Dear Ones,
- I’m taking online writing classes with a bunch of good eggs*! It delights me to be in a room with writers striving to reveal themselves in the awkward and beautiful medium of words.I just keep trying to make something out of words that you’d think couldn’t be made out of words. ~ Deborah Eisenberg
- The sun has been out and I’m doing chores around the house: ✅ Power wash and stain the deck ✅ Put my sweaters away ✅ Spread mulch in my tiny garden
- I’ve been writing and submitting and getting rejected and figuring, oh well. I also have been chatting with a lot of writers about how we deal with gatekeepers, with rejection, what to celebrate (be pleased every time you press send!) and what we want from our writing life…umm, how about the pleasure of making?
- Ada Limón, our US Poet Laureate, spoke here in Portland and she was wonderful. A highlight of the night was a question from the audience, something along the lines of, “How do you deal with the deep grief of being alive?” Like the Grinch, my heart grew three sizes! What a vulnerable and tender question. Being alive is wonderous, and yet shadows (pain, loss, fear) hover. Limón deals with the grief by thinking about the struggles her ancestors endured so that she could be here now. I recognize the painful hovering shadows which I’ve already survived that make clear moments more joyous. How, dear friends, do you deal with the deep grief of being alive?
- I’ve also been listening to the playlist I put together with your suggestions. Thank you those who sent songs. Check the ahem, wide ranging, playlist here. And please, it’s not too late to send the music that sets you in motion.
~Haruki Murakami
read
FOSTER, by Claire Keegan, is the best book I’ve read so far this year. It is a beautiful, small story. A perfect example of Meg Wolitzer’s note (see below: the ordinary contains the extraordinary). The novella is a master class in trusting your reader, in concision, and in deeply felt emotion revealed with a steady hand. Please don’t miss this book.
HELLO BEAUTIFUL, by Ann Napolitano, which is book-of-the-moment, was also a beautiful story. Ann is a good egg (I was lucky meet her- through email – when I had a story at One Story, and she’s wonderful). Her novel is vast in scope and an amazing example of how to write vivid and engaging summary. She “tells” with velocity and precision, knowing the exact right detail to bring a moment, a character, to life. I listened to the audio book, which was a delight, narrated by Maura Tierney.
I’m in the midst of Maggie Smith’s memoir, YOU COULD MAKE THIS PLACE BEAUTIFUL, and what I’m admiring is the way she plays with form. Some sections are a mere sentence long, some go for several pages. That delights me. Smith is beloved for unabashed honesty about the unraveling of her marriage, for being deeply human on the page, in both poetry and prose. I will admit to a little frustration, her shock at the way her marriage hit the rocks surprises me. Maybe I’m jaded, but it feels a trifle naïve to think that one will make it through without grief and disaster breaking in. (How do you deal with the deep grief of being alive?) Then she offers the wisdom, “Wish for more pain, because that’s how you’ll change.” I nod my head and underline.
Another weird/good egg* quote:
I’ve made a read.write.eat. Bookshop Store, where you will find many of the books I’ve recommended in the newsletter. Buying books from my shop is a way you can support my newsletter.
Big thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee. I’m so grateful you enjoy my free newsletter, and that you took time to drop me a note and offer support. Yay! Cute button below for anyone who’d like to join in.
write
As mentioned, I’m invigorated by a few online writing classes.
The first was a terrific class with Andrea Firth in which she gave really solid info about submitting to literary journals. I signed up to be helpful to my students, and I learned so much for me! Here are three takeaways, but I suggest you check out Andrea’s classes and the free, once a month submit-a-thon she offers.
- Chill Subs is a terrific resource to find magazines to fit your work
- Clifford Garstang has a great list that ranks literary magazines/journals
- Literature Map is a fun rabbit hole to fall in! Type a favorite writer in the search, see who populates the page around them to discover new writers to read, or to seek potential representation. For ex: think of a writer that would be a comp for your work. Type in their name and see who else comes up. Check the acknowledgement pages in the books of those writers to note the thanks they bestow upon their agent. Then check out the agent!
I’m enrolled in a Flash Creative Nonfiction course with terrific, smart, and exceptional egg, Brian Benson. Please, rattle yourself, take a class outside of your normal wheelhouse. I’ve been writing short pieces, reading new writers, arming myself with prompts for the future when I may (again) feel gummed up.
Finally, I took a one-off class with Meg Wolitzer, a fav writer of mine, in which she spoke about the thorny issue of writing about family. Three takeaways:
- Ordinary life contains the extraordinary
- The writing must always be moving. What is changing? Where is the turn?
- Write with honesty and charity. (From George Saunders: write people at the top of their register.)
eat
No, I am not giving you an egg recipe, though I have a fantastic one for Mother’s Day Brunch, if you celebrate, and if you’d like it, dm me.
I made this at the behest of a friend, and now you have to make it too. Click the link for the original recipe, and then follow below to see how I made it my own. It too would be a terrific Mother’s Day meal.
Salmon with Tomatoes, White Beans, and Salsa Verde
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
- ½ c olive oil
- 2 pints mixed cherry tomatoes
- thyme sprigs
- garlic cloves, thinly slivered (I used an entire bunch of green garlic, about 5. If using cloves, I’d say 3-4)
- pinch chili flakes
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1c packed parsley leaves
- ¼ c capers
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1 lb salmon
- 28-ounce can cannellini beans (I used dried beans, cooked for a million hours till tender)
- Heat oven to 400°
- Combine the olive oil, tomatoes, thyme sprigs, garlic cloves, chili flakes, and a couple of generous pinches of salt in a lasagna-sized baking dish
- Place in oven and roast until tomatoes pop and spill their guts
- While the tomatoes are busy bursting, combine the chopped parsley, capers, lemon zest and lemon juice in a small bowl.
- Cut the salmon into individual servings. Season with salt and paprika.
- Add the prepared beans to the tomatoes and return to the oven. (Okay, at this point I also added a slew of turnip greens I’d sautéed up with olive oil and spring onions) return to oven and heat through.
- Place the salmon on a sheet pan covered with parchment and roast in the oven for about 7 minutes. Check doneness at 5 minutes. I don’t like mine at all rare, please don’t judge.
- Spoon beans into individual pasta bowls, lay salmon on top and generously spoon the parsley mixture over the fish.
Your guests will rave and love you and clamor for more invitations to your house!
I served this olive oil cake for dessert. But! I wish I’d seen this recipe first. Pistachio cake is now on my to-be-baked list.
Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate. I know it’s a fraught holiday for many of us. In fact, I have a fraught essay coming out just in time! I’ll send the link in the next newsletter.
Finally, apropos of nothing, this throw which is both light and warm, would make a fabulous Mother’s Day gift. I’ve had one for about five years, it holds up beautifully. I’ve given away five or six over the years.
