keep jamming your summer jam

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Scrolling through Instagram I’m delighted to see so many of us on vacation/staycation, whether it’s running through the sprinklers in the backyard, strolling an exotic beach, or chilling to your favorite song like this happy being (seriously, click the link!). I’m delighted that we’re taking time to play.


read

I’m currently writing a story about a family; an African American man, a white woman and their children. I’m writing from the woman’s POV, but I worry. I have so much to learn and understand about privilege and guilt, micro-aggressions and being seen. It’s scary, being a middle-aged white woman, living in white, white Portland, Oregon, writing about race. But, if we stay in our lane, how do we ever learn, how do we flex our imaginations and grow our compassion muscles? I reread The Color of Water, by James McBride. McBride is an African American man, with a white, Jewish mom. The book is the story of their family (12 kids!). It’s a gorgeous and powerful memoir. I’m so glad I picked it up again and got to know his family. Here’s McBride:

“During the rare, inopportune social moments when I found myself squeezed between black and white, I fled to the black side, just as my mother had done, and did not emerge unless driven out by smoke and fire. Being mixed is like that tinging feeling you have in your nose just before you sneeze—you’re waiting for it to happen but in never does. Given my black face and upbringing it was easy for me to flee into the anonymity of blackness, yet I felt frustrated to live in a world that considers the color of your face an immediate political statement whether you like it or not. It took years before I began to accept the fact that the nebulous “white man’s world” wasn’t as free as it looked; that class, luck, religion all factored in as well; that many white individuals’ problems surpassed my own, often by a lot; that all Jews are not like my grandfather and that part of me is Jewish too. Yet the color boundary in my mind was and still is the greatest hurdle. In order to clear it, my solution was to stay away from it and fly solo.”

McBride’s family was not always met with beauty, insight or generosity, and yet they thrived.

I also want to share with you an essay from Amy Scheiner. An amazing woman I was lucky enough to have in my workshop. She writes about her mother with love, honesty, and all the complications. Read it here.

“When I took her to the airport, I could tell we both were feeling the same pain in the space between our stomachs and our hearts. The pain of saying goodbye. “Promise me you’ll never leave me,” I pleaded as I had done since I was a child, terrified of living a motherless life, believing without my mom’s strong arms to carry me, I would surely fall.”

Amy does not fall. Amy soars.



write

Is your summer writing jam fizzling out? Get to it, Gorgeous! Here’s a few prompts:

1. Select a random household object (e.g., toy soldier, silver dollar, souvenir shot glass, button, box of matches, photograph) and answer the question: Why I stole it. (For a great example of where a prompt like this might lead, read Mona Simpson’s amazing story, Lawns.)

2. What’s a deep, deep, bottom of the barrel human fear? That we are unworthy of love of course. To access that fear, write about a crush. A crush bursting with yearning, but zero possibility of happening. Where you were dashed to the rocks of rejection. Oh come on, you have one. You know you do. (I’m looking at you, cute Steve C. in 7thgrade!) Your crush is right there, on the tip of your tongue. Describe the crush. Write a scene. Be certain to orient us in time and place.

3. Write three 150 words pieces, one from age 0-6, one 7-12, one 13-18. Set your timer for 8 minutes (you’ll do this 3 times), choose one moment from each age that’s attached to an unsettling emotion. Describe the moment using as much sensory information as much as possible.

4. Finally a little mysticism, a little woo-woo serendipity in a prompt:

      a. Walk up to your bookshelf
      b. Pull a random book off the shelf
      c. Flip open
      d. Choose the first quote that jumps out
      e. Do this 7 times (because 7 is magic, right?)
      f. Seek out themes and commonalities, write to link together the quotes.


eat

So much gorgeous eating to do! We were just in Victoria BC and loved all the food. Our favorite spot by far was Agrius Restaurant. If you want a little food-porn jolt, take a peek at the website. The most delicious thing I had was the spaghetti with lemon, fava beans, peas, tarragon and morels. Damn! It inspired me to want to make my own pasta…almost. I don’t have the equipment, but I like the idea.

Here are a couple versions of the dish, this one, from the NYTs is behind a paywall, in case you don’t have a subscription, I’m including this beauty from Saveur as well. Be certain to add lemon, and replace asparagus, or peas with favas if you choose. Super delicious, super quick meal.

All the berries are calling to me to make some jam. For that I don’t need special new equipment. But I do need a tried and true recipe for sugar free, or low sugar jam. Help a girl out? Hook me up with your favorite recipe, please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

summer, new friends, and jalapeños

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It’s officially summer and the 4thof July (ugh) is lurking. I startle at explosions and feel bad for all the creatures—crows, raccoons, songbirds, my little old man Maltese. I’m affronted by the boom of Black-Cats and M-80s…which is why we’re headed to our neighbors in the North (who’ve banned single use plastic bags!! Hooray Mr. Trudeau!) We’re taking a summer road trip to kayak, hike, and swim in the cold Pacific! I made a road trip playlist, which you can access here if you wish, but be forewarned, it’s eclectic yet upbeat, meant to keep us singing and moving on the highway.


read

As you may know by now, we’ve seen the last issue of Tin House Magazine. The final issue is a beauty with fiction from Karen Russell, Anthony Doerr, Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, Etgar Keret, Elizabeth McKenzie, and Joan Silbur. Such abundance! Poetry from CJ Evans, Nick Flynn, D.A. Powell, Brenda Hillman, Victoria Chang. Essays from Karen Shepard. It’s the perfect accompaniment to the beach, the lake, the bus ride across town. If some of these writers are new to you, hooray! You’ve met new literary friends to accompany you through the trials, truths and triumphs (small and big) of your life.



write

I’ve been teaching a good bit this summer and as always with class prep, I must face my very disorganized teaching files. I’ve got notes on how to build strong characters mixed in with a recipe for fajitas. I’ve got ideas about tension in a file with my insurance policies…well that one makes sense. In teasing things apart, I discovered these three things I thought worth sharing.

On Character: Of course we know characters are revealed through physical details (how they look, what they wear, their quirks and habits), what they say (what they don’t say), thoughts and beliefs, their yearnings and perversities, but also remember, it is best to reveal all of this in motion. A character unfolds through action and conflict, but they also infold, meaning revelations come through their inner lives. The action in character building is both forward and down. Forward into the action of the story, and drilling down into the heart and desires of the character. (Read Alice Munro and Joy Williams for a master class in characterization.)

On Authorial Custody: How much control does an author relinquish to the reader when the work is finally in her hands? A low custody writer views reading as a creative act, leaving lots of room for the reader to relate to and interpret the work in proximity to their lives. A high custody writer may push the reader toward their intended meaning, diminishing the risk of misinterpretation. There is danger of bewilderment in a low custody author and danger of over control in a high custody writer. Where are you? What type of author do you like to read? It’s something to consider in your work. You want your reader to be curious, but not confused. You want her to extrapolate and be engaged, but not be lectured at. Ursula K. Le Guin suggests, “The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”

Adjacent to the question of control and how much we wish to relinquish to our readers (which, come on, is really a false question, for once the work is out of our hands it becomes something new for each and every reader our work is lucky to engage with) we should consider the difference between Mystery and Tension. (Thanks, Will Allison for this conversation.) Tension arises when the reader wonders how will the secret (which the reader already knows) be divulged to the character with stakes in the story. Mystery is a less compelling form of suspense, it’s simply, what is the secret? Whereas Tension is, holy crap! How is this going to shake out? Alice McDermott described this to us in a workshop, and I paraphrase, “If I invite a guest to workshop and she arrives and sits quietly to observe, you may have mild interest. But, if I invite the guest and let you know her secret, that she was just released from jail for murdering her fiancé, you will be watching her with much more interest and engagement.” This difference is something to keep in mind as you consider withholding information in your stories or memoirs or essays. What is the value of keeping the reader in the dark? How will you spark the most intrigue?



eat

At a time when vegetables are abundant and the days are bright and long, we’re firing up the grill, taking picnics to the beach or the park, and having friends over for brunch on the deck, it seems like a good idea to share dressings and sauces, yes?  Here are four I’ll be making over and over again this summer. Roasted vegetables, grilled meat, grilled salmon, chicken, omelets, tofu, grilled bread, cold pasta, on a sammie, add a spoonful to a simple vinaigrette, yes please!

 

Spicy Almond Sauce (inspired by The Savory Way, Deborah Madison)

4 lg. cloves of garlic
1 lg. bunch cilantro, leaves and upper stems only
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 TBS peanut oil (I have used olive in a pinch)
1 TBS dark sesame oil
1 TBS hot chili oil
½ c almond butter
½ c soy sauce
2 TBS sugar or agave or honey
3 TBS rice wine vinegar
Hot water to thin if necessary

Place garlic, cilantro and ginger in food processor and pulse till finely chopped. Add oils, almond butter, soy sauce, and sweetener, process until well combined. Scrape down sides, add vinegar and hot water if you choose to thin. Store in an airtight jar. This will keep for months.

 

Chimichurri Sauce (An amalgamation of recipes)

1 shallot, finely chopped
1 Fresno chile or jalapeño, finely chopped
3–4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or finely chopped
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ cup finely chopped cilantro
¼ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 Tbsp. finely chopped oregano
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 – 2 TBS capers, finely chopped

Combine shallot, chile, garlic, vinegar, capers and salt in a medium bowl. Let sit 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro, parsley, and oregano. Using a fork, whisk in oil.

 

Coconut Lemongrass Dressing (from Food52)

¼ c just-squeezed lime juice
2 ½ TBS fish sauce
1/3 c full-fat coconut milk
1 TBS light brown sugar
1 ½ TBS grated lime zest (about 1 lime)
2 TBS  fresh lemongrass, finely chopped
½ serrano pepper, seeded and minced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 TBS finely chopped fresh cilantro
3 TBS finely chopped fresh mint

In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, coconut milk, and sugar in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining dressing ingredients and stir to combine. Set aside

 

Miso Sesame Dressing (from Smitten Kitchen)

1 TBS minced fresh ginger
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 TBS white miso (the mildest kind)
2 TBS tahini (make certain it is fresh! Not that bitter dried up jar from 9 months ago! Other nut butters can work in a pinch)
1 TBS honey
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 TBS toasted sesame oil
2 TBS olive oil

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Stop to scrape down the sides once.

And a bonus:

Take some butter, + or – 3TBs, some feta cheese, + or – 4 ozs., a handful of chopped cilantro, a handful of chopped mint. Put it all in a bowl. Steam some corn on the cob, throw it in the bowl hot and, with your hands, rub all that deliciousness all over the corn.  Man!  I’ve also put this amazing mixture on top of grilled salmon with terrific success.