…The organic, local, small-batch devotee occasionally indulges in something commercially produced, but oh, the guilt! In her new novel, Argentinean writer Ana Maria Shua observes the poised calculations and helpless unraveling that constitute one woman’s relationship with food. Marina Ruben (whose last name recalls the famed painter of voluptuous forms) is overweight. The outline of her life, Shua suggests, is comfortable, even satisfying. Her home…
…y years, but this is her first novel. According a Q & A on the publisher’s website, the book will come out a month before her 70th birthday. I think I came to this conversation with a thesis that I still find kind of fascinating, but which may be more interesting than true: I had this idea that maybe older emerging writers, like me, have a sort of outsider perspective on the current zeitgeist that maybe those emerging right into it might not have….
…ords, your right to censor stops at the other reader’s eyes. “Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week,” says the ALA website. “BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them“–my emphasis. The ALA, Muncy s…
…and free. Did you know that Google Docs can provide a clean, tool-and-menu-free writing environment? That’s right–nothing to buy, download, or install. Power Tips for Google Docs tells you how: If you are a big fan of WriteRoom on the mac, or the Windows clone, you’ll be happy to know that you can achieve a similar distraction free experience in Google Docs. WriteRoom is a full screen writing environment that helps you focus on the words on the pa…
…23rd. The second night is FREE and open to the public: join for a flash contest based on the stories completed in the previous night’s workshop, which will be read by local actors and voted on by the audience. The AAWW is located at 16 West 32nd St., Suite 10A, New York, NY. – Flash writers anywhere: Once you’ve picked up a copy of the Field Guide, submit your own flash fiction story (inspired by one of the book’s exercises) for possible publicati…
…nal thought that prompted me to start writing the piece had to change or become more complicated by the time I was done writing it. My reasoning was the same as that Frost quote, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” If you’re ever working on something outside the existing structures of story, you can always lean into your ideal reader like that. Whenever you get lost, just try to i…
…held in one hand, with pages “turned” by the thumb. Leaving the other hand free for more important things, like in-flight cocktails. Over the next few months, Kindle became a member of the family. I bought it a cute leather outfit. I carried only Kindle-sized handbags. I downloaded several books each week, regardless of my travel schedule. When misplaced, I found myself asking my fiancé, “Where is Kindle?”, as if it had once again gone rogue in th…
…. We hope it finds another generation of admirers and readers. To read the rest of Anderson’s essay, click here. The title story for this collection is also one of Storyville’s featured downloads this month. Get the Storyville app and you’ll get “Sweet Talk,” as well as a new story download each week. You can also win one of three copies of this book, which we’ll be giving away next week to three of our Twitter followers. To be eligible for this g…
…ta Editor John Freeman. You can listen to the show at 88.3FM in Ann Arbor, or hear it streamed live at wcbn.org. Archives of the past episodes are free to download through iTunes or to stream through iTunes preview….
…one of the downsides of electronic vs. ink-and-paper books. Libraries that download So many public libraries around the country have digital media – from e-books to audio books to music – available for download, yours may very well be one of them. The NYPL, my local stalwart, has a great list of resources (over 30,000). libraries that have digital sharing. A quick perusal of The Chicago Public Library’s digital offerings turned up an audio version…
