Live... from California

ME!!!!!

Paula Barinstein of The Writing Show interviewed me about all things writing: the genesis of BRIGHTER THAN BRIGHT, what it's like to write as a nineteen-year-old, bipolar boy, 'voice', the 'other' genre - poetry, why I write what I write about, and much, much more. Take a listen.

The interview was a fabulous experience. Paula asked fascinating questions that forced me to probe why I write, what BRIGHTER THAN BRIGHT means to me - and what I hope it offers my readers.

The Writing Show is 'on-line talk radio', offering up a near-daily dose of writers, editors, and others who in the writing and publishing biz who offer up meaty and inspirational insights. If you haven't explored this wonderful resource, do - you won't be disappointed.

THE WRITING... made it over the half-way hump of NaNoWriMo this morning. Yes, I am overwriting PURE; most of 27,000+ words I've penned thus far won't survive the light of a final draft. But that's okay; I'm writing around several scenes, using multiple POVs, to get the right 'mouthfeel' for the story, to figure out the 'proper' armature. PURE has so many moving parts - multiple voices and POVs and tenses, storylines that dance and weave through each other over a thirty year span. It's damn hard - which is why I love this story.

Writing at this pace is easy, even though my professional and personal life is perhaps the most intense it's ever been. NaNo is my personal release valve, my single indulgence. Other than going to HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL - 3 with my children this rainy Saturday. What a blast - think GREASE, only hipper (and when did Zac Efron grow up?)

THE READING... Just finished Anita Shreve's TESTIMONY. A must read for the story alone; a must study for her masterful rendering - multiple voices recounting a single, tragic event in a prep school that alters lives irrevocably. One character is completely written in second voice. Next up - TERMINAL NEGLECT by Michael Rushnak and I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE by Julia Glass.

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My good friend Jimmy the Prince lost his father. Prayers. Our lives run in parallel...

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Peace, Linda

What's that thudding sound?

The damn economy. Also known as my retirement - and yours.

With so much going on in my personal life, I've been a bit absent-minded about the mortgage/financial crisis. Of course, it'll mean hiring freezes (yep, already have one at UMB), flat COLA and merit raises, perhaps even furloughs (yep, we've had those at UMB before, too). Never before has tenure seemed so important, so cross those fingers and toes for me, as my portfolio nears completion and is thrust into that black hole known as the Faculty Affairs Committee.

This economic downturn will certainly impact publishing opportunities. The big houses were already tightening down; the smaller, indy presses are even more vulnerable. Macadam Cage has delayed publishing, and now this from Atlas and Company.

What's a poor prepublished girl to do?

GOOD NEWS!!!!! Moonrat's MISCHIEF FIGHTS CANCER raffle is a huge success, raising nearly $5K for her friend in need.

And I won - again! A book, with a love letter from the Moonrat herself. Yippee!

THE WRITING... Uh, sort of backtracking, but that's okay. It's all good. My interview with Paula Berinstein on BRIGHTER THAN BRIGHT, writing, and all that jazz will be happening in the next couple of weeks. The questions are... provocative. The coaching has commenced. I feel blessed.

READING... Just finished THREE JUNES by Julia Glass. Rather, I just finished sobbing over my salad while the kids watched Sponge Bob. This is a 'it's s small world' sort of story, where chance encounters and events pull people together - and apart. I met Ms. Glass at THE MUSE AND THE MARKETPLACE last April in Boston, where she gave a bang-up seminar. Once again, here's a writer who mixes tenses and POVs (by scene/chapter), but does it amazingly well. I loved her Fenno - compelling voice, wry with a touch of melancholy. And Scottish, which adds to his allure. This was a debut novel (2002) - wow.

I leave you with a quote from THREE JUNES: "When it comes to life, we spin our own yarn, and where we end up is really, in fact, where we always intended to be."

Peace, Linda