Shields Library, UC Davis, egghead

Over Many a Quaint and Curious Volume: A Fiction Writer on the Pleasures of Research

by with 4 Comments LapérouseResearchWriting
[caption id="attachment_2021" align="alignleft" width="260"]Shields Library, UC Davis, egghead Shields Library, UC Davis[/caption] When I was working on Landfalls, my novel about the Lapérouse expedition, I used to joke that the whole endeavor was just an excuse to go to the library—but I wasn’t always sure I was joking. One of the reasons the project took so long—besides my painfully slow writing and the demands of grad school and work and, you know, family—was the time I spent researching. There was always one more book to read, one more lead to chase down, one more link to click, one more intriguing footnote I had to follow up on. It could be a problem. ...
apricot blossoms

How I Found My Agent (and a Few Tips in That Regard)

by with 6 Comments PublishingWriting
[caption id="attachment_1810" align="alignleft" width="300"]apricot blossoms Apricot blossoms[/caption] Now that I have a book coming out, a lot of people want to know how I found my agent. The cheeky version of the story is that it took me almost ten years to write the book and only a week to find an agent. The less-cheeky version is that I worked pretty hard for a very long time, then experienced some great good luck. Here is the long version: ...
inciting, Ai Weiwei, @Large Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, Alcatraz, Chinese dragon, dragon kite

Inciting: @Large–Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz

by with 5 Comments ActivismArtFamily
[caption id="attachment_1747" align="alignleft" width="300"]inciting, Ai Weiwei, @Large Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, Alcatraz, Chinese dragon, dragon kite "Inciting": from "With Wind," @Large Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz exhibit[/caption] On Christmas Eve, my mother, my husband, my two sons, and I went to the @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz exhibit on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. I am not a sophisticated observer of the visual arts. I see stuff, I like it, I don’t, I’m moved, I’m bored, I’m provoked, I'm exhilarated -- often for no clear reason that I can articulate. I don’t know much about art history, I’m woefully ignorant about contemporary art, and I rarely go to art museums or exhibits or galleries. And although I’d heard of Ai Weiwei, I didn’t know much about him or his work or about his particular brand of activism. I don’t really write (overtly, anyway) about politics or human rights or social issues. ...

Our Year in Reading 2014

by with 2 Comments Book ReviewJapanNon-fictionReadingWriting
[caption id="attachment_1723" align="alignleft" width="190"] A long, mesmerizing read about a really dysfunctional society.[/caption] This was the year of long books for me and my spouse. Dan read Don Quixote and The Brothers Karamazov. I read The Goldfinch and The Tale of Genji. Needless to say -- but I'll say it anyway -- those books not originally written in English, we read in translation. In fact, most of Dan's reading for the year was work in translation. I actually attempted to read Genji in a modern Japanese version, an attempt that lasted two hours and one paragraph. This year my family did a new thing, which was reading a summer book that all four of us agreed to read. We selected One Hundred Years of Solitude. It was, needless to say -- but I'll say it anyway -- an inspired choice, and a fitting tribute to the author, who died in April. Another new thing: I'm giving Goodreads a try. ...
Charlie Chaplin, Tramp, Modern Times

Our Favorite Films: A Tribute to 16 Years of Watching Movies with My Kids

by with 5 Comments Film and TVFilmsHomeParenting
[caption id="attachment_1545" align="alignleft" width="300"]Charlie Chaplin, Tramp, Modern Times Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times"[/caption] My oldest son is leaving for college tomorrow. He is so ready for this and so psyched. I am not ready at all. I’m happy for him, of course, excited, proud—all of that. But ready? Not so much. This may seem to have nothing to do with favorite movies, but bear with me. In three years, when our youngest leaves home, my husband and I will experience the more monumental transition to empty-nestdom. But the shift from a foursome to a trio feels pretty dramatic in its own right, and I wanted to honor it in some way. Some people are surprised to learn that such a bookish family watches so much television. ...

Twelve Highly Subjective Tips about Applying for Writing Residencies & Grants

by with 7 Comments Writing
Over the last four years, I’ve had the privilege of serving as a first-round reader of applications for a couple of organizations that award writing residencies or grants. I’m always amazed by the quality of the applications I read and overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of strong applications. Sometimes I’m so bowled over by an application that later, if I learn the applicant was awarded the coveted residency or grant, I feel almost as excited as I would were I getting the prize. Sadly, of course, the process of reading and evaluating applications means saying “no” far more often than “yes”. A few years ago I started jotting down notes about things I kept seeing that edged applications into the “no” pile. ...
AWP 2014

Magic and the Intellect: A Remarkable Occurrence at AWP 2014

by with 25 Comments DisasterWriting
AWP 2014So for the first time, I’m attending AWP, the annual conference of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. I wasn’t planning to blog about the experience at all. But something extraordinary went down this morning at a panel called “Magic and the Intellect.” What follows isn’t an objective “report” of what happened. A lot of other people were there, and each would have a different telling. This one’s mine. ...
book lists notebook

Our Year in Reading 2013

by with 2 Comments Reading
book lists notebook Whenever we reach year’s end, my husband Dan bemoans how short his book list is. Actually, he reads a ton for someone who works as hard as he does at a regular day job (which often requires his evenings as well) and is as involved as he is in the running of our household. He also does this thing I really admire but don’t tend to do with my own reading, which is find a writer he likes, then read several books by the same person. ...

On Completing a Draft of My Manuscript

by with 18 Comments ExerciseLapérousePublishingWriting
[caption id="attachment_1437" align="alignleft" width="191"] One page of my manuscript[/caption] This summer, I finally finally finally finished a draft of my novel. It took eight-and-a-half years to complete. Longer—more than a decade—if you count from when I first got the idea for the book, which was before I left San Francisco, which was in 2002. But let’s not go that far back. I was still in my thirties then, for God’s sake. ...