I have had the great pleasure of knowing Rebecca Steinitz for a while now, although we have yet to have the even greater pleasure of meeting in person, despite a flurry of text messages last winter in NYC that nearly had us getting together on the Upper West Side, somewhere near Gray’s Papaya I do [...]
¶
Posted 05 October 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged: books
Meg and Zoey’s Mom. Congratulations! The Girl drew the names from the hat last night. Signed copies of the book are on their way. Thank you everyone for commenting, tweeting and weighing in.
¶
Posted 22 July 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged: Giveaways
Last week I had the sincere pleasure to speak with Marrie Stone, who hosts the remarkable show “Pen on Fire” out of KUCI in Irvine, California. Marrie asked terrific, penetrating questions about the book, writing, story and subject. My favorite: “Writing has been compared to touching the sacred. How does this metaphor play itself out [...]
¶
Posted 20 July 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged:
When I was a young, my parents subscribed to the Jewish Exponent, a national newspaper with regional outlets that covered local Jewish news in the area. In our Jewish Exponent, we kept track of obituaries of friends, the news from the synagogues and preschools, and, predominantly, local Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. A section of the [...]
¶
Posted 24 June 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged:
The day has arrived–a bit earlier than we thought, but here it is, those bright green words, “In Stock.” I’m humbled, honored and ready. Learn more about the book, including how to order, read a terrific Q&A with me, join the Facebook group, or follow me on Twitter for more frequent updates. And if you [...]
¶
Posted 15 June 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged:
Closer, closer, closer we step. Advance reader copies of The Book. I feel like I should post a few baby pictures by way of comparison.
Which came from this:
Which came from this:
Yes, I started out the old-fashioned way, by hand.*
What brought us here, me and the book? Hard work, perseverance and, finally, luck. I don’t talk [...]
¶
Posted 08 April 2009
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged: Writing
I have a guest post up at Lisa Romeo’s blog on the copyediting process. Head on over, read and comment. And while you’re there, be sure to browse around in Lisa’s site for some great insights about about writing, reading, books, life after the MFA, editing (and editors), submissions, getting published (and rejected), media [...]
Is never done. Red pencil? Check. Eraser? Check. Post-its? Nope, forgot to buy those, said omission having led me to a serious panic attack yesterday when I felt certain I must. have. post-its or else I could not possibly finish the job. Then I remembered a strategy I often employed in life before post-its, to [...]
¶
Posted 06 December 2008
† V.
§
‡
°
Also tagged: Writing
For now, the manuscript has left my desktop for that of the editor. In our virtual days, there doesn’t seem to be as much of a “moment” when a book gets sent as there used to be. I did, however, observe a little moment of silence, and respect, after I hit “send.”
This afternoon I have [...]
On my last post, a reader commented that the revision process reminded her of a Billy Collins quote about finding tinier and tinier screwdrivers. I looked up the line and found a link to this interview with Collins. Here’s an excerpt:
ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: When you sit down and scrutinize that moment [in a poem], [...]
