I have been trying to imagine thousands of red-winged blackbirds falling from the sky, dead, lying on the ground all around me. How must it have felt, to see that, to stand in a field of dead red-winged blackbirds? And what does it mean? We don’t even know what caused their deaths. Fireworks? Maybe. But […]
Holleman: What are (environmental) writers for? Read More »
Yesterday I was shopping for furniture wax, but the only one I found sounded too dangerous: not only was it combustible, but the fumes could lead to permanent brain damage. Then I got home and learned about the Arizona shooting. It gave me pause. Especially as a writer. It reminded me that the tool of
Holleman: One Nation, Divisible Under Rhetoric Read More »
Author Kaylene Johnson, a long-time Alaskan who lives in Eagle River, Alaska, will be featured at the 49 Writers First Friday book signing tonight at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art, 427 D. St. in Anchorage from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. She has written several books about Alaska including A Tender Distance: Adventures Raising My
Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »
Welcome and thank you to Marybeth Holleman, our January featured author, for this guest-post. It may be that we writers write best about not writing. A decade into her writer’s block, Fran Lebowitz was browsing at Sotheby’s and was shown an original Mark Twain manuscript. The seller had called in a Twain scholar because there
Holleman: Mark Twain and the White Tennis Shoes Read More »
Happy holidays! In the sidebar to the right, we’ve left a couple of electronic gifts for you: a link to a podcast of Deb’s “Crash Course: Characters” (powerpoint slides included) and a link to a post by Dana Stabenow about online book promotion. Last-minute shopping? You might consider a writing center gift certificate, or membership for a
Ela: 49 Writers Weekly Round-up Read More »
Given the recent fallout between Amazon and Macmillan over book pricing, here are some timely thoughts on book pricing and readership from Alaskan author Marybeth Holleman. My college roommate stayed in Chapel Hill after getting her BA in English, and for many years made a living cleaning houses. Then one day, out walking her dog
What do dumpsters have to do with writing?: A guest post by Marybeth Holleman Read More »
Our Mother’s Day Special Concludes. Thanks to participants Eowyn Ivey, Cinthia Ritchie, Marybeth Holleman and Deb Vanasse; full bios are available at the end of Thursday’s Part I post. Having children has given me such a wealth of ideas and emotions to write about. What motherhood has taught me is that there is no perfect
Our Children, Our Books Part III Read More »
Our Mother’s Day Special Continues…See Thursday’s Part I for an explanation of how this roundrobin conversation started, and complete bios for Eowyn Ivey, Marybeth Holleman, Cinthia Ritchie, Deb Vanasse, and Andromeda Romano-Lax. I’m afraid I’ll censor myself… I imagined my own son googling me — oh dear Lord! I thought that was a little strange.
Our Children, Our Books Part II Read More »
Sometimes I chose the homemade cookies, sometimes I chose the poem. The years following the birth of each of my daughters have been some of my most productive as a writer. By the next year I had no time at all, even for a shower, and everything to say, because I had become a young
Our Children, Our Books: Mother’s Day Special Series Part I Read More »
First, many thanks to Marybeth Holleman, our featured author for March, for her insightful posts. With the turning of the calendar arrives award-winning author David Vann, whom we’re featuring during April. By clicking on his photo in the sidebar, you can link to previous posts by and about David. We’ve also posted a photo of
49 writers weekly round-up Read More »
