Books That Haunt
Halloween is all about haunting. The unrelenting hold of ghosts. The unbearable-to-resist sweetness of candy. Ghosts that haunt are products of the living: relatives dead and alive, past loves, remembered
October 27, 2011
Fasting Against the Violence at Home
I’ve worked with men who battered their wives, their girlfriends, their sisters, and sometimes their mothers. For almost ten years, I listened to their stories as they admitted bullying,
October 18, 2011
Nobody Kills For Love
Every now and then an article leaps out of the paper and punches me in the chest. (Actually, this should probably happen with 90% of the articles printed. Sometimes I
September 29, 2011
DRINKING, A LOVE STORY The book I love (again) this week
“It happened this way: I fell in love and then, because the love was ruining everything I cared about, I had to fall out. This didn’t happen easily, or simply,
September 26, 2011
In Her Wake: When Our Parents Define Us
“The day my mother killed herself, she had just finished preparing her house on Marlborough Street for the anticipated return of her children after a fierce custody battle with my
September 6, 2011
IMPERFECT ENDINGS
Seven years ago my mother called my sister and me to tell us she had cancer. The doctor gave her less than a year to live. Despite years of complicated
August 30, 2011
What Makes You Buy A Book?
What makes you buy a book? Is it different from what makes you watch a movie? Pick a television show? It seems so, because it’s so private—just you and the
August 21, 2011
Mentors, Monsters & Muses
How many writers come up without help? None, I’d venture to guess. Most writers can point to someone who made the difference for them—whether it was as a long-term
August 2, 2011
Children Living in Violence: We Can Make A Difference
Living in a violent home is like growing up in a war zone. When a woman is battered, images of their mother being beaten will be imprinted on them forever.
July 16, 2011
The Day Princess Kate Helped Me Wear Sheer Pantyhose
I belong to what might be one of the longest running women’s groups in the country. We began during the era of consciousness-raising (mothers in our early 20s, we discussed
July 7, 2011
Using Pain Sauce in Novels
“Wondering how many powerful and heartbreaking novels would not have been written if there were no dysfunctional families.” Kris The above was the Facebook ‘status’ of a dear friend (in
May 25, 2011
The Panacea of Reading Novels
What’s the word for impotent worry activated by reading the morning paper? When your mind swirls with horror at people’s pain and you think of how you can effect, perhaps,
April 19, 2011
A Book to Remember: ICE BOUND
In the continuous stream of NPR that is my life, I learned that Jerri Nielson died of breast cancer. Dr. Nielson wrote a book I’ve read more than once, and
April 12, 2011
Working With Violent Men
For ten years I co-led groups for violent men. I sat in a circle with a male co-leader and anywhere from 8 to 18 men who’d been violent with their
March 28, 2011
When Marketing Can Be Too Much
Guest Post by Robin Black (originally published in Beyond The Margins) It’s almost New Year’s resolution time. I have a few this year. All the usual ones about less food,
March 23, 2011
THE SOLACE OF DARK BOOKS
Whatever his politics, and I am certain we’d disagree far more than agree, I bless Senator Scott Brown for revealing the sexual and physical abuse he suffered as a child.
March 21, 2011
Family Homicide: Prevention is Possible
A few weeks ago I followed my usual pre-work routine: I poured coffee and opened the Boston Globe. Then I flinched at the too familiar headline: Two dead, one on life
March 5, 2011
An Awful Lot of Women-Hating
When I taught in a batterer intervention program—an educational, not counseling program—we’d draw a triangle on the board to help the men look at their belief system. During this lesson
February 23, 2011
Miep Gies Remembered–Thinking About Courage
“I am not a hero. I stand at the end of the long, long line of good Dutch people who did what I did or more—much more—during those dark and
February 22, 2011
Kind or Cruel: What Kind of Parent Are You?
Belts being made into threatening weapons — that’s one of the clearest childhood memories. Being called “Hitela” (for Hitler) was my mother’s way of reminding me how awful she thought
January 26, 2011
Think Piece Tuesday: Books That Shook Me to the Core: Part 2
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Lionel Shriver “I have a confession to make. For all my raggin on you in those days, I’ve become shamefully dependent on television.
January 18, 2011
Books That Shook Me to the Core: Part 1
TENDER MERCIES by Rosellen Brown “Then how peculiar and painful, to walk across the threshold of his own house and to reclaim it from the anonymous care of strangers.” Anyone
January 14, 2011
The Trauma of Truthiness in Fiction
I tried to write this post three or four times, but each time I sort of drifted away . . . online shopping anyone? A few months ago I had
December 13, 2010
Advice From My Agent (On Querying Her)
Want to make a writer shudder? Ask them if they’ve queried yet. Last year I led a workshop on The Great American Query Letter and the participants shuffled in with
December 10, 2010