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The Face In The Mirror

My essay “Turning Soixante-Dix” is in the upcoming anthology The Face in the Mirror: Writers Reflect on Their Dreams of Youth and the Reality of Age , edited by VictoriaZackheim (who also edited the anthologies For Keeps and The Other Woman) It comes out September 22 and is available for pre-order on Amazon.

Readers of this blog may recall my on-line kvetching about the difficulties I had writing the essay. (Under the category Personal Essays, “Discovering Your Personal Essay: Step One”) You'll be hearing more about the book from the Marketing Whore as the pub date draws closer.

02:44 PM in Books | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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Reading Lists

Click on a book or book title and you will automatically be connected to Amazon.

On My Bedside Table

Annie Proulx: Brokeback Mountain
The spare, beautiful short story the movie came from.
Tony Hendra: Father Joe
A memoir of much recent controversy. Reading about Father Joe is worth wading through Tony Hendra's demons.
Zadie Smith: On Beauty
She makes it look easy. It's a page turning novel of ideas and character.
Charles Baxter: Saul and Patsy
A deep, serious, funny novel by a writer who should be better known outside of literary circles.
Karen Armstrong: The Spiral Staircase : My Climb Out of Darkness (Armstrong, Karen)
Articulate and deeply insightful.

Favorite Favorites

Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life
A book that truly encourages you to write, understands you, makes you laugh and cry as you read it.

On creativity

Rollo May: The Courage to Create
To go deeper into the creative process and yourself.
Twyla Tharp: The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use It for Life
Full of inspiration and really practical advice and exercises.

Inspiration to Get Started

Anne Lamott: Bird by Bird : Some Instructions on Writing and Life
This is my favorite of favorites. Encouragement and humor.
Brenda Ueland: If You Want to Write : A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
Her 12 things you should know/do as a writer are timeless.
Carolyn See: Making a Literary Life
Such good advice, and so hilarious.
Deena Metzger: Writing for Your Life : Discovering the Story of Your Life's Journey
An exploration of creativity, story and spiritual practice through writing.
Dorothea Brande: Becoming a Writer
Her "artistic coma" is what we're all looking for.
Naomi Epel: Writers Dreaming: 26 Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process
Writers reveal all their weird and wise working quirks.
Natalie Goldberg: Writing down the bones
Zen bits of advice, inspiration and wisdom.
Ralph Keyes: The Courage to Write : How Writers Transcend Fear
Like having a funny, smart, articulate friend holding your hand when you start.
Stephen King: On Writing
My copy flutters with Post-its. He writes of the true magic of writing.

How Other Writers Do It

Annie Dillard: The Writing Life
“A work in progress quickly becomes ferel,” she writes, and you nod yes, yes.
Daniel Halpern: Our Private Lives
A look into the process of writing via raw excerpts from writers’ notebooks. An out of print treasure.
Donald Hall: Life Work
A poet at work, and living life with poet Jane Kenyon.
John Steinbeck: Journal of a Novel
His daily warm-up letters to his editor while writing East of Eden.
Naomi Epel: Writers Dreaming: 26 Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process
Weird and wise ways of writers working as well as dreaming.
Stephen King: On Writing
How it all started, with smart advice for other writers.

Essays

Anne Fadiman: Ex Libris : Confessions of a Common Reader
Elegantly written essays about loving books.
Phillip Lopate: The Art of the Personal Essay : An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present
Great introduction and selection of 400 years of personal essays.
Anne Lamott: Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith
From her heart and soul, both funny and honest.
Natalia Ginzberg: The Little Virtues
Brilliant essays to learn from and live by.
Ellen Gilchrist: Falling Through Space: The Journals of Ellen Gilchrist (Banner Books)
Actually from her broadcast NPR pieces. A portrait of a writer in family and work roles.
Andre Dubus: Broken Vessels
Includes elegant pieces full of courage written after his horrific accident.
Joan Didion: The White Album
She's a master of the contemporary essay.

Poetry

Billy Collins: Sailing Alone Around the Room
Read "Introduction to Poetry". Funny, accessible, and also serious poetry.
Jane Kenyon: Otherwise : New & Selected Poems
Read the title poem first. A poem to live by.
Mary Oliver: New and Selected Poems : Volume One
Read "The Summer Day" and "The Journey" - more poems to live by.
Raymond Carver: Ultramarine
He makes it look easy. It isn't.

Recently Published Memoirs

Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking
Pure Art. I read it in one sitting.
Ulla-Carin Lindquist: Rowing without oars
Lean and illuminating prose as the author faces her own death. To be published in the U.S. in April ’06.
Carole Radziwill: What Remains
A beautifully written memoir that transcends its celebrity frame of the Kennedys.
Donald Hall: The Best Day the Worst Day
The story of the death of his wife, Jane Kenyon.
Samantha Dunn: Faith in Carlos Gomez, A Memoir of Salsa, Sex and Salvation
The title alone should make you want to read it.

Memoir for those who can't get enough

Carolyn See: Dreaming, Hard Luck and Good Times in America
Witty, as well as poignant - and written with abundant generosity.
Genevieve Jurgensen: The Disappearance
The most heart-breaking memoir I've read, written as letters to a friend.
James McBride: The Color of Water
The amazing story of his white Jewish mother who had twelve black kids, all of whom grew up to earn graduate degrees.
Judy Blunt: Breaking clean
Her story of fleeing rural Montana and her family to become a writer.
Katharine Butler Hathaway: The Little Locksmith
Like finding a friend who has a deep and inspiring inner life that she'll share with you.
Kathleen Norris: Dakota
A book not only about her life and spiritual growth, but also the meaning of community and place.
Kathryn Harrison: The Kiss
The true version of her novel, "Thicker Than Water".
Mark Doty: Firebirds
Growing up gay in suburbia - funny, deeply moving, eloquent.
Mark Doty: Heaven's Coast
Some of the best writing on grief I've ever read - both spiritual and literary.
Mary Karr: The Liar's Club
The book that started the current popularity of memoir.

Want to Write a Memoir? Read these first

Maureen Murdock: Unreliable Truth
Exploration of memory and why and how one should write a memoir.
Vivian Gornick: The Situation and the Story, the Art of Personal Narrative
A writer's writer takes a deep and illuminating look at the genre.

Blogs We Love

Writing Resources

10 Writing Mistakes
Pat Holt, an editorial consultant and former editor, describes 10 common writing problems and how to fix them.
Amazon Shorts
A collection of short, never before published, literary works (stories, novellas and essays) that can be downloaded for $0.49 apiece.
Amazon Shorts Needs Writers
Amazon is looking for any previously unpublished short-form work (2,000 - 10,000 words, fiction or nonfiction).
Author Network
An extensive index of writing resources.
Backstory
Authors share how they got started writing and the stories behind the stories.
Creativity Portal
An online creative "sanctuary" for artists and writers. Contains articles, projects, and resources to get your creative juices going.
Fresh Yarn
Read this online salon devoted to personal essays.
Imagine Magazine
"It's never too late to be what you might have been," said George Eliot. Imagine is devoted to helping you create the life you want to live.
Screenwriting Tips
Emmy award-winning Stephen Cannell discusses discipline, choosing your story, characters and structure in this free online seminar.
Spoiled Ink
Poets and writers post their work and get feedback from the rest of the Spoiled Ink writing community.
Wordcount
Need inspiration? This ranking of over 80,000 words by frequency, produces sequences of words ("often seen school money") guaranteed to spark an idea.
Writing on the Run
Filled with tips and exercises to get you writing.
Zinkville
A community of writers and readers, featuring a literary e-zine and book reviews.

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