Back in December 2010, a former writing student, April Davila (www.aprildavila.com), was pregnant with her second child, and asked me if I could submit a piece about writing and parenthood for her blog. Could I? Oy, could I ever.
Read MoreI was invited to speak on a panel about the Shape of the Novel at AWP with Christian Kiefer (The Animals), with whom I frequently teach at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, also Jeff Jackson (Mira Corpora) , Esme Weijun Wang (the Border of Paradise) and Kirsten Chen (Soy Sauce for Beginners).
Read MoreIn honor of all the writers editing their work, I wanted to share this wonderful book with you, Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch—especially the portion on revision, its treatment of the revision process.
Read MoreI can't get enough of Patti Smith. Not since first seeing her in Portland Oregon in 1979, an artist I'd never heard of, but the ticket was $2, so why not?
Read MoreThis question was posed for me by a reader on my Goodreads page. For me, the best questions are the ones that make me think more deeply about the issues involved.
Read MoreLike myself and half the writers in LA, 600 people paid their hard earned money to see Jonathan Franzen at the Japan/America Theater last night, where he was hosted by the Los Angeles Public Library's ALOUD series.
Read MoreI had a letter from a reader who asked me to talk a bit more about dialogue. It's hard, I'll tell you that.
Read More1. Write the sentence, not just the story. Long ago I got a rejection from the editor of the Santa Monica Review, Jim Krusoe.
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