DAY SIXTEEN: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

DAY NINE: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

Better mood today because of  writers' group last night on Zoom. Should we start a writers' group on LROD? Anyone interested...we'd all be strangers, but everyone here is a friend.   If you're interested put your email address in the comments and I'll organize  something.

DAY EIGHT: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

Feeling kind of buggy, but also grateful for health, work, family.

DAY SIX: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

Some "cats" really know how to entertain themselves in isolation. (She's playing with a leaf....a leaf!) We can all take note. This is #BabyCass, Standard Poodle.

Also, today,  a shout out to my dear, sweet friend Risa Denenberg, a poet, but also a nurse in Washington State. She and I go back to the AIDS Epidemic as members of the protest group, ACT UP, and as besties.

She had recently retired from nursing, so I checked in via email:

ME:  Are you okay? Shelter in place? Not working the front lines, I hope, but writing poetry.
RISA: So would you really expect me to not work during a medical crisis? I am being careful. I promise. 

So, let's all take a moment to say a little prayer or give the universe a vibe of gratitude for all those nurses and medical folks working to help those who have symptoms of this virus.

(Thank You, Risa. Please be careful.)

DAY FIVE: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

DAY THREE (OR FIVE): CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

A three-parter because I didn't know about the Blogger data limit. Will keep it shorter from now on.

DAY ONE: CORONAVIRUS ISOLATION

WRITERS: ARE YOU OUT THERE?

 

I'm back because...well, you know...the nation is socially isolating, and we writers probably get enough of that. So, let's get the band back together and have a little community. I'm going to be putting up videos to catalog this situation.  Even if no one comes to my party, I'll feel like I'm talking to someone out there.  I hope you'll join in.

#Literary #Agent Takes on The #Rejection Letter

I came across this in my reading and thought you'd like to have a look. It's a prominent literary agent's take on having to deliver the bad, bad news to you. Here's how he sums up the relationship we at LROD bitch and moan about non-stop:

It always bears repeating: agents work for writers, not the other way around. I make my living as a percentage of an author’s living. Essentially I’m looking for a cool boss who is an extraordinary writer. So feel free to send me your manuscript. I’ll try to get to it quickly. Maybe it will be a runaway bestseller. Maybe I’ll subject you to my brutal candor, or maybe I’ll ghost you. And if it doesn’t work out, please know that I wish you the best of luck connecting with a good agent who isn’t such an asshole.

Refreshing, right? Honest too. He's no asshole, BTW; dude is my agent.

A "Must Read #Fiction Listing" from Mass Book Awards

Remember me? Yeah, yeah....I know. Long time. Two things, though: some good book new and some rejection book news. My book of short stories, which was roundly rejected by all in the early years of this blog, was just named a Fiction Must Read for the Massachusetts Book Award hosted by the Massachusetts Center for the Book! Here's the full list. Congratulations to the winners. If you haven't read Pretend I'm Your Friend: Stories yet, check it out here.  

     As for the bad news, you all will recall that I was writing a non-fiction book about disinheritance in a memoir kind of style. My agent loved it, sent it out to the big houses, but, guess what, no one bought it.  The common theme seemed to be that the editors did not find resonance with the voice of the book, or had published something similar (?! not), or simply didn't respond (ghosted the agent: have you heard of this?).  I decided to let the book sit. Who knows? Maybe I dodged a bullet (literal family bullet by gun-carrying relatives who did not want me to publish that book no-way, no-how). I will eventually publish the rejections here, of course, so you may have a look-see and do what you will with them.  

     In the meantime, happy summer 2018. Keep writing. Don't believe what the fuck-wads say about you when they are rejecting your book. 

    Also, try not to worry so much about the state the country and the world. Just write about it. That's why you were put on this green earth.

New #Book. Finally....

It is done. Agent's response: "I FUCKING love this." Submission starts after the first of 2018. Are you ready?  I will be.

UPDATE: Every single editor rejected it. For real. Nice.

Closing in on the #Elusive and #Painful #Memoir about Being #Disinherited

LROD has been quiet lately because I've been finishing up the memoir based on this article, which is currently titled #Disinherited: An American Tradition of Betrayal. Why does it take me so long to write a book? Is it just how long books take to write? Is it me?  How long does it take you to write a book? Anyway, I did a ton of research, so it's a memoir with some information on disinheritance. I am finally nearing the end of the process, but only because my paid clients have gone underground and not needed me lately. I hope I have enough savings to go the distance here. It's been great to focus on my writing, but a little hairy not to have a paycheck.  

#PretendImYourFriend in #PeopleMagazine (@people) and #EntertainmentWeekly (@EW)

Pretend I'm Your Friend: Stories has launched with some very cool reviews in People and Entertainment Weekly! People puts me next to Ms. Carly Simon and EW gives both me and Michael Chabon a B+.

Speaking to STCC Students on the First Day of #TRUMPNATION

I spoke to two different groups of students at Springfield Technical Community College on Wednesday, November 9. It was very heartening to talk  to young people who are working so hard to get an education, especially after such a rough election night.

Today I Am Thinking About the Late, Great #GracePaley: #Shortstory #Genius

Here's a memory of mine published over The Story Prize Blog about Grace Paley. What a writer.

Paley offers this advice for you today:

1.  Have a low overhead
2. Get a spouse/bf/gf/lover who has some regard for you work
3. Learn to tell the truth all the time
4. Watch out for being trendy
5. Work, work, work
6. As you work, you'll get better or worse. If you get worse, get out of the business

Watch this amazing video about her (which didn't know existed) called GRACE, so you can see her chewing gum for yourself.