It's a lot easier writing up to a word count than writing down to one.
March 2011
6 posts
Why there are poets (reblog)
Janet Reid has a fantastic blog anyone interested in publishing should read regularly. She recently lost a friend, and posted a beautiful and moving poem I’d like to share. You can read her full blog post here.
Happiness
There’s just no accounting for happiness,
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away.
And how can you not forgive?
You make a feast in honor of what
was lost, and take from its place the finest
garment, which you saved for an occasion
you could not imagine, and you weep night and day
to know that you were not abandoned,
that happiness saved its most extreme form
for you alone.
No, happiness is the uncle you never
knew about, who flies a single-engine plane
onto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikes
into town, and inquires at every door
until he finds you asleep midafternoon
as you so often are during the unmerciful
hours of your despair.
It comes to the monk in his cell.
It comes to the woman sweeping the street
with a birch broom, to the child
whose mother has passed out from drink.
It comes to the lover, to the dog chewing
a sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker,
and to the clerk stacking cans of carrots
in the night.
It even comes to the boulder
in the perpetual shade of pine barrens,
to rain falling on the open sea,
to the wineglass, weary of holding wine.
– Jane Kenyon
If you're into urban fantasy...
If you’re into urban fantasy, be sure to check out Jon F Merz’s new book “The Kensei.”
It’s a fun, action-packed read, and written by a guy who actually knows what he’s talking about. Well, at least as far as the ninja stuff goes (he’s a ninja). No word yet on whether he’s a vampire.
Question for discussion: is Lawson a vampire-ninja or a ninja-vampire? Defend your answer (with swords and guns).
Merz came to my writing class last night at Grub Street, and was generous with his time and his candor. As befits a ninja, he didn’t back down from the tough questions.
http://www.amazon.com/Kensei-Lawson-Vampire-Novel/dp/0312662238
Right, coach!
My friend Bryan Gould is a life coach, which means you can pay him to help you be a better [insert what you want to be when you grow up].
His blog is a good read, and offers some of those same helpful services, in a generalized way for free.
Check it out at: http://www.fiveelementscoaching.com/
Just ran into Jodi Picoult
I had a lovely chat with Jodi Picoult at lunch. I’d gone to Barnes & Noble to pick up Jon Merz’s “The Kensei” for a class I’m taking at Grub street, and Jodi had just wrapped up a signing event.
I was checking out the flap of her new book “Sing You Home” when she walked by.
I said hello and we chatted for a few minutes about her book, writing, and music. It’s not every day I run into megabestselling authors, but I can report that Jodi Picoult is charming and genuinely pleased to meet a new reader.
He's still got it
This bit from the opening ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ made me laugh so hard it moistened my eyes:
“The widow rung a bell for supper, and you had to come to time. When you got to the table you couldn’t go right to eating, but you had to wait for the widow to tuck down her head and grumble a little over the victuals, though there warn’t really anything the matter with them”
