'Loving Those Reader-Writer Conversations'

 

“The craft of writing is all the stuff that you can learn through school; go to workshops and read books. Learn characterization, plot and dialogue and pacing and word choice and point of view. Then there's also the art of it which is sort of the unknown, the inspiration, the stuff that is noncerebral.” – Garth Stein

Born in Los Angeles (on this date in 1964) and raised in Seattle, Garth’s ancestry is diverse: his mother, a native of Alaska, is of Tlingit Indian and Irish descent; his father, a Brooklyn native, is the child of Jewish emigrants from Austria.   He is the author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, which has sold more than 4 million copies in 35 languages, and spent more than three years on the New York Times bestseller list.

Before turning to writing full-time, Garth was a documentary filmmaker who directed, 
edited, and/or produced several award-winning films, 

  including The Lunch Date and The Last Party.

Garth is co-founder of Seattle7Writers, a non-profit organization dedicated to energizing readers and writers and their communities by providing funding, programming, donations of free books to those in need, and generally inspiring enthusiasm for reading.

“I'm a writer because I love reading. I love the conversation between a reader and a writer, and that it all takes place in a book-sort of a neutral ground. A writer puts down the words, and a reader interprets the words, and every reader will read a book differently. I love that.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: A Lighthearted Little Poem

A Writer's Moment: A Lighthearted Little Poem: I’ve been meaning to share this lighthearted little poem by Yorkshire poet, songwriter and singer ...

A Lighthearted Little Poem

I’ve been meaning to share this lighthearted little poem by Yorkshire poet, songwriter and singer Liam Wilkinson for some time,, and even though it’s called “Sunday” I’m making it this week’s contribution to Saturday’s poem.

 

 Liam Wilkinson

“I like the idea that you can jar a moment, capture it like a photograph," he said.  "Overworking poetry can have terrible results. If we all just scribbled down a poem whilst on the bus, the world would be a better place.”  Here’s Wilkinson's,

 

                                              Sunday 

I.

Sunday is made of crisp paper
and coffee
so I’m happy to be here
out in the world
carrying the news
home
and savoring
the Americano on my tongue.


II.

The shop assistant
had no idea
how much I loved her today.
Or how much
I loved the gorgeous line
of fresh orange juice
in the fridge
and the low low price
of economy cat litter.


III.

The stillness of the seventh day
is only beautiful in things
as it happens.
sad
to think Monday
will soon be here
in the tears
of tomorrow’s frozen vegetables. 

 

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A Writer's Moment: 'When we write, we are changed'

A Writer's Moment: 'When we write, we are changed':   “Writing is literally transformative. When we read, we are changed. When we write, we are changed. It's neurological. To me, this is a...

'When we write, we are changed'

 “Writing is literally transformative. When we read, we are changed. When we write, we are changed. It's neurological. To me, this is a kind of magic.” – Francesca Lia Block

 Born into a creative family (on this day in 1962 to a poet mother and painter father) she has established herself as a writer of fiction, short stories, screenplays and poetry and also a teacher of those topics.   She wrote her first novel while still a student at UC Berkeley, one of the few times she did any writing or teaching outside of her beloved Los Angeles, the focal point for most of her work.  She has won acclaim for her use of imagery, especially in describing the city of Los Angeles.  One New York Times Book Review critic said, "Block writes about the real Los Angeles better than anyone since Raymond Chandler.” 

She writes for both adults and teens and won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American 

Library Association for her contribution to writing for teens.  While best known for her novels, Block is also a lifelong writer of poetry. Her first two books, Moon Harvest and Season of Green,

were small-press illustrated poetry collections, and since then, she has released several standalone collections of poetry, as well as incorporating poetry and lyrics into many of her novels.

 

“Writing is very cathartic for me. As a teacher, I hear many students say that writing can be painful and exhausting. It can be, but ultimately I believe that if you push through, the process is healing and exhilarating.”

 

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A Writer's Moment: ‘Write Because You Love The Art’

A Writer's Moment: ‘Write Because You Love The Art’:   “I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.     Write because you love the art and...

‘Write Because You Love The Art’

 

“I think people become consumed with selling a book when they need to be consumed with writing it.    Write because you love the art and the discipline, not because you're looking to sell something.” – Ann Patchett

The daughter of novelist Jeanne Ray, Patchett was born on this date in 1963 and was first published 

in the prestigious Paris Review when she was just 20 years 

old.  After working for Seventeen magazine for 9 years, she began her creative writing career with the novel  The Patron Saint of Liars, which had modest sales but hit it big as a movie adaptation.

 

She received the Orange Prize for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award for her novel Bel Canto.  Her  other novels include the award-winning The Magician's Assistan .

Also the editor of a short story collection (for other aspiring writers), she opened her own bookstore in her hometown of Nashville, Tenn., when other stores were closing down and leaving few outlets for writers’ work.  In 2012 she was named by Time magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World." 

“I don't write for an audience,” Patchett said when asked that question.  “I don't think whether my book will sell, (and) I definitely don't try selling it before I finish writing it.”

 

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