1. One of each, please:)
2. This brief interview with Peter Turchi makes me want to grab his book, Maps of the Imagination: the Writer as Cartographer off my bookshelf and finally read the whole thing.
3. I’ll be picking up the current issue of Time magazine to read the John Irving profile by Ben Percy.
4. File this under an article I could’ve written myself but didn’t. It’s so true. Couple friends are so hard to find.
5. With my graphic design background,I find myself inspired by this site.
“Mockingjay” a YA novel by Suzanne Collins
I stare down at my shoes, watching as a fine layer of ash settles on the worn leather.
The last in “The Hunger Games” trilogy, this novel wraps up the story of Katniss Everdeen. Katniss is the symbol and inspiration for the uprisings and rebellions that have spread across the districts. As she struggles to do the right thing she also struggles with her exactly she can trust. I appreciated that Collins gave us a glimpse into Katniss’s future at the end.
What I learned: To keep the plot clear and precise even if it is the third in a trilogy.
“There is No Dog” a YA novel by Meg Rosoff
Oh Glorious, most glorious glorious! And yet again glorious!
What if God were a self absorbed, sulky teenage boy named Bob who wreaked havoc on earth whenever he fell in love? That’s the premise of this quirky, clever novel that could have come off as gimmicky but, instead, is delightfully funny and provocative.
What I learned: That a great premise needs to supported by great characters making choices and interacting with each other.
“Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self” stories by Danielle Evans
Me and Jasmine and Michael were hanging out at Mr. Thompson’s pool.
This is an amazing collection that left me wanting to dissect each story to see how she made me feel so deeply about the characters and also laugh out loud in places. Whether the stories center around teenagers skirting the edge of adulthood for a night or a complicated father/daughter relationship, Evans puts us right there with them in a debut that leaves me eagerly waiting for her next book.
What I learned: To write close to my characters, watching and waiting to see what they do next and letting them make that bad choice. That’s where the story is.
1. Love Gretchen Rubin’s thoughts on doing something everyday.
2. English as the “vacuum cleaner of a language”.
3. I keep waiting for Tayari Jones to write a book on the writing prcess. Her advice always resonates with me. I especially like: “But don’t commit to the publishing, commit to the writing.”
5. “Wild” by Cheryl Strayed is definitely on my TBR list.
“You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. Just change their height and hair color. No one ever once has recognized him or herself in my fiction. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should’ve behaved better.”
-Anne Lamott
• an interview with the awesome Ben Percy
• does writing by hand save time?
• we all must deal with the “fleas of life”
• Ann Patchett’s take on the Pulitzer fiction snub
• Read how Robin Black deals with her demons
“Clean” a YA novel by Amy Reed
I can’t sleep, as usual.
Five teen addicts find themselves in rehab. Even before one of the characters describes the group as a druggie version of “The Breakfast Club” that’s what came to my mind as well. Five kids from different backgrounds, with different issues end up with the same result: they are addicts. As they confront each other and, eventually, themselves they learn they are more alike than different. It’s a rare, raw look behind the scenes of drug use and rehab.
What I learned: How important it is to find the structure for your story, instead of imposing one. This structure felt inevitable. She found a way to not only tell each of their stories but the story of the group as whole. Loved it.
“The Hunger Games” a YA novel by Suzanne Collins
When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.
Okay, I confess that I resisted reading this trilogy for quite a while. Why? I thought it was just another version of “Twilight” which, honestly, was not a selling point for me. But I picked it up because my daughter loved them (she was not a “Twilight “ fan either) and she was sure I would as well. She was right. While there is a love triangle thread as in “Twilight” it is not the main thing that carries the book. Katniss is not consumed by this triangle. Which boy to choose is not the most important thing in her life. She has a few other things going on, including saving her younger sister, Prim’s, life by volunteering to go in her place for the annual “Hunger Games”. If there is anybody left out there who has not read these books yet, here’s a quick recap: What used to be North America is now called Panem and is divided into 12 districts, with the Capitol, lush and rich, in charge. To keep the districts from ever considering rebelling again, they hold an annual Hunger Game where each district is required to send one girl and one boy to a fight to the death on live TV. A reality show of the future. The story follows her through training and the competition where she surprisingly becomes a contender. With the current social and political climate pitting the classes against each other with the 99% versus the 1% this books is a chilling meditation on where that particular road can lead.
What I learned: To not judge a book before I’ve read it myself.
“Pandemonium” a YA novel by Lauren Oliver
Alex and I are lying together on a blanket in the backyard of 37 Brooks.
This is a sequel to “Delirium” which I wrote about here, and the second in what will be a trilogy. It picks up pretty much where “Delirium” left off so I won’t go into a lot of details for those of you who haven’t read it yet. In fact, there’s not much I can say abolut this story without giving away the ending of the first. So i will just say this- read them both.They are riveting.
What I learned: How to end a novel on a doozy of a cliff-hanger!
“Catching Fire” a YA novel by Suzanne Collins
I clasp the flask between my hands even though the warmth from the sea has long since leached into the frozen air.
If you haven’t read “The Hunger Games’ and plan to, then stop reading now.
Okay? So, Katniss has won the Hunger Games and has returned home with Peeta as victors. So why doesn’t she feel victorious? Her longtime friend, Gale is keeping her at a distance and Peeta has turned away from her as well. Then there are rumors of unrest, perhaps even rebellion, in other districts. Unrest that Katniss as unknowingly stirred up. Katniss and Peeta are required to go on the Capitol’s grotesque Victory Tour where they need to convince everyone that they really are the lovers they portrayed themselves to be in the arena, a love that gained them much support among the viewers, a love that President Snow isn’t buying at all.
What I learned: Just as the Hunger Games arena throws one obstacle an threat after the other at the participants, as a writer I need to up the stakes (emotional and/or physical) for my characters.
I stumbled across this in my web browsing today and while I definitely see how it relates to human relationships, it got me wondering how it relates to our Art. It’s not enough to say “I love writing.” How do we sustain it? What is our pattern of devotion to writing every day?
I find that when I actively devote myself to writing every day through a meditation practice, then morning pages followed by writing practice focused on my current work-in-progress which leads to more writing on said project, my writing life is in flow. I go to bed and wake up thinking about my story and/or characters just as when you are first in love, he or she is the first and last thing you think of each day. Reading widely and diversely, connecting with other writers via blogs and other on-line writing communities, observing and participating in the world around me and, of course, writing, sustain my writing life.
What sustains yours? What is your pattern of devotion?
1. I love anything Robin Black pens, including this.
2. Another blog to follow. Love the Annie Dillard quote that it is based on.
3. I love that she loves lists as much as I do.
4. An exercise/mediation in paying attention. The trick, of course, is to actually write it, not just read about writing it.
5. Famous writers’ last words.
April is National Poetry Month. What a beautiful concept. A month set aside to honor and appreciate the beauty of poetry in our lives. I came to poetry late in life. High school English scared me off early on, leading me to believe that I didn’t understand at all what the poet was expressing. Once I began writing for myself and reading widely, I found I was able to really appreciate poetry, the images, the lyrical sounds of the words.
The first time I felt the accessibility of poetry was after reading some poems by Marge Piercy about the most mundane household tasks like canning and doing laundry. You can write poetry about things like that? Really? Up until then most poetry seemed to be about large, abstract concepts, not concrete things. I got these poems.
Discovering Piercy led me to Mary Oliver. When I took a graduate creative writing class at Arizona State University, one of our assignments was to memorize and recite a poem. I chose Oliver’s “The Summer Day”. It happened that my turn to recite came exactly one week after September 11th. We all felt a little raw, a little vulnerable. I got up and the words poured out of me and as I got to the line “What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” my voice cracked and tears spilled down my cheeks and I didn’t making eye contact until I finished. When I looked up, I saw the tears reflected back at me and saw how beauty of poetry can connect us in times of immense sorrow.
When I teach a writing class, I like to read poetry out loud, just to get the language swirling in the air. That lyrical energy is palpable. I like to read poetry before I begin my own writing for the day for the same reason. Some poets I turn to again and again include Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Jane Kenyon, Jane Hirshfield and Pablo Neruda. Recently, I discovered “The Actual World” by Erica Funkhouser.
While I would never claim to be poet, I do enjoy exploring poetry in the privacy of my writing journals. It helps me zero in on concrete images and really consider the sounds of the words I am choosing which then feeds my fiction writing. Two books I adore that guide me through and into writing poetry are “Poemcrazy” by Susan Wooldridge” and “In the Palm of My Hand” by Steven Kowit”.
How about you? How does poetry infuse your own writing? Who are some of your favorite poets? Favorite poems? Please share them in the comments or share a link to your own blog post on the subject. I would love to hear from you.
“Talent is helpful in writing, but guts are absolutely necessary.”
- Jessamyn West
