Echo Chamber or Circle of Good?
Do we have just enough Miep Gies in us? “I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who
Do we have just enough Miep Gies in us? “I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who
Fiction is for escape; fiction teaches empathy. In every book, I work to put the story first (“the gotta know”—as per Stephen King’s instructions) while imbuing it with the
How could I capture my new novel in one cover? Not that it was my job—but when the warm, welcoming cover designer at my publisher asked me for ideas,
1. Sunscreen every day. Even cloudy days. Even when you are never leaving the house. Do you not have windows? 2. Search for work that you love. 3. Floss.
Ah, the picture above—was it taken mid-eye-roll at my junior high school graduation? I never met a book by Ruth Reichl I haven’t loved, and my adoration continued with Not
Shopping for Mother’s Day: difficult, expensive, typical (flowers! perfume! chocolates!) presents? Receiving presents? Yay!!! Stealing ideas? Smart. Below are some of the best (ethical, small business, useful, uber-pleasing) presents my
Unless one’s made of stone and iron, having written a novel based on extreme body-shaming & how the eyes of others scorch women must change one, yes? Pair that with compiling an
Being invisible is pretty hard for a kid. Crummy childhoods take many forms; usually, it’s an amalgam of yuck. Smacks and screams thankfully have a time limit, but neglect is
Hint: It’s Books Stories of survival fill me with shivery delight. I rarely meet a story of man/woman vs. elements that won’t keep me up until all hours. Heartpounding adventure
First, they put Vaseline on the camera lens. Next up was rose-colored lighting, shooting through pantyhose and soft focus. And then, just in time for my first author photo in
Recently, a thread in an online writer’s community popped up, beginning with someone (who hadn’t begun querying) asking why folks sent query letters to so many agents. Did they have
I started Jesse, A Mother’s Story twice. The stark beauty of this memoir hit me the moment I began. Marianne Leone’s narrative, written with an unrelenting immediacy, yanked me into her
I love books; I love them more than bagels, jewelry, or cashmere sweaters, and that’s a lot. Reading kept me from teen pregnancy, heroin, and robbing convenience stores with a
Stories abound of Jewish people who grow up warm and secure in their faith. Those for whom the eight days of Hanukah didn’t compete with Christmas: Jewish nurses, firefighters, and
When I was newly married (19!), my then-husband and I moved to a farm between Binghamton and Ithaca, New York. His job was being a farmhand. Mine was reading, watching the
My sister and I didn’t grow up rife with traditions. On Halloween, we wore old shirts to represent that we were hobos or beatniks, depending on our mood. When we
I played with the first line, “Everyone hates a fat woman,” for a decade (and published four other novels) before writing Waisted. The scale-obsessed women screamed in my head, but I kept
Unless it’s in service to a story, I avoid deep thought. But avoidance only stretches so far; when it became time to write a think piece on why I wrote that particular
For ten years, I co-led groups for violent men.* I sat in a circle with a (usually) male co-leader and anywhere from 8 to 18 men who’d been violent with
Woman (me, for instance) weeks (months?) getting ready for a book launch (or any event): Buy a new dress.Return dress.Decide to wear an edgy jagged-hem blouse.Realize anyone using the
That perfect first line. How we chase it, scrambling phrases and our brains, seeking magic words to pop open our stories like magic keys. ( Sometimes, I want to create
My childhood clothes resembled the old Catskills joke about food: The food is terrible at this hotel—and the portions are way too small! My mother brought my sister and me to John’s
At first, writing seems the perfect job for a control freak. * You are alone! At your desk. Making your very own world. * These characters you’ve dreamed up jump when you
Perhaps the lure of the bad boy is similar to the temptation of climbing Mt. Everest. It feels so good to conquer it and reach the top—despite all the pain