Wherever you go, there you are. Where I have gone is a cottage in Ashland, Oregon. My husband and I are doing a month-long stay here, seeing plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and… more…
In honor of my birthday today, I want to share a wonderful, healing gift that I received.
I recently met a very wise woman, Lori Thornley, who told me about the respectful, holy way in… more…
Rabbi Hillel? Really? According to a number of sources that you figure had decent fact-checkers—like O Magazine and Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird—Rabbi Hillel wrote the following bit of Zen:
“I get up. I walk…. more…
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner doesn’t bill himself as a dancer, and I didn’t go to see him Sunday in my role as a dance critic. But the rabbi’s got moves!
Rabbi Kushner was giving… more…
I had no idea I was “mak(ing) clear how well popular culture can entertain nostalgia, trivialize history, and relieve, without really working through, the traumas of the past.” Turns out that’s what more…
Thank you to J. Dylan Yates, who invited me to follow her on this blog tour. Dylan’s first novel came out just a week ago! Called “The Belief in Angels,” it’s about a young… more…
Everyone’s a critic. Especially me. I write dance criticism. And, as a novelist and writing teacher, I’ve made an art of picking apart the most heartfelt, lovingly crafted prose. All of which means that when… more…
“It’s an uneasy embrace,” my editor kept saying when I voiced reservations about the first cover Random House proposed for “The Tin Horse.” Granted, I said, the photograph of two little girls hugging conveyed… more…
My nominee for one of the most intriguing book titles ever is “Pioneer Jews.” It is not an oxymoron! As this deeply researched, terrifically readable history by Harriet and Fred Rochlin makes clear, Jewish… more…
We all know the stereotype of a book club, that it’s a bunch of women who, under the pretense of meeting to discuss books, just socialize and drink. That hasn’t been my experience at… more…
It’s hard to believe, but it’s one year since “The Tin Horse” was published – January 29, 2013! Year 1 has been an amazing ride. A few highlights …
* The launch party at Warwick’s… more…
Kendra Harpster (l) with publicist Michelle Jasmine and assistant Kaela Myers, wearing Tin Horse necklaces
I just came across an online discussion on “The Editing Myth” in which many… more…
Last weekend, I led two Jewish services, one on Friday night at my synagogue and the second on Saturday morning for my Renewal group. I led prayers – singing and playing guitar and drum – and… more…
For everyone who’s making a New Year’s resolution to finally start – or finish – that novel … here, in one place, are all 7 of my rules to write by, with links to the… more…
George Cruikshank engraving
It happened again yesterday. A friend in my writers group kept taking her protagonist into situations that made everyone squirm … but then backed off. For instance … The character is… more…
“We are narrative beings,” said Margaret Atwood, an author I revere, at the Los Angeles Times Book Festival last spring. Along with food, shelter, and sex, one of our most basic needs is… more…
As a San Diegan, I’ve heard ad nauseum about our headlocking former mayor, Bob Filner. So I’ve seen multiple references to one of the recipients of Filner’s amorous advances, widely described as more…
Today, September 11, would have been the birthday of Lynn Luria Sukenick, the teacher/mentor/friend/matchmaker (really, she told Jack and me to meet each other) who saw in me things I hadn’t yet imagined. Lynn,… more…
We all know what happens when a novel is sent out to publishers. There’s one rejection, and then another, so many that the author can paper a wall with them. And then finally, when the… more…
I found my uber-agent on the internet. Here’s how I did it … and (mostly) avoided some pitfalls along the way.
Although I’d been published before, The Tin Horse was a very different kind of book… more…
Every few years, I reread Bird by Bird, the wise, funny book by Anne Lamott that’s aptly subtitled Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anne Lamott validates all of the ways that I feel… more…
Here I am in New York (actually Brooklyn) yesterday morning, with my agent, Susan Golomb. Along with being a warm, lovely person and an insightful editor, Susan is a mega agent; her list includes… more…
I love it when people say they figure the stories in The Tin Horse are based on my family stories, because they feel so authentic. Actually, most of the book is made up … except for… more…
It’s Jeff’s turn to be critiqued, and he’s doing everything right. He listens carefully, taking notes. He doesn’t argue or try to explain; he gets it that if people are confused by what’s on the… more…
My grandmother’s family, the Antons, shortly after they came to Milwaukee from Ukraine. My grandma is the baby.
I visited a book group recently, and one of the members, Cheryl, brought up an idea… more…
In the last 7 Rules post – on Rule #3, choosing the right critique group for you – I talked about the etiquette for giving and receiving critiques. Before moving on to Rule #4… more…
Recently my friend “Alice” told me about a writing workshop she’d joined. She was the only person who was writing memoir; everyone else was doing fiction. And she found the critiques of her work… more…
I have a number of things in common with the Greensteins in The Tin Horse. Like Barbara and Elaine, I’m into modern dance. Like Elaine, I’ve always been a reader. One thing I didn’t… more…
Hi, writers. This blog post is for you–or really, for anyone who takes the risk of following their artistic vision and putting it out into the world. I recently gave a… more…
I’ve been blogging up a storm, writing four posts for last week’s stint as guest blogger for The ProsenPeople, a project of the Jewish Book Council and the Jewish Daily Forward. You can link to… more…
1. Go to a Day of Mindfulness at Deer Park Monastery. Do an hour-long walking meditation. Sing sweet, cheery songs with hand gestures led by beaming Buddhist monks and nuns.
2. Feel absurdly comforted by… more…
I’ve heard authors say that their least-favorite question is “Where do you get your ideas?” Not me. For one thing, I am not one of those writers who keeps a file box (or the… more…
