Lara’s memoir isn’t so much a linear structure as it is individual vignettes. Short stories that carry you so fully into a moment, a memory, it is as if you are there, and yet you are powerless to help. All you can do is watch things unfold for Girl and Brother. But despite the pain, there are moments of magic, experiences that balance the dysfunction, just a little bit. Her father…
You do not owe toxic people a place in your life. Whoever they are, whatever they tell you, whatever strings they think they can tug on, you don’t owe them. This is something I thought about a lot while reading Girlish. Lara’s life looks nothing like mine, but a lot of the feelings resonate. I know what it’s like to be gaslit. I know how confusing, disorienting, and infuriating that…
I decided to limit myself to eight books, because eight is my lucky number. Besides, many of us have a short attention span and ten books seems like too many. I selected three novels, two Young Adult, and three memoir. Here are my Eight favorite books that came into print in 2017: The novels: Beartown by Fredrick Backman. This story could take place in any small town in any…
Thank you so much to yesterday’s guest, Maggie Smith! If you haven’t already, enter the #DebBallGiveaway to win a copy of GOOD BONES. You can enter by sharing our post on Facebook and/or retweeting the following tweet: Interview with Maggie Smith + #Giveaway for GOOD BONES. https://t.co/Xc9ppMmbem pic.twitter.com/u5CcKnuOF5 — The Debutante Ball (@DebutanteBall) December 23, 2017 News from the 2018 Debs: Cass Morris is baking All The Cookies! It’s…
I was first introduced to Dr. Thrity Umrigar’s work last spring when she and I both had the honor of having pieces we wrote performed in Lit Cleveland’s staged reading, Crossing Borders: Immigrant Narratives, a part of Cleveland State University’s Cleveland Humanities Festival. Intrigued to discover that my local writing community included a writer of her caliber, I ordered her latest novel, EVERYBODY’S SON. Umrigar’s book is a complex and…
My mother always told me that I was creative, by which I think she meant peculiar. I couldn’t draw, paint, or dance very well. Lord help me, singing was not my strong suit either. Writing made my hand cramp, my arm forming the awkward spiral common to left-handed children everywhere. I liked to make sculptures but I wasn’t very good at that either, and I showed no real talent for…
Some people have agents. I am not one of them. It’s not that I don’t like agents, or appreciate their worth, it’s just that I got an offer for Girlish directly from Skyhorse Publishing. You see, I went with the “Wallpaper the Internet with Queries” technique when I was ready to place my book with a publisher. I started on Memorial Day weekend, 2016, and by September, I had an…
In creative writing, we sometimes consolidate several people into one in the interest of not driving the reader crazy with an over-populated cast of characters. I’m doing so here to stretch my five people into many more because I have an inordinate love of finding loopholes. Here are five consolidated characters without whom Girlish wouldn’t exist. The Advisor: I was talking to a mentor about writing, and he said, “when are…
I always find introductions fairly awkward. My goal is to be friendly, approachable, and professional, but not boring. Like this: I’m casually leaning in front of my bookshelf, so you know I have books. If you zoom in, you can see what the books are if the picture is in high enough resolution. My bestie’s book is to my right (your left) and I get a kick out of having…
