I’ve updated events page to include upcoming appearances at the Pratt Writers’ Forum, Jerusalem International Book Fair, and 2013 AWP Conference, and a reading from the anthology What My Mother Gave Me, at Greenlight Books. Later updated to say: I just saw Kirkus’ nice bit of praise for my essay, “Mess Up Your Mind,” from the anthology (now a New . . .
My contribution to The Awl’s Year in Advice series includes many tips from Muriel Spark’s A Far Cry from Kensington, most notably how to shake off (and not to be) a pisseur de copie. A selection: His writings, she says, “writhed and ached with twists and turns and tergiversations, inept words, fanciful repetitions, far-fetched verbosity and long, Latin-based words. … . . .
I admire Justin Taylor’s short fiction but haven’t read his novel, The Gospel of Anarchy, because the book I’m still working on is also about religion and takes place largely in Gainesville, and though his sounds different and is set quite a few years later I didn’t want to steal anything or to second-guess myself or my work any more . . .
Unlike so many other people in our city, Max and I are fine. Heartbroken, but fine, and fully powered up. Like everyone else in our situation, I’m looking to volunteer and help out however I can. If I could lift 50 pounds, I’d be signing up for the next possible Red Cross volunteer training class. Instead I’ve signed up with . . .