December 2011
You are browsing the archive for December 2011.
Books by Don Wallace’s Bed
Don says the addition of a Kindle on each side of the bed has reduced some of the clutter, but not as much as you’d expect. For one thing, you can’t read the screen in the dark and one of us knocks out pretty much as soon as she goes horizontal. But the portable impulse-buying device has allowed [...]
A Poem for the Season
As an antidote to the frenzy so pervasive this time of year, we share this remembrance by Dan Guenther of simpler times and the joy revisiting them can conjure. Dan Guenther is the author of four novels, most recently Glossy Black Cockatoos, the 2010 Colorado Authors’ League award selection for genre fiction. His collection of selected poems, The [...]
The Writer/Editor Partnership
You Have to Know They’re on Your Side By Dick Cummins Dick Cummins is a 1970 graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Just finished writing our 2011 Cummins Family Snoozeletter and for unknown reasons the Pulitzer committee continues to ignore them. I have an idea why. It’s the editing. Eric recently pointed out editing is important [...]
Holiday Cheer
In the spirit of the season—with equal irreverence for Christmas, Channukah, Kwanzaa and any other legitimate celebrations you can think of—resident prankster Dick Cummins sent this festive compilation of a JibJab e-card, asserting “all writers are children.” Plus a super-nice wish: “May your book sales lift Amazon stock 10 points!” Band members: D.C. himself (tortoise [...]
Smiley, Us, SF: Whoa!
So much to celebrate this month, not least of which is tomorrow’s appearance by Jane Smiley as she joins us at Book Passage in San Francisco to read from We Wanted to Be Writers. The lit superstar was extremely generous with her time through countless email interviews and phone followups for her extensive contributions [...]
Review of To Smithereens
Welcome Back, Rosa By Cheryl Olsen @2bwriters Visiting an old friend you haven’t seen in years can be fraught with trepidation. Is she still cogent? Has she grown lethargic and obese? Do you still have anything in common? Do her eyes still twinkle with mischief? I’m [...]
The Lost Art of Editing
by Eric Olsen I was recently reading Zeitoun by Dave Eggers and enjoying the heck out of it. It’s a terrific book, so good in fact that I didn’t mind very much that this nice new trade paperback I’d just paid full price for at my local indie was falling apart. Pages kept drifting out [...]
Books by Twinka Thiebaud’s Bed
Twinka Thiebaud, daughter of American painter Wayne Thiebaud, acted as cook and caretaker of aging novelist Henry Miller for several years while working as an artist’s model (see Judy Dater’s “Imogen [Cunningham] and Twinka”). Her book, What Doncha Know? About Henry Miller, is a compilation of Miller’s conversations and Twinka’s memoirs about the years she [...]
December Calendar
Poet/musician Joy Harjo plays Woodsounds Flutes created by Brent Haines. She writes, “They are finely crafted and always in tune. I’m excited that we are going to release a Redbird flute–my own flute!!” Will let you know when they’re available. Jennie Fields‘ book tour for The Age of Desire will take her to San Francisco next summer. We’re already [...]
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