Tag: featured
Letter to My Parents in Quarantine, 3,000 miles away
Dear Mom and Dad, How are you holding up? This afternoon? This hour? Today is a good day for me. I am reading wonderful writers who are tuning into the small things in this new reality: Karen Russell, Maggie Nelson. Also, listening to George Saunders read his letter to his creative writing student about the […]
Fighting Against Myself and My Past: The Story Behind “Saving Ruby King”
Fighting Against Myself and My Past: The Story Behind “Saving Ruby King” By Catherine Adel West “You should write a book!” It was a comment made in passing at a friend’s wedding sparking the first wisps of inspiration that eventually became my debut novel “Saving Ruby King”. That statement shouldn’t have affected me so deeply, […]
Caught Between Two Worlds
Caught Between Two Worlds When I was a child I remember being told stories from Irish folklore about fairies, stories that captivated and often frightened me. We were warned not to go near the big ash tree in the field beyond our house as it was said to be a meeting place for fairies, a […]
PUTTING GHOSTS TO REST
PUTTING GHOSTS TO REST When you’ve had a few books out, readers ask what your favorite is. Or if they’re going to read just one, which should it be? The easy answer—the one I usually give—is whatever I just wrote, because it reflects how my writing has evolved, and what’s freshest in my mind. I […]
What Mama Brings to the Cradle By Irene Kessler
When we write there is always a bit of us in there, but as I look back on this book, my debut novel Mountain of Full Moons, I realize there were many things in my life that inspired what I put in writing. It even surprised me. The strange thing is that the words came […]
Interview With Bonnie Tsu, author of Why We Swim
Humans, unlike other animals that are drawn to water, are not natural-born swimmers. We must be taught. Our evolutionary ancestors learned for survival; now in the 21st century we swim in freezing Arctic waters and piranha‑infested rivers to test our limits. Swimming is an introspective and silent sport in a chaotic and noisy age, it’s […]
How I Came to Write The Spiral Shell
How I Came to Write The Spiral Shell, A French Village Reveals Its Secrets of Jewish Resistance in World War II After publishing in literary magazines, after writing a novella, a three-act play, three novels, maybe more –so many revisions – and a memoir about my dad; after two agents took me on, one letting […]
FINDING INSPIRATION IN UNEXPECTED PLACES
By Judith Keim Writers are the worst eavesdroppers, the worst snoops! Why? Because, if we pay attention, there are stories all around us. It can be as simple as overhearing someone say, “Well, I finally got that done!” Wow! There are a million stories in that one sentence. Who? What? Where? Why? And if someone […]
The New Coming of Age
First kisses. First loves. First rejection. First time experimenting with [fill in the blank]. First time knowing how to actually apply and wear eyeliner. Once you’ve passed the test of puberty and scaled the morbid walls of middle school, high school is often hailed as the “coming-of-age” period in an individual’s life. At least so […]
Preparing to Write a Book is like Preparing to Cross An Ocean Alone
I have written four books of nonfiction and a number of novels. For every book that I write, before I even start to write, I follow the same routine to prepare for the task ahead. My routine is an immersive process of research, organization, and outlining that gives me everything I need to begin writing […]
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