Posted at 05:03 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Behind the Curve... again

So, I was sitting here feeling smug and hip because I have finally figured out the myspace thing. (Look at my page!) I have friends on myspace! The Brand New Heavies have agreed to be my friend on myspace! (You get the idea. I was in a good mood, feeling all techno-cute and techno-popular.) Then, I find out that other authors have VIDEOS for their books. Monica Jackson, over at Books in Black, has a blog post about the phenom. (Her links aren't working so well, so I will post the links here: Dakota Knight's book video and Lolita Files's)

Word on the street is that the videos cost about $10,000. That's enough to buy a Kia! Or some quality time with a literary publicist. Check out the videos and tell me if they would influence you to buy these particular books, or books in general. I was planning on saving up for a shiny new Kia, but I could be persuaded to invest differently...

Posted at 09:22 PM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

Trying To Catch Oprah's Eye

As you all know, I am a HARD WORKING author. I hit the road. I send out postcards. You name it, I do it. (And if I don't do it, my pubicist Lauren does.) So nothing irritates me more than someone saying, "Why haven't you sent your book to Oprah yet?" Like that is all there is to it. (This really drives me nuts.) So, I got a kick out of this piece about the things people do to try and get on the show. And I don't mean to be condescending.. but don't you think some of that effort would be better spent trying to write the next book?

via maud

Posted at 01:54 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Slate Comes Clean

I enjoy listening to the Slate Magazine Daily podcasts. Recently, they've added a feature, The Slate Book Club. I must admit that I have been underwhelmed by their choices-- all safe bets like Ian McEwan's Saturday and The Year of Magical Thinking. Both fine books, but books that have gotten enough press, already. I was a little interested to see that they chose Toni Morrison's Beloved as their most recent choice. True, The Great Ms. M has received more than her share of attention, but since I am a fan I thought I would tune in. I have to tell you, dear readers, that I couldn't make it past the first five minutes.

The reason is that the broadcast started with the panelists "airing (their) prejudices about the book."

By the time the third panelist confessed that she figured that all the kudos given Toni Morrison must be due do some sort of political correctness, I had to switch it off. I wish I had switched it off before the man on the panel said he assumed that she was given the Nobel Prize because of "race and class reparations." It was just TOO MUCH.

Will somebody go listen to the rest of the broadcast (I just can't!) and see if they realise how racist it is to assume that a work by an African American woman author must suck? It's a crazy paradox, I must say. The panelists seemed to take her success as further proof that her writing must be terrible. My question for those of you who care to ponder the imponderable-- if the markers that are usually thought to suggest quality (like prizes, NOBEL prizes even) suggest to a certain segment of the population that affirmative action is run amok, then by what means can an African American author acheive a status under which she assumed to be a good writer?

Posted at 09:51 AM | Comments (10)
Category: The Writing Life

Because She Can?

Jhumpa Lahiri, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and countless other awards has won an NEA grant in literature. The NEAs are suppossed to help writers at a critical point in their careers. Ed is not okay with this. What do you think?

Posted at 02:52 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Long Live The Hound

I am blogging on the road. I've chased The Brand New Heavies to NYC for thier Brooklyn show. How did I get here? Being a little too divalicious for the Chinatown bus, I opted to spend a few extra bucks for a seat on Greyhound. All I can say is "Viva La Hound!"

There were so many folks on the bus, many doing thier own things. At one point, the driver (from his bullet-proof pod) threatened to kick some people off if they didn't stop smoking. "I hope you have a partner or you will be walking alone from here to New York. It won't be nobody with you, just you and your Newports." I just watched the scenery, listening to the conversations around me.. and.. then.. I felt my writing brain click on! The click was so loud, I thought other folks could hear it.

My original plan upon arriving in NYC was to take a disco nap to be fresh for the concert. But instead, will be sitting at the tiny tiny desk, doing my REAL thing.

Posted at 01:49 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Essence is Taking Requests

for their book club!

Posted at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Aspiring Paparazzi, Here's Your Chance

Jackie popped into Target in Pikesville, MD and snapped this photo of The Untelling! If you're in Target, take your camera phone and score me a photo.. and if you can, get a picture with YOU in it. There are cool prizes over here for everyone who participates!

Umm.. and.. if you're in the mood, you can truck over to target.com and write a review.

Posted at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

STEAL MY BOOK.... PLEASE!

So, on my way back to DC, I had to change planes in a major airport. As always, I cruised the bookstores in the terminal. There, behind the counter, I noticed the most amazing thing: books by black authors, prominently arranged. I saw a couple of E. Lynn Harris's titles, Eric Jerome Dickey's, and our favorite, Candylicker,-- just to name a few. Holy Cow, I thought. Publishers must be laying down some serious money for that kind of primo placement! None of my books were in this cushy spot, but it still did my heart good to see publishers throw their weight behind brother- and sister-writers. "Wow," I said to the woman behind the counter. "I bet you sell a lot of those!"

"I wish," she said. "We put them back here because a lot of those books just walk out the door!"

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 12:26 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Warning: Posting Slow Down Ahead

As you all know, I am in the middle of a move and I am changing my work situation. Quitting a job feels like a break up. I am somewhere between Gloria Gaynor (Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die!) and Luther Vandross (Don't you remember you told me you loved me, baby?) I cleaned out my office yesterday in 26 minutes flat. It felt like a jail break. But just like when you break up, you have to return all that person't belongings... I have to give this laptop back. (Sigh). I'll be off line a couple days, but I'll be getting a replacement before the next week is over. Pls be patient.

Posted at 10:45 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

The Bootleg Issue: Where I Stand

So yesterday, I posted Tyler Perry's concerns that way too many people are buying bootleg copies of the Madea DVDs. I can understand his point, but I think he's being a little myopic.

Of course, there is the Black angle, that we really MUST support our artists if we want them to be able to continue to make art. (Although, I must say that it seems to me that Mr. Perry is enjoying plenty of support.) I guess this applies to ALL artists, but as a marginalized people, we have an especially pressing need to have our stories told.

But there is a little more to this issue than that.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 10:36 AM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

The Bootleg Issue: A Message from Tyler Perry

I recently got an email from the Tyler Perry Fan Club. (No, I am not in the club. It was forwarded to me.) Anyway, the message was announcing the release of three new Madea DVDs. At the end of the message, he includes a plea against folks watching Madea on bootleg DVDs. Here is the basic point of his message:

I have to admit that I had to stop reading the message board for the past week or so because of all of the people saying how much they have enjoyed watching "Madea Goes to Jail". While I can appreciate the people who are enjoying it, it is truly a slap in the face because they have been buying and watching bootleg videos. I know that because the legal videos don't come out until tomorrow. It's really hard for me to be excited about someone seeing these bootleg videos when bI know that they are supporting the very thieves that are not only stealing from me, but from you as well.

How are they stealing from you? Well, I'll tell you. When they buy bootleg videos then Hollywood has no way of counting them, and if they are not counted then that means that the DVD was not a success. And what do they do when something is not a success? They don't allow anymore to be made.

I have some thoughts on this which I will post tomorrow. Meanwhile, what do YOU think about this? Do you watch bootlegs? Do you buy used books on amazon for a dime? (Speaking of selling perfectly good mechandise for pennies, my yard sale is over at last!)

Posted at 01:50 PM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Pulling up Stakes

Well, as you know, I am leaving Illinois for the big city. This is a good thing; yes, it is a good thing. Transition is hard, no suprises there. I had a yard sale yesterday. What a strange head-trip to put price tags on everything you own. What a stranger experience for someone to say "That's not worth two dollars! I'll give you a quarter for it." Just think, the things that I treasure have, in a single afternoon, become some crap that somebody picked up at a yard sale.

I think there is a metaphor in there somewhere, but I can't find it. I am really telling you this because the posting will be slow for the next couple days.

But here is something.. While clearing out a desk (which I sold), I found the first letter ever sent to me by my agent , saying that she would represent me. The cutest thing is that clipped it to was the receipt for $32 dollars for the postage to send the manuscript overnight. I remember thinking, "I am a professional now. I should save receipts!" The best thing about moving like this is going through my old stuff getting glimpses of the young lady I was when I was just getting myself together. Of course, there is the flip side: the memory-bombs! More on those later.

Posted at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Meet Lauren Cerand, My Publicist

I've blogged quite a bit about my experiences with book publicity, but I thought it would be cool to host a Q&A with Lauren Cerand, my publicist. When I hooked up with her in January of 2005, I wasn't exactly sure what a blog was! She's a terrific woman and a fantastic publicist. When I was having a meltdown recently in Canada, I sobbed into my pillow: I WANT MY PUBLICIST! Why, because a good publicist makes your career makes sense to you-- and because a really good publicist helps you help yourself. Lauren rocks. I am honored to introduce her to you.

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Posted at 08:30 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

BTW, I'm back from Canada

Well, I think that will be my last residency for a while. I got a lot of work done, but the solitude started driving me crazy after a while. The highlights: I had to call the police on a FLASHER, I think I figured out the structure for The Bigamist's Daughters, I saw Niagara Falls, and I got to meet ten artists from six countries. Not bad for thirty days, but I was ready to come back to Dee Cee.

Posted at 06:47 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

I See dead people METAPHORS

Always listen to your own voice. Write what you want to write, the story that you need to tell. Don't try and recreate what worked for someone else, what made someone else a best seller or the critic's darling. When you copy, imitate, or in any other way fake the funk... well.. let's just say that the result is something really, really cynical and really really sad. (And did I forget to say boring?)

Posted at 02:19 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Some Thoughts on Self Publishing

Today’s guest column is written by Tinesha Davis, the author of All Black Girls Ain't Got Rhythm and Other Urban Hymns. I asked her to write to tell us about her decision to self-publish her collection of poetry. If you’ve ever been to a writer’s conference, you know that all you have to do is say those magic words “self-publishing” and spark a heated debate on the topic. Some people sneer at self-published authors way the way kids make fun of other kids who wear homemade clothes instead of the latest off-the rack fashions. There are other people who look at traditionally published books as off-the-rack from Macy’s and think of self-published books more like the funky clothes you can get at a little store that sells Carol’s Daughter skin products, incense, and dresses sewn and designed my the shopkeeper herself. As for me, I am in-between camps.

As an African-American author, I know that the publishing business hasn’t been terribly hospitable to our work. I know that there are often some real obstacles between seeing your work published with the deal of a New York house that may not have to do with the quality of your writing. I also have to say that I love the boot-strappiness of it. The find-a-way, make-a-way, dollar-out-of-fiftenn-cents school of thinking. I’m also not comfortable dismissing a book I haven’t read because of the way that it was published. And there’s one more factor that we’ve been discussing here all week: just because a book has been traditionally published, doesn’t mean it’s any good. (Can I get an Amen?)

But on the other side: what a difference an editor makes. Reading a stack of self-published work can be wading through the slush pile of unsolicited manuscripts at a publishing house. You just never know what you are going to get. There is no seal of approval, letting you know that the manuscript has been vetted by someone (anyone!). I’ve read a lot of self-published books. When I go to book fairs, etc. I’ll usually purchase a couple of self-published titles. They are usually inexpensive and, like I said, I admire the hustle of the authors. Some of them are good, many are just okay, and some are downright atrocious.

So, all this said, I decided to ask Tinesha why she decided to self-publish her book. Her answers. in the essay below, may surprise you.

Posted at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

I said I wasn't going to blog about this

As everyone knows by now, a couple of weeks ago the NYT made a list of the "best" (whatever THAT means) American novels over the last 25 years. Everybody and thier mother blogged about this. I said I wasn't going to. I hate lists like this. They make me ansty. Really, as soon as I saw that the list existed, I had to shake myself a gimlet. So I said I wasn't going to blog about it. And I'm not going to do a full entry. I'll do an entryette, an entryling.. Just a teensy observation. The are two books by Blacks folks on the list: Edward P. Jones's The Known World and Toni Morrison's Beloved. And I am just going to say just this one thing. And that's it. (There is no hateration implied by the observation that follows. I love Toni Morrison. When she won the Nobel, I pulled over on the curb and cried until I choked. Really.) But here's what I have noticed: Is it me, or does a Black writer need to write about slavery to get "on the map?" Just a question. That's it.

Posted at 09:07 AM | Comments (10)
Category: The Writing Life

The Great Betrayal

This is a little complicated so pay attention: Millenia Black, an African American author, has written a novel called The Great Betrayal. All of the characters are white. According to her blog, her publisher won't publish it until she makes all the characters Black. Tireless blogger, Ed (the) Champion, has looked further into the story. (Be sure to check out the comments.)

And now, my take on things:
My big question is how in the world you can take a story and change the race of the characters?? This is not a search-and-replace sort of revision. You can't just go through and replace the word "blond" with "nappy." It would seem that with race being such a significant factor in American life, the author would have to rewrite the whole book.

UPDATE: The book is NOW being published by NAL with Caucasian characters. But keep checking Ed's site for more info.

Posted at 11:26 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

JOY! JOY! JOY!

Joy Castro sent me this ultra-thoughtful, terrifically cool, CARE PACKAGE.

Posted at 05:29 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Dinner Theatre, Anyone?

Last night, we were all treated to a dinner performance by the Shadowlands Theatre Group! The event was a six course meal to dramatize the highlights in the life of Ambrose Ichor-- a fictional chef. There was great food, terrific costumes, bubbly wine, beach-front dining.

Each course was served at a different location:

Click here for the photos!

Posted at 06:02 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Thank You, Uncle Clarence!

Clarence A. Haynes, Associate Editor, at Harlem Moon/Doubleday sent me a care package! Clarence, I don't know if you read this blog, but you rock. You are the coolest brother in publishing. I know there aren't but, like two of you, but you are the hands down favorite.

Posted at 05:22 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

You're WHERE, Doing WHAT?

I've gotten some email from folks wondering exactly where I am, what I am doing, and why. So, folks, I present FAQs about artists colonies, this one in particular.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Canadian Summer

As you can see, I am sort of out of my element here in Canada. It's freezing. (BTW: I went by the clothing-optional beach. It was deserted. And it looked sort of like you would expect a beach to look if it were off the coast of Detroit. Imagine gray sand and smokestacks in the distance. It didn't exactly make a person want to start stripping..

Posted at 09:55 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Clothing Optional, Writing MANDATORY

Well, I've arrived at the Gibraltar Point Artist Residency. When I got off the ferry lugging three suitcases and a shoulder bag, I saw this sign.

Posted at 03:52 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

What I'm Listening To..

I made a little playlist over at The Happy Booker. Check it out. And go to the comments.. Some folks are really testy...

Posted at 06:21 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Publishing Opp: ColorLines Fiction Issue

This just in:

ColorLines, the national newsmagazine on race and politics, is proud to announce its first issue devoted to fiction!

ColorLines is looking for short stories and novel excerpts written by people of color. They are specifically interested in fiction that addresses the themes of race, politics, immigration and culture. They are open to a range of genres including fantasy, literary stories, crime, and mystery.

Due date: July 15, 2006

Submission guidelines

Your submission should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

Send it as an electronic version (as a Microsoft Word attachment or rich text file) to daisy@arc.org. The subject line of your email should read: SUBMISSION and your full name.

The piece should not have been previously published. Let ColorLines know if you're submitting it simultaneously to other publications.

Payment: $100 plus two copies of the magazine.

Posted at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Race, Sex, Erica Jong...

I was listening to Erica Jong on The Bat Segundo Show, one of my favorite podcasts. Jong spoke with Ed Champion at length about what it means to be a woman writer. They investigated the issue of "chick lit" and the ways it marginalizes women writers. The discussion was quite interesting. Then, they started talking about which women writers are respected in the American literary world, and no one mentioned TONI MORRISON. I was thinking, WTF? What does a sister have to do to be thought of as respected? She won the NOBEL! Ms. Morrison DID come up later in the discussion when Ms. Jong started talking about BLACK writers. The whole thing left me feeling a little bit queasy. As Sojourner Truth said in 1851, "Ain't I A Woman?"

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Posted at 08:19 AM | Comments (12)
Category: The Writing Life

Summer Work For Writers in Atlanta

The Bureau of Cultural Affairs is seeking literary artists to teach this summer in Atlanta.
The following outlines some brief details:
90 minute Studio
15 - 20 students
3 groups
It pays $5,000 for 8 weeks.
Artists must develop their own curriculum.

Please send resumes and any questions to Shawn
dejones@atlantaga.gov.

Posted at 09:25 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Publicity and Poverty

I just saw this article about a writer who gambled his savings to raise cash to promote his novel. Folks, this is a bad idea.

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Posted at 06:42 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Residency Opportunity in Japan

I wish I could take the time off to take advantage of something like this:

Deadline: June 26, 2006 - The U.S.-Japan Creative Artists’ Program provides five-month residencies in Japan for individual creative artists in any discipline. While in Japan, artists work on an individual project that may include the creation of new work or pursuit of other artistic goals. When planning the stay abroad, artists should consider how exposure to Japan’s contemporary or traditional cultures can influence their creative work. Five awards are made annually. This program is administered jointly by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. Guidelines are available at www.jusfc.gov.

Posted at 07:08 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Happy Birthday, Spelman!

One hundred and twenty-five years ago, Harriet Giles and Sophia Packard opened a school for negro women called the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, later to be named Spelman College. The money for the venture came literally from the pockets of John D. Rockefeller who was so impressed with Giles and Packard that he gave them all the money he had on his person. It was $100.

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Posted at 07:24 AM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Tayari's Breadloaf Reading

Me, reading from Leaving Atlanta at Breadloaf 2003. It takes a long time to load.. I can't figure out how to make it faster. Techies.. HELP!

Posted at 08:05 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Press and Curl

As evidenced by the drama surrounding Representative Cynthia McKinney, black women have a complicated relationship with thier hair. Those of you who know me, know that I am (to quote Digable Planets) a "plaits, twists, or braids" kind of sister. However, my new novel, The Bigamist's Daughters, involves the proprietress of a small hair salon. So, what's a dedicated writer to do? Research!

I made an appointment to see Elias, of Elias IV Hair, and booked myself for an old-fashioned press and curl. You can see the rest of the photos, here. And, you can email Elias, here.

Posted at 08:04 AM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

Frankly, My Dear

When I heard that Pearl Cleage had given a reading at the Margaret Mitchell House, I brushed it off as a vicious rumour. Afterall, I have been knowing Pearl since the very beginning and I know what she thinks about slave-owning Scarlett O'Hara and her beloved Tara. But's it's true. She did give a reading there and before she read from her new novel, Baby Brother's Blues, she told the audience why she broke her self-imposed ban on the Margaret Mitchell House. She sent me a copy of her remarks and I am honored to publish them here:

Thank you. Before I talk about my own writing and about my new book, Baby Brother’s Blues, I want to say a few words about how weird it is to be standing in the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum after so many years of refusing to darken its doorway out of respect for my ancestors who were held in bondage one state over, right outside of Montgomery, Alabama. Matters of race are always complex and multi-layered. If one is to have any hope of being understood, it is usually wise to begin at the beginning…

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 09:44 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Flanked: A Women Writers Collective

Through of series of gorgeous coincidences, I have become aware of Flanked, a women writers collective based in Baltimore. Ladylee, I am thinking that something like this should be started in ATL as well. (Hint, hint. I think you'd be an ideal founder!) Here is a excerpt of the Flanked mission statement:

Flanked connects serious women writers to women as fierce as themselves— writers often unrecognized, sometimes unpublished, but certainly on the verge of “making them a world.” Housed in Baltimore, Maryland, we’re unafraid of picking up, leaving home, and chasing after literature, but still, we suspect that our backyard gardens are wild and warm enough. Our relationships are built and maintained through classes with local and regional writers, through workshops headed by closet masters of the craft, through readings, through conferences, through mere telephone conversations and chance meetings in the park.

Posted at 09:24 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

All I Need Now is a Raspberry Beret

Me, after the party. click.

Posted at 03:42 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

(COLORED) Ghost Writer Needed

This was too weird, um, bizzare, freaky, unusual, (that's it!) not to share. If you are interested, you can send an email to GWNeeded@aol.com (F.Y.I. I am really supressing the urge to give commentary. I think it speaks for itself.)

Serious Ghost Writer Needed
Ghost Writer needed to do a Black Middle Class novel,and/or Urban drama novel and/or Screenplay adaptation to novel. There are 3 different writing projects.

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Posted at 09:11 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

oh forget it!

I'm hiring a ghost writer:

Posted at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

PROCRASTINATION STATION

Nothing like a looming deadline to make a woman want to do other things. Here are some freaky (in a good way) sites, I ran accross this morning

Ladylee (whom I miss!) comments extensively on pickled pig parts.

Wanna look at the last 40 images posted to livejournal?

Posted at 07:33 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

P.O.P. : Pissed Off In Public

As I have written in earlier entries, I was at the AWP Conference in Austin, Texas. Really, I was there. You can ask anybody. I even gave a paper. But it seems that I missed all the drama. Kate Braverman, in an event sponsored by her press (Graywolf), went off and denounced the press, dissed her editor, and had an all out hissy-fit. I am just now hearing about it and that is b/c I saw it on Ed's blog.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 12:52 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Vowing To Never Leave My Home Again

Well, I am back home, all warm and snug after the AWP conference. I can't say that I didn't have a good time.. there are WAY too many photos out there suggesting the contrary.

Continue reading this entry

Posted at 06:19 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Live From Austin!

Hi there, everyone. I am blogging from the annual conference of the Associated Writing Programs, AWP for short. It's a meeting of all the writers who work in academia. You wouldn't believe how many of us there are.

The thing to know about many writers is that we can't afford to take a real vacation, so we just come to the AWP conference for a little meet-and-greet. It's not the same as going on a spa retreat to Maui, but it basically hits the spot.

Who have I seen? Ran into Walter Mosley in the lobby and he graciously pretended to remember meeting me at the National Black Book Club Conference. The lovely Monique Truong is my cell mate. She and I are both novelists, but AWP is really a poet's ball.

If you are in Austin, try and check out some of the events. It's suppossed to be a registration only type of situation, but since everyone is too cool to wear a name tag, it just gets too complicated to check.

Monique and I are reading tomorrow at UT. More details to come.

Posted at 09:44 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Who Did You Say You Were?

Kevin Kinsella, has written a sort of funny essay about how he goes about writing his short author bio that appears at the end of his articles or in the contributor's notes at the back of a literary magazine. (Via Maud.)

I had to chuckle, as I have spent a lot of worrying over mine in the past. It's a fine line-- you want to give enough information so that everyone knows how fabulous you are, without seeming too desperate to seem fabulous.

Here are my rules of thumb:

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Posted at 08:01 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

All This Love... What to Do With It?

So, to practise what I preach, I am trying to figure out which author I will show some love today. Of course, I could just blog about someone, but I want to do something a little more grand, a little more in keeping with the spirit if the idea.

I am not sure who to target. In my late teens, I would write love letters to Alice Walker. I scored her home address in San Francisco through some shady characters and I would write her these letters about once every two months or so. Dear Ms. Walker, I love your work... You get the idea. She never wrote back. (When I was a kid, I wrote to Judy Blume and got a very nice auto-penned response!)

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Posted at 07:43 AM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

If You Love A Writer, Let Her Know!

I am not fishing for compliments here.. really. I am just thinking of how many folks wrote on thier web sites that they had been intending to hear Octavia Butler read, but figured they'd just catch her the next time. It turns out that there was no next time. So I challenge everyone to figure out a way to show some love to a favorite author.. TODAY. You can get a attend a reading, send an email/letter, or even get a tatoo. But let's all do something, TODAY.

Posted at 10:19 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

the great taggerooni

I came, I typed, I tagged.. Check out the aftermath.

Ladylee went all out...

Nichelle Newsletter made an exception for little ol' me.

Nichelle trambles...

Alhaji is iggin me

Posted at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Some Thoughts on Exposure

Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the actor who got the Oscar nod for Capote, was on 60 Minutes this week. (I didn't see it, being TV-less, but I heard the podcast.) Anyway, he said something that made me gave me pause:

I think part of being an actor is staying private. I do think it's (an) important part of doing my job — is that they believe I’m someone else," Hoffman explains. "You know, that’s part of my job. And if they start watching me and thinking about the fact that I got a divorce or something in my real life.... I don’t think I’m doing my job.

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Posted at 06:42 PM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

Live, From Atlanta

So sorry about the slow-down in posting. I'm in Atlanta for the event with Pearl at Spelman. To get ready for it, she and I have been spending lots of q-time together, working hard. For example, yesterday, we went to our favorite restuarant across town, Vinocity, and ate ourselves silly. And yesterday, we visited our favorite spot on our own side of town, Paschal's, and did some cultural research which involved fried chicken, mac and cheese, fried-green tomatoes, and a dirty martini. As we were leaving, Pearl handed me a book I hadn't seen in some time. It's called LETTERS OF INTENT: Women Cross the Generations to Talk About Family, Work, Sex, Love and the Future of Feminism. Pearl and I have a piece in that book which was published almost ten years ago.

"Go home," she said. "Read what we wrote to each other. We'll talk about it more tomorrow at our event."

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Posted at 08:03 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

A Lesson in the Library Line

As most of you know, I am a writer who supports herself through my work at a University. Well, yesterday I got a (2nd) email from my home university reminding me that I have missed my deadline for turning in my portfolio that will determine whether or not I get tenure or promoted on schedule. (This, as you know, is the holy grail of life in the academy.)

In a panic, I went tearing through my personal archives gathering up all of the things that I would need to show that I am a worthy candidate for advancement. I stayed up all night writing statements, gathering my reviews, and collecting evidence of my publications. Early in the afternoon, I headed out to send my bundle via overnight mail. But between my home and the post office, I had an experience of the life-changing variety.

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Posted at 12:01 AM | Comments (14)
Category: The Writing Life

If any knows that NPR librarian...

tell her to call me.

I'm a big fan of NPR. We, the TV-less, live for NPR. So don't get me wrong when I say that Nancy Pearl, the librarian that they always have on there, drives me nuts. Is she aware that people who are not white write books? Here are her latest picks.

Posted at 05:22 PM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

Opportunity for Women Writers

got this in email....

The deadline for the Salem College Center for Women Writers 2006 National Literary Competitions is approaching! Your entry MUST be postmarked by February 15, 2006.

The winner in each genre will receive $1000.00 plus round trip travel and lodging for a reading of his/her work at Salem College. The two honorable mentions named in each genre will receive $100.00.

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Posted at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Ten Questions

I did a little chit-chat on Nichelle Tramble's site. Check it out.

Posted at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

SUMMER WORK FOR WRITERS!

The Johns Hopkins Summer Prgrams for Talented Youth is looking for teachers for its creative writing programs. College students are eligible to work as "teaching assistants" and more seasoned applicants can work as instructors.

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Posted at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Pls pardon the slow-down in posting

By the time you read this, I will be off to my temporary new life in Washington, DC. It's going to take me a minute to get set up, so I won't be posting as much as usual.

I am also going to have to change the procedure with comments. I am getting spammed to death so I am going to have to make it where you sign in before you can comment. I am so sorry about the hassle, but I get about 200 spam comments a day. It's driving me nuts. You only have to register once, and then comment away. This will be up in the next week or so. I hope you'll still post comments. I look forward to them every day.

And here is something to comment about: What do you make of the controvery over James Frey. Oprah picked his hard-luck, hard-core redemption memoir, A Million Little Pieces for her book club. Maybe you saw her teary-eyed discussion of it. Well, apparently, he made most of it up! My favorite of the truths revealed was that on the time that he claimed to be locked up doing major time, he was actually set free on a $700 bail. Why? Because he had CHICKEN POX and they didn't want him to infect other jail-birds. Now, THAT, had me cracking up. Click here to read the whole sordid story. Or click here for a shorter version. But really, what do you think about this?

Posted at 10:46 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Tomales Bay Worskhop

Check out the Tomales Bay Workshops. October 25-30. I'll be giving a five-day course on writing stories of growth and change. The way I am thinking about the course is that it will be focus mostly on stories on what really "happens" takes place in the character's consciousness. I wanted to call it "How I Got Over," but I decided that this could be interpreted in too many ways. So now it's called "Getting To The Other Side." Please check out the workshops, which will be held near San Francisco. The landscape is just so lovely.

Posted at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

pop a cork!

I was neurotically scanning my bank statement and I found a most exciting item: a direct deposit from my agent. What does this mean? It means that Leaving Atlanta has earned out its advance. How did I celebrate? I took my first royalty check and bought myself a dinner of fried shrimp & french fries and topped it off with a slice of pie & a half bottle of bubbly! Of course, that means I have about twenty-five cents left, but all in all, it was very a good day.

Posted at 09:35 PM | Comments (5)
Category: The Writing Life

Airport Zen

As you can tell, I am a maker of resolutions. One of these is to use my time more wisely. At this moment I am stranded in the Chicago O'Hare airport. This is no surprize, but it is a pain in the @!&. I am trying to think of this impromptu three hour layover as a gift of three hours of time. Forget that I had other things planned for this time. Forget that American Airlines won't give me a lunch voucher because they have stranded me for less than four hours. This will be my days writing time. I've found a quiet corner with an electrical outlet. I am going to stop complaining and instead, give thanks, and WRITE

Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

2006 is the Year of the Reader

Okay, a couple of days I posted my writing resolutions, but I need a reading resolution,too. If you keep up with the blog, you know that I read a LOT, but that's not good enough. I think that writiers need to be directed in their reading. It's kind of like food, you can't just eat whatever you want to eat, you have to have a plan. You have to think about nutrition as well as flavor. So on that note, I am trying to come up with a reading plan for the new year.

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Posted at 08:51 AM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

MLA-- Where Are The Jobs

I'm getting worried about the state of things. I am here at the MLA Convention. For those of you who are not in the academic loop, this is a large conference where people who work in English Departments at colleges and universitites gather. What has got me worried is that this conference is also the place where schools interview candidates for teaching jobs.

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Posted at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

2006 IS THE YEAR OF THE WRITER

The new year is upon us and it is time to start thinking about what I want to accomplish in the new year. Of course, I have made some personal resolutions in an attempt to find some inner peace or whatever. But it's also time to make some plans in terms of my reading and writing life.

The key, I think, to keeping up with resolutions is to try and be realistic. Don't say that you'll get up at three a.m. and write for two hours before heading to work. You can't possibly keep it up. Instead, just vow to get up at four a.m., one weekday per week, and that you will get up every Saturday and write on that day, too. For really busy people, you have to accept that you can't write as often as someone who has fewer responsibilities. So, you get the idea. Here are my plans:

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Posted at 08:19 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Yield Not To Temptation

There is an incredible temptation to use one's blog as a site for therapy. This is especially true this time of year. What a relief it would be to spell out my issues in html and hope that readers would write encouraging things in the comments section. The lure is ever greater than the lure of the german chocolate cake I know my mother will have baked by the time I arrive in Atlanta, approximately sixteen hours, twelve minutes, and four seconds from now.

But I will spare you the drama of my internecine family politics. Instead, I will ask, beseech, even BEG you, dear readers, to kindly suggest reading material that I can enjoy while I am holed up in my childhood room, hiding under the bed.

Posted at 07:12 PM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

Writing For THE MAN

I was listening to the daily podcast from Slate.com, one of my favorite poscasts. (Try it, Ladylee, try it!) Anyway, there was on in particular that caught my attention. It seems that the pharmaceutical lobby commissioned two writers to produce a novel that would scare people so badly that no one would want to buy cheaper imported drugs from Canada. This is true, here is the link. Anyway, this got me to thinking.

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Posted at 10:25 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

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.

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Posted at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

What to Ask A Publicist before You Hire Her

On Oct 27, I posted about how important it is to hire an independent puiblicist. (If you want publicity, that is. If you don't want any, just sit back and relax- you won't get any.) Anyhoo, one of the things I mentioned in the post is that you should interview the publicists before signing on. Well, I didn't really say how a person could go about doing that.

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Posted at 12:31 PM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

Publicity And the Author

There's an interesting article on Media Bistro about authors and publicity. (Via Lauren) The article is about the need to START EARLY planning publicity for your book. Of course I get drowsy just thinking about publicity (I am all talked out!) But it's true... You have to get out there really really early.

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Posted at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Passed Over Again

Well, it seems like I was passed over for the National Book Award once again. The finalists were announced by John Grisham this afternoon. And the insult is that I didn't even realise that I had been passed over until I read it on Maude's blog! Someone should have called me to cushion the blow! Maybe a personal representative of NBA should have come to my classroom and discreetly beckoned me into the hallways to say, "You didn't get an NBA nod."

The embarassing thing to admit is that I haven't read any of the nominated books. It seems like the books that I read (and rave about on this blog) never seem to be in the running for any big prizes. I wonder what this means.

Today's rave: Sweetwater by Roxana Robinson. It rocks. Broke my heart and then stomped on it. I love a book like that.

Posted at 07:48 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

I've been blogging around again

Hi, if you check out The Happy Booker, you'll find a guest column by me nad my publicst (and friend!) Lauren Cerand about the P/F gala. I was hoping to have my sound situation linked up so you could actually listen to some of the procedings, so far, I've got it where you can hear it if you use windows. If you haven't visited The Happy Booker before, you should. Wendi is the grande dame of the D.C. lit scene... a scene I shall soon be joining!

Posted at 04:54 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

This Is Off The Record, Right?

You know, I am not a celebrity. I am not a politician. But sometimes, I have to "do" media. My publicist, Lauren, equipped me with a handy set of talking points to use when talking to journalists. I am a good girl. I copied the talking points down on index cards. I read from them when I did phone interviews. But sometimes it's okay to go off-message, isn't it?

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Posted at 10:55 AM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

I've been blogging around

I've written a guest opinion column on Maud Newton's blog. It's about the bookstores and the black section. What do you think about all the book by and about black folks being grouped together? And speaking of shelving, remember when I wrote about The Truth Book, by Joy Castro? (Don't worry, I won't make you listen to me say once again how good it is. But it did get a RAVE in the Boston Globe.) Anyhow, it's about her childhood being abused my Jehovah's Witnesses. And guess where it's shelved? Christian Inspirational.

Posted at 07:13 AM | Comments (7)
Category: The Writing Life

P/F: The Morning After

I'm not back yet from the P/F gala in Washington, DC. I just love this town. I really do. The gala was just lovely. It was the sort of thing that makes you understand why they call it a "gala."

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Posted at 08:44 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

The Pen/Faulkner Gala is this weekend!

Hi! You all might remember me talking about the Pen/Faulkner gala. This is a fundraiser for the Pen/Faulkner foundation in Washington, DC. We're talking black tie here. The writers will each read a very short story- three minutes or less-- on the theme of Lost and Found.

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Posted at 07:45 AM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

No TV for me!

In my post a month ago about Confessions of a Video... I mentioned that I do not own a television. Some people responded as though I had said that I don't own a refrigerator...

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Posted at 04:00 PM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

Oppportunity For Writers

Hi Folks. I just thought I would give a heads up for the Illinois Artists Grants. The deadline is in about two weeks. Also, for folks in other states, please know that pretty much all U.S. states give yearly grants to artists. There is generally no fee to apply, you just send in a sample and fill out the application. The grants range from $3000-10,000. I found a page that links to all the state arts commisions. You can go to the appropriate site and nose around. But hurry. The deadlines are all soon.

Posted at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Just a Random Thing

I was feeling down on myself about not being productive enough... anyway, I had a little mishap with my computer. (I accidentally popped off one of the keycovers.) Anyway, as I was trying to reattatch it.. this took ALL day, but it was the letter A. I needed to have that key fixed.. Anyway, as I was trying to reattach it, I realized that I have WORN the letters off almost all the keycovers on my keyboard. And this made me feel good about myself. (smile)

Posted at 09:25 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

When Your Book Becomes a Needy Relative

Every has them, needy relatives who ALWAYS need some help. Maybe their rent is due, or they need you to so-sign on something, or maybe they just need you to babysit. You get the idea. And for these relatives, whom you love dearly, there is ALWAYS something that you can do to help them. A book can be like that.

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Posted at 02:33 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

So You Want To Write Full-Time?

That's what I used to think. And it's what I did from 2001-2004. It was a heady time. When people said "What do you do?" I would lower my eyelashes and coo, "I'm a novelist." They'd then ask, "What's your day job?" Then I got to say, "No day job."

But between me and you, the full-time writer thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

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Posted at 09:05 PM | Comments (8)
Category: The Writing Life

The Business End...

I was listening to NPR today-- that's nothing new. Those of us who don't own televisions spend a LOT of time listening to public radio. Anyway, there as a movie critic on complaining that people talk more about the business of the movies rather than the movies themselves. And I thought, Holy Smoke. That's true for books too!

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Posted at 10:52 AM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

I get bored

I'll admit it. A person gets bored. Even when she has deadlines starting in her face, when she has plenty to do.. a person gets bored.. and she takes internet quizzes.. so I took this one to find out what book is most like me.. and I got a weird result... (you'll see when you scroll click down.) ...so now I want everyone to take this quiz.. and let me know if anyone gets a result that involves a book by a black person...

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Posted at 12:43 PM | Comments (9)
Category: The Writing Life

BLESSED INDIFFERENCE

Recently, I met a mother and daughter at a writers event. The daughter was about fifteen, and the mother, maybe forty. The thing that got my attention was that the DAUGHTER was the one taking the workshops. The mom was there for moral support. Of course, my immediate thought was "Wow, that's so cool. I wonder what kind of writer I'd be if I had been to workshops and such when I was that age. I wonder what would have happened if MY parents had supported my writing when I was so young!" But once the initial envy faded, I realized how lucky I am that nobody really cared about my writing until my first novel was published.

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Posted at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Why I Don't Read the NYT Book Review

There are some publications I avoid. The NYT Book Reivew is one of them. At first, I chalked it up to my dismay that they've never bothered to review my novels, but I think it's more than that.

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Posted at 11:36 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Atlanta Book Clubs?

Once again, I am writing about my friend, Stephanie, who has just moved to Atlanta. She's looking to join a book club. I am hoping that some of you who are members of Atlanta's fantastic reading groups will comment to this post. Tell us who you are and what you like to read. Are your meetings held at members homes, or do you go out?
And, I can vouch for Stephanie. If she joins your book club she WILL read the book. She also can cook.

Posted at 11:13 AM | Comments (4)
Category: The Writing Life

It May Seem Like I am Obsessed with Terry Mac

But really, I'm not. But when I saw this, I had to comment. It seems that Terry MacMillans soon-to-be-ex husband feels that he is entitled to compensation (ie MONEY) because she based her book, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," on her romance with him. This is an entirely different issue than him asking for good old-fashioned alimony.

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Posted at 01:11 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Writing Out In The Cornfields

As lots of you know, I live in Urbana, IL. Not exactly a hotbed of literary life. I can't decide if this is a good thing or not. So many of my good friends live in New York City. They attend lots of literary cocktails parties. Book launches are just par for the course of an average weekend. I am curious as to what percentage of their daily diets is made up of cocktail shrimp.

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Posted at 12:37 PM | Comments (3)
Category: The Writing Life

Me, In the NYT

Yesterday, I published an essay in the New York Times for their series, "Summerscapes." It's called "Among the Belivers", and is a sort of amusing story about the time when I, the daughter of an atheist, was sent to vacation bible school.

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Posted at 09:59 AM | Comments (6)
Category: The Writing Life

Flash Fiction-- Pen/Faulkner

I have been invited to the Pen/Faulkner Gala in Washington, DC in September. Hurrah, right? Yes. It's a good thing. I'm thrilled. I bought a dress. Shoes. Bag. My inner debutante has risen to the occaision and taken care of all things superficial. All that's left is the hard part. I have to write a short piece, about 300 words, on the theme of Lost and Found. And I have to read this piece aloud at the gala.

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Posted at 09:21 AM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

ARE YOU A WOMAN BLOGGER?

Posted at 02:45 PM | Comments (2)
Category: The Writing Life

Nikki Giovanni @ Starbucks

Yesterday, Nikki Giovanni gave a reading and signing at in Atlanta. The venue: Starbucks on 14th street. If you go to ANY starbucks in the USA, ask to have your drink served in cup #33. That's the "Nikki Giovanni Cup" which has a short poem printed on the cup itself!

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Posted at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
Category: The Writing Life

Off to Atlanta

Two of my favorite writers, Pearl Cleage and Nikki Giovanni will be in Atlanta this week. The occaision? Pearl is interviewing Nikki for The HistoryMakers series on PBS. (The HistoryMakers is the largest African American video oral history archive, dedicated to recording and preserving the personal histories of well-known and unsung African Americans.)
I am tickled to pieces that Pearl and Nikki have invited me to tag along for all of the festivites.

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Posted at 10:44 PM | Comments (1)
Category: The Writing Life

Writing After The Road

Today, I sat down to work on my new novel after three weeks on the road. This novel feel alive within me. I think about it when I lie down at night. I have to force myself to sleep and the only way I can do that is to remind myself that I have to sleep to do any decent writing in the morning. So, this is good. I don't quite know what to do with myself when I am not working on a project.

But when I finally sat down to write, I had to work hard to shut out the voices of the world and concentrate on my story, my characters, the page.

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Posted at 05:37 P