Events and Retreats and Stuff

Okay, so Back Fence tickets are selling faster than any show previous. Needless to say, we’re very happy about this. Do you have your tickets? If not, I think you should probably go and buy them.

I’m posting over on Narrative Actualization. I realize I’m slowly compiling all the stuff I know about writing. So if you’re interested in writing, or my writing thoughts, subscribe to that blog. And buy a writing bite!

And I’ve been checking the weather for Boston. This week it’s been sunny and in the high 50’s. This gave me hope. It’s rained in Portland for seven weeks straight. But the week we’re there? RAIN. OMG people. OMG.

In other news, I sat under Tahiti for a full hour this morning.

Writing Bites

Yesterday Fancyhats objected to the name Writing Bites. Said it sounded like I was saying writing sucked. Well, I sort of am saying writing sucks. No one enjoys the act of writing. It feels like someone slowly poking you in the eyeballs with bamboo toothpicks. It’s difficult and slow and it’s never, ever over. Revision is always an option, even when your book is already in print.

I saw Lorrie Moore read in Berkeley and each book she signed, she drew a line through three sentences she’d rather someone had cut. I’ve never read my own novels in print. It’s just too painful. But someone did tell me once, after Swollen came out, “You really should change the title. I just can’t stand it.”

Everyone’s an editor…

So how does writing un-suck? Having a new sense of where that story could go. You can re-vision it, get that new story feeling back. You know that feeling. The one that lets you write the first 2500 words in a burst of glee and discovery?

With Writing Bites, I’ll give you that new story feeling. I’ll read your work, ask some questions and give you a fresh direction. Check ‘em out –  $35 for 10 pages plus a critique? DEAL OF THE CENTURY! Or something.