Light-skinned-ed Girl

Portland Picks The Girl Who Fell From the Sky for Everybody Reads 2012

It's official! I am beyond thrilled and honored that Portland has picked The Girl Who Fell From the Sky for its city-wide read, Everybody Reads for 2012! Details to come about events and appearances! Whoo hoo!

WIN a free copy of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

Algonquin is giving away 20 copies of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky in honor of the upcoming Algonquin Book Club event on 8/18 at 7pm. The awesome, best-selling writer, Terry McMillan will interview at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Can't make it? Well, it's going to be webcast LIVE! Just add a comment to the Algonquin blog here to enter to win the giveaway. For all the information about the event and webcast click here.

On How Story Happens, It's Happening Now

Stories seem so well constructed that it's natural for teachers to assume they were thought up in advance, but Gregor Samsa could have mated with another cockroach, and Humpty Dumpty could have been unscrambled by feeding him to a chicken.

--Keith Johnston, "Journey Without Maps"

                                                                  

Finding the Soul of the Research: A Writer's Call

"Maybe stories are research with a soul."  - Brene Brown

I have stacks of papers, and note cards, and photos and books.  It is the research for the new book I'm working on.  I have been looking at all of this information trying to tease out the important details to shape a story, but right now the writing feels--well--soul-less.  How do I put a soul to these facts and details?  Any ideas?

On the Gift of Imperfection

"There is a crack in everything.  That's how the light gets in." -- Leonard Cohen (lyrics of "Anthem")

Writing in the Fever or Writing in the Calm?

While I was writing my first book, I often wrote out of the angst of the moment.  When I was most unsettled by life, I found a real well-spring of creative energy.  It felt like a fever sometimes.  I would write long-hand whole passages that ulitmately appeared in the published book almost unchanged.

When I was writing the final drafts of the book, I often tried to cultivate that highly emotional state by playing sad songs over and over as I sat at my desk.  The writing, I thought, worked best when I felt emotionally raw, or even better yet when I wept. 

Now, I believe that my writing is best-served when I have a tranquil mind and a tranquil life.  As Flaubert says: “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”

I am hoping for some tranquility in these days, and relief from sleepless nights so all of that disorder can feed the writing.  Wish me words.

 

On Happiness

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then do what you really need to do, in order to have what you want."  - Margaret Young

On Vulnerability

This talk really touched me. It made me think about what all artists (and we all are artists with our lives too) need to remember as we dive into the work.

New York Times Front Page Feature

We've hit the big time! This story will appear on the front page of the New York Times tomorrow July 6, 2011. The reporter did an amazing job reporting on the Festival and this important moment in the arts!  Please check it out--share with your friends and leave comments. We're so excited!