The first time I looked for a job, Help Wanted was divided into three sections: Men, Women, and General. If memory serves me (I doubt it) men’s jobs were the professional ones, women’s were the handmaiden ones, and general included dishwashers and drivers. Trust me, the career paths were separate and not equal. I remembered … Read more
Recently I listened to Joe Queenan—author of a book about his love of books and reading—on NPR (the soundtrack of my life) eager for the pleasure of hearing someone who reads as voraciously (okay, more) as I do, and loves books as intensely (not possible that it could be more) and who, like me, is obsessed … Read more
About when I turned ten I began crafting my library checkouts, hoping I’d look smart. I’d balance my Nancy Drew with a biography of Abraham Lincoln, so the librarian thought well of me. (It seems my self-esteem problem enacted early.) Today, reading Why Are So Many Literary Writers Shifting into Genre?, on The Millions, I … Read more
The 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 an entire book because a great beginning sentence pops into my head.) Tougher, can be that last line; Tougher because it’s culminating an entire world. … Read more
“At work, you think of the children you have left at home. At home, you think of the work you’ve left unfinished. Such a struggle is unleashed within yourself. Your heart is rent.” — Golda Meir I suspect that it’s easier to find authentic novels about the difficulty of being a daughter or son than down-and-dirty … Read more