Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 05:37AM Please scroll down on the right hand column and check out the brief review of Karen's novel from Sarabande Books. Karen answered a few questions about the writing of the novel, included at the end of the review.
Sunday, May 10, 2009 at 09:05AM I have decided to publish my novel, HOME PLATE, on this blog. This novel took a meta-fictional turn in its next-to-last draft, so you may find yourself among its pages. The writer/narrator is someone like me in some ways, but not me. She is the fictional novelist, writing the work of fiction. This meta-fictional layer gave me the opportunity to comment on the process of writing and a freedom that was, frankly, fun. I now understand why writers are attracted to meta-fiction. I hope you will return here to read about the misadventures of these characters. I'm offering this up to anyone who wants to quote it, make a movie of it, publish it, or simply enjoy it.
I plan to add chapters weekly, unless there is a clamor for more chapters sooner. To read the first chapter, click on HOME PLATE on the bar to your right.
Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 12:48PM Like many of you who teach, I posted grades this past week, and thus began the joy of summer. I remember a time when I would have been packed up to leave town for a summer of adventure and acquiring experience from which to draw my stories. But my life is more settled now. I look forward to getting up every morning, nestling with Cricket, my younger cat, coffee handy, and a relatively new translation of ANNA KARENINA. This Penguin Classics edition, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize. It is a sweet, private pleasure. I enjoy the story and the writing the way I enjoyed books before I became a writer, before I knew anything of the peaks and troughs of being a professional.
Elizabeth Stuckey-French promises her essay on using Tarot cards to facilitate the development of characters. Rita Rud promises a review of Nami Mun's novel. I am giving thought to posting a serial novel on this site, a couple chapters a week. Eric Scovel, dear soul, plans to help me set up the email system so that you will receive news of any recent postings.
I haven't forgotten about you. I've been teaching. It takes me over for about six weeks each semester. I want to spend the summer in gratitude for all the great women I know, the lush, green, more-than-human world, and time.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 07:47AM I acquired a Kindle because I thought it would be easy on my eyes. It's great that way -- the font may be enlarged and the gray-ish background makes it easier to read when my eyes are tired. I have been so busy with finishing up the semester in good form, and finishing my SMITHSONIAN essay, that I haven't had much time to play with it, meaning, I haven't had much time to spend money with it. When I moved to Purdue in 1987, I loved that I could have an account at our wonderful indie bookstore, Von's. I could wander in, buy a novel on a whim, and charge it. Once a month Von's would send me a bill, but they are not sticklers for immediate payment and that bill has waxed and waned over the years. It was so easy to buy books! But the Kindle accelerates that process. You want it, it's yours within 60 seconds, all from the comfort of your bed or reading chair or airport lounge. When you register the gizmo, you supply a default credit card so that these purchases may be made effortlessly. It's fun. I anticipate spending more on books and magazines this year.
But I also wonder about the long-term implications of the use of e-books, for writers, publishers, and humanity. Herewith is an article a student sent me. Read it if you have a chance and let me know your thoughts.
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 10:44PM It's not that grading student work is a waste; it's that doing it non-stop makes me feel wasted. That's where I've been. And it will continue until the lovely end of April. This is the season that makes me dream of retiring from teaching.
But good things are on the way. Soon we will have more book reviews. And an interview with Elizabeth Stuckey-French about using Tarot cards to work on building characters.
Stay tuned! Thanks for coming back and please send word to your women writer friends that they should stop by.