Jamey Genna

Floating and Writing

2012-01-21T13:37:00.000-08:00

I finally took the time to take my free float at the flotation center in Oakland and it was fabulous. I really thought it was going to be a waste of time. One of those experiences you endure for the sake of experience. My daughter gave me a gift certificate to float for Christmas in order to help me with my fibromyalgia. I couldn't imagine how floating in a tank of salt water was going to benefit my pain, except to be relieved from it for maybe an hour, and besides the pain seems to be pretty much under control with gentle medication and lots of sleep. But the experts said that floating was worth four hours of deep sleep. Okay, so I drove down there last night in the rain and on the accident-prone highway. It took me almost an hour and half to get there, usually a 30-45 minute drive and by the time I got there, stress had climbed up into my right shoulder big-time. However, and I don't want to bore you with the process, google it and find out if you're interested, I did find out that floating on magnesium sulfate, salt, and warmed water in a sensory deprivation tank helped me relax and feel utterly blissful.

While in there, I began to imagine and remember events, people, rooms, details from my childhood that I hadn't thought about in years. Babysitting for the Barrs while I was in fifth grade, jumping on the trampoline in their basement(I know, what a strange and surreal place to put a trampoline.), -playing with Theresa and Scott in their oil and gas-stained garage. And then later, meeting their estranged father when I was in high school. He was a good-looking, part-Indian, guitar playing,smoking and drinking kind of guy.

Today, I can't help but wonder why those images popped into my head at that particular time. There was no connection to the rain outside, the actual float chamber, the artwork in the front part of the Cotton Mills Studio. I'm still not sure, but I do know these memories were recalled with such vividness that they deserve a second look in terms of story. I strongly suggest that you try out a new adventure. Make that writer's date with yourself to do something unexpected. You may surprise yourself.

ReJuvenation

2012-01-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well,it is the year 2012 and I look at the date I last posted:May, 2011. I know why that date is significant. Without going into too much detail, I had some pretty bad work issues arise, not of my own making. Those issues took all summer to resolve; then there was the hangover impact from September until about December. I only say this because looking back I can see why I haven't been writing, why I haven't felt like writing. I told myself that not writing was a choice. Friends told me that I should write about the issues (journal. That sounded awful. Who wants to write about conflict, personal or professional, while you are in the middle of it. That said, and however, things have gradually changed. A shift toward the better. So I think New Years falls at just the right time. We need that calendar date to help us look back, to bring an end to what was and find ways to filter out the chaos. Pretty dramatic, I know.

So I encourage all of you to go ahead, make those resolutions to start writing again. Go out and visit the lit scene in SF and the bay area. I went to two really solid readings this week and my mind is on fire. I'm not a great reviewer of these things--too many adjectives and adverbs needed, but I will say that the Porchlight Reading Series and East Bay on the Brain are alive and kicking. I ran into several friends and colleagues at the EBOB thing and they asked if Porchlight was still happening. Many had never been. Having fallen off the wagon of hay for six or more months, I tended to think that these events were getting a little passe', tired, a been-there-done-that sort of thing for newer writers to feel the sparkle. But I was so impressed by readers at BBOB, by the quality and engagement of the work, that I had to compliment. I also ran into the editor of The Farallon Review, Tim Foley, an he graciously gave me a copy of issue 3 to read. Wow. I couldn't put it down, way to go Farallon writers. Lewis Buzbee, Ken Rodgers, David Booth--all writers I know, but haven't read in a while. Just terrific. Then I read the piece by Sarah Rose Horowitz called "Flat Daddy" and just fell in love with that sad story. I'm still reading the magazine, so that's where I have to stop. Like I said, I'm not a reviewer. That said, if you are stuck, you can't write, you don't want to journal, go out and watch some other writers read, relax and enjoy your life. Somehow writing finds its way back to you. Hemingway was wrong, writing is not like bleeding. Writing is the healing that comes after a long illness. So dramatic!

Menopause Reset

2011-03-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

I don't know what the title of this post is. I only know I haven't blogged for a long time. The problem is that I don't know if anyone reads this, but does that matter? The real issue is that a blog keeps me current, in the current, in touch with others. So what is going on in your writing life? I am teaching a very inexpensive *30 bucks through DZANC on April 9th. I have about 3 or 4 former students/ friends signed up so far. I'd like to get about 8-10 people. It's from 10=2 or whatever on a Saturday at my house. Of course, if you know anything about me, you know you can't be allergic to cats or dogs or acacia when you come out to my place b/c I have 2 cats, 2 dogs, and 2 feral/tamed kittens*age 4 months*. That's just a public service announcement. I also have a large house, yard, garden, deck, and open basement, living room. So if you're thinking about taking the class==take it b/c we are going to write for four hours and have tea/wine and talk about our writing. I'll bring some of my favorite writing exercises for both poetry and esp. fiction, but any of them can be used for nonfiction.

Okay, enough about that. I'm loving my creative writing class--RAW Writing at that WRitng SAlon. Fun and I'm getting a lot of personal writing ideas. That's what it's all about.

What am I reading? Menopause Reset--a diet book that's good for those of who the pounds are sneaking up on. There's nothing new in this book except that there's always hope. Set new goals and exercise regularly. Check your nightime eating habits. All the stuff we already know. However, the book did get me back on track in terms of looking at my daily exercise. My dog Casey loves it that I'm back to my daily or every other day walks. She gets so excited when she sees I'm wearing my exercise clothes and the rolley tennis shoes.

So,this blog is getting too personal. Checking out. Hope you'll let me know if you read this. Over and out. JJ

Readings and Such

2010-12-22T20:35:00.001-08:00

I've been having a great time over the holidays, catching up with old friends and making new...just like the song says to do, which is why I think we've named two of the kittens Silver and Goldie. The other kitten is a black/calico named Phoebe Bear, after a great great great relative, and b/c her paws are black like a bears. So, you can see what I'm consumed by right now. My daughter Jackey and I caught three "feral" kittens up at the high school, along with their mother (currently named Noelle). They are living in my writing studio so that I can have a reason to turn the heat on and go out there. They're so much fun. Momma cat is a little too wild, but she's well-fed. We're sending them to fix our ferals in January and then, I don't know. Mom will go back in the wild once she gets fixed and the kitties? Anyone want a beautiful gray and white or a gold or a black/calico kitty?

As for writing, publishing, and readings: I had a wonderful reading in November at Books and Bookshelves reading for Switchback. That story is near and dear to my heart--"If It Hasn't Already"--a story about those of us living in the suburbs, our children, and how we're dealing with the war. It's a collage story. Still so grateful to Crab Orchard Review for publishing my story "Goat Herder."

I went to a wonderful reading last night, seeing an old friend Ken Rodgers read from his new poetry book Passenger Pigeons. I can't wait to dig in. Ken and his wife Betty are producing a documentary about one of the worst battles in the Vietnam War. It's on-line at Bravotheproject.com, if you're interested or want to get a heads up on this soon to be great indie film. Ken talked about interviewing many people from the war and the effects of war on these individuals. I think it's a wonderful and compassionate project--a story that needs telling and retelling.

Went to a terrific b-day party at Alia Volz's place and met a lot of writers there. Great party and great to be in the mix. Check out the Portuguese Writer's Reading Series...more on this later.

I'm hoping to read friend's and colleague's books over the break and to continue with my little self-publishing gig of an older collection of my short stories. This is for personal reasons only. I'd like to get copies into the hands of friends and family. A student of mine gave me a book about Asberger's Syndrome that I want to dig into and want to read Some Things That Meant the World to Me by Josh Mohr, a fellow teacher from the Writing Salon.

I had a great time teaching the Raw Writing class this go-round at the salon and am looking forward to helping people generate writing in the next series of classes (March for my class). I also attended a meditation/solstice/writing retreat at Clara Rosemarda's place in Santa Rosa. It was possibly the best thing I had done for myself in a long time, braving the rain to honor my commitments to my own writing. I encourage you to find Clara on Facebook and take one of her classes. She's amazing and it's worth the commute.

And now, I'm finally done X-mas shopping, sort of. My teenager Del went with me this year and picked out most of her own gifts. That was the best shopping trip ever. I get so much anxiety about getting the right gift. I hate being unoriginal or wasting my time with gifts people are going to take back. So, it's time to turn back to writing and reading good books. I appreciate those of you who have time to go on to Goodreads.com and register the books you read. I am still reading that first short story collection of Anthony Doerr's and hoping to read Cutting for Stone--my sister said it was great. Clara Rosemarda said that the new Jonathan Franzen novel Freedom was pretty damn good, so I'm going to download that onto my Nook. I wanted to wait, like friend Andy Dugas said to do, until all the hype died down, but I appreciated Clara's opinion of this bestseller.

Literary Death Match

2010-08-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well, LDM was a hoot (what an old word, but owls are in right now). I read "Manx" and went over by about 30 seconds. They decided to super-soak me, despite my pathetic attempt for mercy by crying "Pneumonia." I did just recover from whooping cough, but they were unswerving in their desire to soak somebody. I went dressed for it--tank top and jeans. The thing is, I hate, hate, hate people who go over the time limit. I had it timed at 6 minutes and 30 seconds. The problem was, people were laughing. It's a funny story. They read it on Liar's League. Go listen to it. It was 12 minutes on there. I pared it down to the essentials. I think the judge Russell Blackwood just wanted to shoot that watergun. Afterward, Matt Stewart convinced me to take his cap gun (a prop) and shoot Russell when he went into the women's bathroom. I took some convincing, but hey, it felt good. Really good. He got capped four times. Thanks, Matt, for the loan of your weapon and catching it on your cell phone, you-tube. See it here,

http://www.youtube.com/duderedman#p/a/u/0/iGC8Ux4CdRo

Other news, because I really have been sick and probably should not have done the reading at LDM, I asked Jane at the Writing Salon to allow me to cancel my upcoming five week class. I'm so grateful to her for understanding. I have to get ready for the new school year at Hercules High School and it's a hard time to get a class going. I basically do a little more each day. So sorry to the people who had already signed on. I'm hoping to teach a five-week class in the fall that is strictly writing, no revision. Something that I think is sorely needed in the academic world. I see so many stuck writers, people who get jammed up b/c of poor workshop attitudes and too much criticism too soon.

If you want a great website to read about writing inhibitions, read Jane Anne Staw's writershomecompanion.com. I'm her biggest fan. She's helped me edit many of my stories and she's a thoughtful, caring mentor. She helped me get "Goat Herder" into shape, which is out now in the beautiful new Crab Orchard Review. I can't wait to find time to sit down and read the whole issue. Thanks to friends who purchased a copy from me.

As for recent books, still reading the Pushcart Prizes and the Dzanc's Best of the Web. Almost done with both. It's interesting to compare the type and style of stories in each. A good writing / reading endeavor for those of you who are short story writers. Read both and see what you think is the difference or the same. I think there's quite a bit more flash and surreal work on the internet than in the print mags. By the way, internet magazines can nominate for Pushcarts, but the work still rarely makes it in there. Thanks to Dzanc for giving us the opportunity to see what they think is working on-line.

Friday Night, Liteary Death Match

2010-08-11T22:11:00.000-07:00

Well, it's on. I was invited to read at Literary Death Match and I've been thinking I'll be like death warmed over because I'm recuperating from pneumonia. However, I am feeling better today and am ready to throw it down. My colors are orange and turquoise. I was just going to go for red, but my birthday was today and my family had other ideas. I've been practicing all week and I just can't escape "Manx," which is my favorite story to read in public. I have only read it once locally and it was the bomb, so I shortened it and now I think it's even better. I thought about reading "Stealing" or "This Scarred Wish," but "Stealing" would have to be cut down, too and it's a little confusing. Well, what of my writing isn't. And then "This Scarred Wish," which is coming out in OxMAg on-line soon is very sad and quiet and needs a different setting to be appreciated. Because I'm representing the magazine Eleven Eleven from the California College of the Arts, and my story in there is called "Rat Stories" (too too long for LDM), I decided to stay with the animal theme and read about cats. My story out in Crab Orchard Review is called "Goat Herder." Let's see, rats, cats, and goats. I think we have a short story collection going. The theme is how to deal with animals that drive you insane.

Hope to see all my friends at LDM on Friday--the Elbow Room, 7:00.

California Vacation

2010-07-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I'd like to say I'm exaggerating, but I was bit by a flying ant and my daughter was bit by a fire ant, so we decided it was time to stay in a nice hotel. We traveled through Yosemite, saw the biggies--Bridal Veil Falls, El Capitan, and Half Dome. We stood at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls. I've never been at the bottom of a waterfall, which is odd. I've been at the top of one in Yellowstone and with my fear of heights, it was a scary and surreal experience. Yosemite is a place that evokes those words: awesome, spectacular....fills you with joy. Then we stayed at the Virginia Creek Settlement--went to see Bodie Ghost Town, one of those touristy places that is not touristy, kind of in-between. Because the homes are locked up and in a state of degradation and disrepair, there is more of a sense of loss and loneliness to the place. The cemetery was probably the most interesting place--lots of youngsters...babies died there, especially in the first few months of life. It was odd to hear the names of original settlers that matched the names of people I grew up with ie. Jamie Cain. Lots of German and Irish names. Then we went to the natural springs up in the hills behind Bridgeport. That was an amazing place--little hot pots that you didn't have to pay to sit in, natural mudbaths and just a beautiful sunset. Ahh. Then, on to Bishop and the Keogh Hot Springs where we stayed in a tent cabin. I have to say despite the 100 degree weather, I enjoyed it there much more than I did up in the Lake Tahoe hotel I stayed in a week or so ago. Maybe this place reminded me of living on the farm in Iowa. I think the minerals in the pool and bath helped my shoulder stop hurting. There was a quaint little rock garden and a retro bathhouse. That's where the bugs were though. Next day, we went to Manzanar. I'm so glad I went. It was 106 that day, so we got the full effect--hot winds, dust, beautiful mountains, the monument--the beautiful Japanese art, the toys the children played with, imagining losing one's home and business and living in this desperate place--not knowing whether one would be allowe to return to one's home. I'd have to say it was more than just an educational experience. Then, of all things, we went into the small town of Bishop and went to see Eclipse again. Saw it at the drive-in before and had to hold my breath to keep from laughing out loud at Jacob with his shirt off. Whew. That was fun. Bishop is a cute, clean little town. Lots of beautiful Indian (and Hispanic) people--Paiutes, I think--saw some more of their history all along the way. I read The Autobiography of Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins quite a few years ago, so this was rewarding to see the countryside and imagine the history, both wonderful and terrible. The gymnasium at Manzanar had information that the local Paiutes had helped construct the camp. Well,that's my vacation so far in a nutshell. We crossed back to the coast via Lake Isabella and the Kern River and are staying at some fancy Best Western on the ocean beach. Lovely not to have to spray down the chiggers for a night.

The Goat Herder

2010-06-28T14:33:00.001-07:00

So, another few months have come and gone and I haven’t been on my best behavior in writing on my blog. Why? Because I’ve been busy. First, the Hercules High School Creative Writing class had to get their literary magazine The Dynamite Factory finished. It’s subtitled Aftershock and it’s amazing. Amazingly, it pretty much sold out. We have a few issues left, but those will go fast in the fall. I especially like the cover art by student Alyssa Dulaney.
I’ve also been prepping for my Thursday night class at the Writing Salon. We’ll be studying the craft of fiction writing and writing, writing, writing. The elements we study in the class are the tried and true standbys, but every term, I use fresh new stories. To that end, I’ve been reading this year’s O’Henry winners and the new edition of the Pushcarts. I also ordered Dzanc Publishing’s Best of the Web 2010. I really enjoyed their edition last year and look forward to seeing what Dzanc considers the best on-line writing to be.
Thanks to Laura Riggs for organizing the Father’s Day reading in Berkeley called Daddy-O. It was packed and, my favorite outdated word to use, awesome. I was impressed by all the readers.
Personally exciting news is that Crab Orchard Review accepted a favorite story of mine called “Goat Herder” for publication in their next issue out in late July. I’m honored and hope you’ll read the issue.
Mostly, is mostly a word even? Mostly, I haven’t been blogging because I want to find a way to find this blog more meaningful than simply self-promoting, although I make no apologies for self-promoting. How can I get the word out that I teach fiction writing and have a reading coming up or a story coming out unless I use every avenue available. However, I like what my friend and colleague Ken Rodgers is doing with his blog—posting short essays and stories and poems he’s written involving his travels and life (and his fictional life). I also like Meg Pokrass’s blog—she offers up free word banks for writing, especially tuned to flash fiction. Check out the website Fictionaut to see some of the best and most intriguing flash on-line.
My main concern is that blogging is a business tool that I’m using to avoid the daily writing…so I will end with that and go back to work on my story that is overdue to a writing friend.
Cheers.

Two New Publications

2010-03-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a while. I've been busy writing and teaching. Taking a meditation and writing class with Clara Rosemarda to help ease stress and find new subject matter. It's wonderful. Two new stories of mine are out on the web and people have been asking, so let me know if you've read them. Eleven Eleven has a story of mine out called "Rat Stories" and Stone's Throw Magazine has one of my stories called "Always Say Sorry." I'll post connections in the sidebar. Mainly I've been recovering from a couple of bouts with spring flu, but I don't like to talk about illness, which is why I'm going to keep this short. I'm rewatching New Moon from the Twilight series. I know. My eleven year is Team Jacob and has a poster shrine to him in her closet. I'll write more later.

January

2010-01-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Oh, I'm so sorry. I haven't been able to blog lately. I was too busy getting a haircut and then growing my hair out. I have a writing class coming up, starting next week. We'll be reading short stories and chapters of novels. Then we'll do lots of writing exercises. I've noticed a lot of stress in my clients lately around getting their work "CRITIQUED!" I want to reassure those of you who are thinking about taking the class--workshop is not a requirement. You don't have to submit. You can come and help others who are a little more sure of themselves with their writing. I think that too much pressure around getting it right is spoiling the desire to write and really needs to be avoided early in the writing process. I like to think of the Writing Salon as a place where people can come and relax and meditate on their writing...a place where you can create new stories or new chapters. We do have a workshop portion, but we are very gentle and kind. I insist that people talk at length about the strengths of the work. It's also a first draft in many instances, so the writing needs to be handled with care. The class starts Thursday, February 4th. We delayed the start of the class so it would get a little larger. Hope to see you aspiring writers there.

Need to be tech savvy

2009-11-29T19:50:00.000-08:00

Dear non-followers,
Well, I'm trying to learn, but it aint easy. I'm slow on getting out a blogpost, mostly because I've been busy in the world of facebook and submitting work, and occasionally trying to do some writing. Reading work from the fiction classes I teach at the Writing Salon and now, it's that time of year. I get to read the short stories from my creative writing class at Hercules High School. They have that new kind of creativity. The kind you had when you were a kid. The best kind. Where everything is new. No blocks of any kind. The kind where you weren't afraid to imitate someone's style because you didn't always know that's what you were doing. I did that and still I loved writing. My brother stole my stories from the teacher's desk drawer ten years after I graduated. Wow, a blast from the past. "Today, It Will Happen" and now I see that line in a story and I crack up. Avoid that line if you can. Looking forward to X-mas mostly for the two weeks off afterward. Go see the movieThe Fantastic Mr. Fox.. It's great.

Upcoming Classes

2009-10-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

I am looking forward to teaching a new group of people in my Fiction class on Thursday night. And so looking forward to having a new class--Fiction Continuation, where people want to focus mainly on workshop and revision. Both classes start this week, and then Saturday night is Litcrawl. Hope everyone has picked out one or two events to go--I'm so glad to be reading for Instant City. This magazine is one that focuses on San Francisco stories. I love it because it catches that side of me that longs to live in the city, be a metropolitan babe. I encourage everyone to pick a couple of the readings on Saturday night and just tour around the Mission. My reading is at 6:00 at Dalva's --oopsy, forgot the name of the bar again. I'll look it up and get back to you via e-mail.

I went to two readings this weekend--one featured people who've been published in Pedestal Magazine and the other is what I consider to be my local hot spot--the Valona Poetry reading series. The editor from Pedestal--John Amen--read at both readings. Meg Pokrass had stories that were on fire. I needed some relief from all the serious, headiness that comes with poetry at these things, but I have to say, I was impressed by the caliber of the readers. I picked up a couple of Amen's books and plan to use one or two of them as examples of strong imagery and language.

My advice to you for this week if you're a writer, though, is to remember why you do it. I'm reminding myself right now. Cut back on the blogospheres, the facebook frenzy, the duotrope search engine, and just write. CULATER

Did I get your name right?

2009-10-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

My latest story on-line is called "Yeah, But Nobody Hates Their Dad." It's up on You Must Be This Tall To Ride, which is a coming of age stories website. Interesting concept. When I saw their site, I thought, Oh, I have just the story. And I'm glad they thought so, too. If you read it, let me know what you think.

Hey, Kerry. Is that your last name? I forget. Because I used to date a guy named Kerry and I've mixed his last name up with yours. The stuff that gets stuck to your brain flaps.

Coming up, my fiction writing class at the Writing Salon in Berkeley. It's Thursday nights from 7:00 to 9:30 for nine weeks. It's what fiction classes are like, but I like to mix it up a bit with new stories each time. I'm looking around for a new story to use besides "Hills Like White Elephants" to teach dialogue. We've seen this. We know it's great, but please. HOWEVER, if you haven't read it, it's a must-read! I also have a flash fiction class on October 10th for a couple of hours. One more listed is the Fiction Continuation class once a month for six months. Whew!
Check out writingsalons.com

Litquake is coming to town and we're all excited. Look it up and see all the scheduled readings. I'll be reading on October 17th at 6:00 for Instant City. Oops, forgot the name of that bar. Hold on for that info. I'll be posting on Facebook. There will also be lots of educational sessions. Just look and see what your preferences are and don't be shy, just go.

I want to say read the newest issue of Smokelong Quarterly for your dose of flash fiction. It's the magazine to goto for flash. Or read Elimae.

Got several great rejections this week. Spurned. I love that word because it rhymes with burned. And yet, when they say "We were glad to have had the chance to consider it," how can you be hurt.

I'm trying to get to bed at a decent hour.

The Mechanics of Falling by Kate Brady

2009-09-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I just had to take a break from reading her book and it's pretty amazing. Such a good read--it hurts to read it. Makes me want to be a better writer. Buy it and read it. You'll love it. The Mechanics of Falling by Kate Brady. I think she goes by Catherine Brady on the book, though. I was thinking that the back of the book has it wrong, though. She doesn't need to be compared to any of the greats--she is one. I'm her biggest fan.

Sorry I missed out on Sean Beaudoin's book opening in San Francisco. His new book is called Fade to Blue. I've heard it's pretty good. That's next on the list. I love the cover.

Litquake's coming up in October. I'll be reading for Instant City--that cute little San Francisco magazine that I'm always promoting in my classes. I'm wondering what to read. Something serious or something irreverant and funny. Well, probably both b/c that's how I roll. A friend of mine--Kerry Norris is reading for Babylon Salon at the same time, shucks. I've never heard her read and want to.

On readings and writing

2009-09-13T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Sunday, September 13th at 12:45 and I am fussing with the "L" button on my computer that doesn't work. Reading poems by Raymond Carver from the book All of Us. If you are feeling lost and jaded and want to come down to earth--that's the place to go. I went to the literary reading series called Babylon Salon last night where Pam Uschuck read, along with Daniel Alarcon. Quite a diverse mixture of talent. I especially liked the work by alumni from USF--voices emerging from the darkness of the bar scene. It was nice to see familiar faces. Picked up Pam's book of poetry, which is up for a Pulitzer, and I read today in the paper that Daniel Alarcon's work is up for a big literary prize, too. I am sure, after thinking about it for a while, that these writers have been at it, working on their writing for many years and are deserving. It's easy to see the longing in myself and others when I go to these things. I get this feeling--time to put the time in at the chair and journal, by myself. Put the words down on paper.

If you're looking for a great website to read, check out Jane Anne Staw's new page on writing: writershomecompanion.com. And it's free! That's what's amazing. She'll get you writing.

Finished the O'Henry collection and am getting excited to read Kate Brady's collection The Mechanics of Falling. I want to go hear her read from it and am hoping she has a reading again soon.

September is the busiest month in terms of teaching, but teachers have voted to support a strike, so I may have more free time than I want in a couple of weeks. The district wants to take away benefits for our family members. Way to hit below the belt--no negotiation on pay, just no, we're taking that. Tension and anxiety. Class sizes are inflated beyond belief and because we don't have a contract yet, they are going to get away with not paying us for all the extra students in the classes. 69 students in a P.E. class. They might as well dress up in military uniforms and send them off to war.

Back to School

2009-08-19T12:44:00.000-07:00

I'm such a lazy blogger, but here goes. It's August 19th and tomorrow is back to school for teachers and vote to strike. Ayee. On the writing front: trying to revise an old story about teaching called "Ana from Panama." I think I finally hit the mark. You know when you write a story and you work on it and it's all polished, but you feel like, Oh, I know if I send that out, it's not going to hit. Even though it's a perfectly good story. What is that about? It's because you are hinting at what you wanted to get at with this story, but you didn't dig deep enough. I was on the surface of that situation, but I had to get down to why the narrator was telling the story in the first place. Get at the HEART of it, as I say in my class. I finished reading the O'Henry collection and was glad I picked it up. Some really fine stories in there. We're discussing Junot Diaz's story "Wildwood," which was in the New Yorker last year. Go on-line and read the New Yorker blog. Diaz (Yunior) responds directly to comments on his story. I'm also reading the Best of the Web collection put out by Dzanc. I found some pretty cool stories in there, but I'm also, once again dismayed at the high number of male writers versus female. I know there are plenty of women writers on the web. Maybe it's the particular take/taste of the Dzanc Editors. I hate to be such a feminist, but the numbers don't lie.
I will try to go on sooner rather than later and talk about the individual stories from that collection that I like.
Steven McDermott is going to (hopefully) have a section of Storyglossia on review of the short story. That should be intellectually interesting. That is about all I read these days. I'm getting ready to reread Angela's Ashes this week and make a project / test for my students' summer reading assignment. Sad sad sad that Frank McCourt is gone.
Writing: Work on a story about music and obsession for Storyglossia. Out.

End of July already

2009-07-28T16:16:00.001-07:00

Whew! This month went by. I'm reading the O'Henry collection and I am so taken with the short story by Paul Theroux called "Twenty-two Stories." For all you flash fiction writers out there--read it. It's really a collection of very short flashes, which is what I like to do when I write. Finished revising two short stories and sent them out. Lots going on in the Bay Area. Went to Adele Mendhelson and Clive Matson's poetry reading at the Berkeley Art Center Saturday night. Wow. One man sang "Old Man River." Another woman sang from the opera "Carmen." The usual open mic people--David Gollub and few others I know from the now defunct open mic at La Mediterraneum. Ah, the good old days. Sent out some flash pieces today--haven't done that in a while. Thanks to Meg Pokrass for her encouragement. Google her--read here. She's great. She's on decomP right now. Go there. Don't watch my youtube video of me reading my piece "Ten Suggestions for How to Write a Story Based on a Dream." Why? Because I suck. I had to go first. The crowd was not warmed up and I was trying to hard, plus I don't like my hair. Here's a piece of flash about my hair.

How to Get the Same Exact Hair Color That I Have

First go to Target ready to spend ten lousy dollars on a box of hair color. Loreal is the good product. Spend an hour there deciding whether to buy 8G or 9G. Why don't they have an 81/2 G? Go home and wait to color your hair until a half hour before you have to be somewhere important. The box says a half hour. Follow the directions carefully. Shit, you are late. Now you are going to have to live with that orangeyness until tomorrow. The next day--buy the Blonde Highlights Shampoo and Conditioner. Hesitate. Yeah, go ahead. If you want my hair color, follow along exactly. Wash your hair with the shampoo--make sure to leave it on four minutes instead of three. Do the same with the conditioner. Don't look at your hair when you take it out of the towel--that's not quite the color it's going to be. Blowdry it. Now look. Go right to the local drugstore--Walgreens is best because they have a wider selection. Buy that tube of the purple stuff meant to take the "brassiness" out of your hair. Go home and wash with that about eight or nine times...yes, the same day. Wait a week. Give it a rest. Okay, now call the beautician. She will charge you $200 to correct this. Plus a tip.
Total Cost for Hair like mine: $250. Yep.
Wait, one more. About a week later, go to a different hair dresser and cut it all off. Start over. Write this down and don't forget how to do it because you will do it more than once.

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Up this morning with barking dogs. And, went on-line for submissions. Natural Bridge, the literary magazine out of the University of Missouri-St. Louis is accepting work and they have a nice page about the submissions process. Look for it. http://www.umsl.edu/~natural/guidelines/panel.html.

No plans for this day--I thought it was tomorrow--the fourth I mean. I'm glad. Holidays during the summer annoy me. I don't drink or smoke, so I'm stuck with finding stuff to do. If it gets warm, we'll probably go over to the pool and swim, again.

Time to finish the last draft of my Metal Dump story and send it on its way. Same for the Goat Herder story. I'm reading on the 18th in San Francisco at Amnesia. More on this later.

Stuck in the Denver Airport

2009-06-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yukkk, we are on the way to Omaha, Nebraska, and we're stuck in the Denver airport. Luckily, we have crossword puzzles to fill our brains up. (Or empty them) I've been revising my metal dump story and reading friends stories. I finished Olive Kitteridge and highly recommend it. I'm going to read the novel Brooklyn by (????Colin Tolbin???) Sorry if I butchered his name. I also have a literary magazine along for the ride--River Oak Review. Okay, so for you short story writers out there, I sent a story to Gargoyle, and the reader sent me a note within two days, suggesting other venues: Baltimore Review, Post Road, So to Speak, Pedestal Magazine, and Folio. I went on-line and looked at them and it seems like they might like more traditional or regional topics. So I sent him a different story...more trendy, unusual format, and he immediately sent back suggestions for several magazines, some the same, one or two different, but he also commented briefly on the second story. So, that made me happy and nervous. First, I was so heartened by the fact that this editor would take the time to suggest other venues he felt might be more suited to the two stories, and second that he liked the way I had written the second story. I was also nervous b/c I don't like being pegged as a regional writer. I wonder what "regional" means? Anything that deals with a specific part of the country? Stories dealing with cows and pastures and country people? Stories that deal with the Midwest region? Anyway, neither story dealt with country people or cows or pastures. One did take place in the Midwest, but didn't specifically state a place. One was a story about a family; the other a story about rats. Are rats regional? Anyway, the next day...an editor responded to a piece of flash fiction I sent him and he said something about my story opening spaces inside him that he'd forgotten about. (Different story) I needed to hear that. So my story is that you never know what editor your stories will appeal to, but it does help if you've researched a little. It's funny, because I had already sent stories to four of the five magazines on the first editor's list. I'd read sample work of these magazines on-line or I'd picked up a copy somewhere (the USF lit. mag. library, the bookstore, or ordered a sample copy.) I had never sent to Gargoyle before but I liked how they looked and sounded on-line. I think I should order a copy, though. As L. Buzbee used to say to me, "Do your homework." Keep Writing.

Dog speeding

2009-06-07T20:47:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm trying to catch up on publishing, but first we (meaning the creative writing class at the high school where I teach) had to finish creating the lit mag. Then we had a talent show. In between this I am reading work for my night class, which is keeping me in the loop artistically. I'm feeling good, though, because Jackey got a haircut and we bought new shoes and headbands today, so one more week of high school and school's out for the summer. I'm getting ready to read and write and kick back poolside while Jackey swims. (That's at the public swim pool, by the way.)

On the reading list? Nothing yet. I'm going to visit a bookstore. I did pick up the lit mag Hunger Mountain. Really liked it. Still too busy to comment. Okay, my dog's speeding--I gotta go talk him out of it.

Olive Kitteridge

2009-05-11T22:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I got this book because it won the Pulitzer. I thought, with a name like that, it can't be good. But what the heck, I had read her work somewhere before. I know the people who run those prizes can't be all wrong and it is a collection of SHORT STORIES! Yeah for the short story! Now I don't want to put it down and I don't want to finish it because it is so good. It is so good, while I am in the car and my husband is talking to me I am yessing him, but I am so annoyed because I don't want to talk about the job or the kids or anything, I just want to see what's going to happen to this family next. It's as enjoyable as any Alice Munro collection and who else? Jumpha Lahiri, Tobias Wolff, Raymond Carver, and my local favorite--Kate Brady. So that's it. Buy it, read it. That's all you're getting out of me.

Pre-Mother's Day Reading

2009-05-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hey--long time--I've been busy. I'm reading at Books, Inc. in Alameda today. May 3rd. At 3:00. It should be interesting. Laura Riggs with Speckled Eggs Studio set it up. She's making Mother's Day cards with our work. I hope there are three adult friends who will show up. The address is 1344 Park Street. I'll be reading a super-short flash and my essay published on 580 Split.

Writing: ????Yikes. Dealing with life crisis. Daughter in car accident in L.A. Enough said. She's okay and I'm having post-traumatic stress disorder.

Writing. Write--I'm reading the new Georgetown Review where my short story "Words I Like to Use Lately" appears. I really like the stories in it. They are down-to-earth, feel true and real. Not much experimentation going on and I kind of like that. The poetry is accessible. I see Jacob Appel's name everywhere these days. I have to recommend the story "When Will Our Grass Be Ready" by Jackie Thomas-Kennedy that's in it. Just loved it. I think because we all feel the way the main character does...or at least I do...What do I want? So I'm a fan. I feel like the stories in this magazine are also vivid, have memorable imagery and ideas.

Talking to a friend last night about getting inspired to write. She said she went to a Leonard Cohen concert and it made her want to go home and put words on paper. I think...get out, see the world, listen to other poets, songrwriters...good idea. I went all over California with my parents and was gung-ho to write when they left (sad, though) and then the car accident threw me for a loop. I'm getting back on that horse this week.

580 Split Reading on April 25th

2009-03-31T21:16:00.001-07:00

I have a reading at Mills College coming up for the magazine 580 Split. That's always fun and nice to get out there and hear other people's work. There's also a life after the MFA forum on Sunday, the 26th at USF, so I'm looking forward to being busy in the literary life. My class at Hercules High School is hard at work on the lit mag: The Dynamite Factory, and I'm so proud of them. They get right to it and know exactly what to do. The English III classes are presenting projects for their multicultural lit unit and the other two English classes are reading Catcher in the Rye. I can't tell whether they like it, but I'm getting tired of it. I think I'll try to find something fresh and new for them to read next year. They liked Their Eyes Were Watching God, I think. We have to do some writing soon. So that's life after the MFA in a high school English class. I'm hoping more of you out there will sign up for my Wednesday night fiction class at the Writing Salon (soon). It may be a sign of the economy slump. I'd like to teach a class and only have two sign-ups right now. It'd be nice if the class stayed small, but six is the necessary amount for the class to go.

As for my own writing--well--more time to write is always a plus. Working on a collection of suburban stories. Rough day, though. Daughter had a fender bender, husband's truck got broken into and his wallet stolen--they charged a bunch up at Toys R Us and Staples within an hour or two--and some students at my high school hijacked the school website and wrote some pretty awful things about administrators and teachers. I felt sad and disheartened at their meanness, especially toward teachers and administrators who work so hard to make school a safe place and the teachers who work extra hard to help them be successful on AP exams. Maybe teachers and students don't always see eye to eye, but writing profane and abusive statements, terrorizing the school's website (which students created and maintain)? I don't get it. These are definitely kids with too much time on their hands. And they're sure to get caught, which will also be sad for their lives--and their parents' lives.

The Practice of Poetry

2009-03-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you're a poet and wants some terrific exercises for writing poetry--try The Practice of Poetry, edited by Roni Behn and Chase Twichell. It's great for sparking the imagination, which is why I'm especially encouraging fiction writers who are blocked to try it. It's got my mind all woke up. A friend gave me an article from the LA Times about cowboy poets/farmer poets and I thought that was pretty funny and true. I'm from the Midwest and I can see why farmers would resent the bailout when they lost all their farms in the 80's. No one came to their aide. Here's a sample from Yvonne Hollenbeck
"A 'Bail Out' plan in AgLand is to feed the livestock hay,
and not the type of bail-out plan we hear about today.
When country folds lose money, which happens most of the time
they don't receive a handout...not even one thin dime."

Love it.

New Creative Nonfiction on the Web

2009-03-18T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have a new essay out on the web at 580 Split. It's the short essay called "In the Shed." GOTO 580split.com and then go to their web journal. Let me know what you think. After seeing it on-line, I felt like whoa...too personal. It's my first nonfiction piece. I think I like hiding behind the veil of fiction, but I wanted to step out this once because my daughter JG was mentioned in it and I wanted to say to her, "Hey, I wrote something about us." I was also trying to write about the past and trying to write an essay in the vein of personal reflection. My eleventh grade students have to write one, so I made myself write one, too--to show them and to show myself.

As for people who were considering taking my Friday night class, I'm sorry. I had to step off on that one because I was too overwhelmed with things to do in the next three months. (And quite frankly, I got ill with kidney stones and it set me back about two weeks.) I will still be teaching my Fiction class. It's been moved back to Wednesday nights, with all new stories to read, new writing exercises, and more opportunities to workshop. So check it out if you're thinking about taking a class. If you have graduated from an MFA program, but miss the classroom, this class has a nice mix of writers who are very dedicated to the craft and are very responsible in the workshop/editing phase. It's a great place to go back to and revive that spirit and excitement you had for writing. (Or if you are new--we're gentle and encouraging)

As for advice about writing, I'm now reading a book called The Practice of Poetry by editors Robin Behn and Chase Twichell. They have some terrific exercises for people to write poetry, but I like some of them for inspiring stories, too. I like the idea of writing a story from a poem. I used to do this all the time when I was in the program at USF. Write the story out as lines in a poem first. Then go back and fill it up with detail. I do the reverse sometimes with poetry. Freewrite as a narrative; then pare it down to the simplest form. Cut out and get to the central image and metaphor.

BEGONE!

Too much to do

2009-03-10T21:30:00.001-07:00

Gotta keep it short. Still reading Writing Tips. Love it. Also reading Pushcart Prizes 2009. I'm planning to go hear Kate Brady read (if she does) at her book release party. I love her work. Her book is called The Mechanics of Falling. I lost my cell phone today and a pair of shoes last week and a workout jacket (that I recovered). So I lost three things...my run of bad luck is over. I had three financial disasters: the pipe to our main water line broke, the car needed a new catalytic converter, and our daughter needed new tires. So that's over. My mom says they only come in threes. Oh and she says, "Don't swim in the river!" Love it.

Jane at the Writing Salon is planning a class for me to teach--once a month on a Friday night for six months. This is for people who mainly want to workshop their work. Check it out on her website soon. I'm still planning to teach the Fiction class once a week. BUSY!

I hear lots of people are getting published out there. That's good news in all this doom and gloom atmosphere. It's weird. We (my family) have always been economical and careful with money (sort of) and our income is the same, we still have our house, but we still feel like we should be more careful. It's a strange time. Well, my husband did lose a bunch on his 401 K. Oh yeah, he lost his wallet this week, too. I hope nobody tries to identity theft him!!!!

The writing life feels crammed full right now and not much time for advice. I'm having the class read stories to look for two stories in one.

Tired because of the time change and my dogs are hogging the bed. Sorry, gotta go. I'll write more when I have something to say.

Sunday Rain

2009-02-22T16:04:00.000-08:00

Today is the 22nd--the last day off before the end of ski week. I spent the week working on revising short stories, painting a set for my daughter's play next week, finding a costume for her. I have to say the set turned out fabulous: a surreal orange and yellow sun, a pink castle with silver glitter, and fields of pink, yellow, and white flowers. Thanks to my husband, it looks pretty professional. It's a fairy tale story.

Well, I'm reading a couple of books about writing right now: Writing Tools by Roy Peter Clark and Creative Journal Writing by Stephanie Dowrick. Clark's book is in some ways an updated version of The Elements of Style; however, I'm finding all kinds of useful tidbits around writing that were unexpected when I picked the book up. I wish more newcomers to writing would read books about writing, but I remember when I first started writing--it was all about the act of writing and less about craft. Anyway, Clark looks at things from a journalistic stance, too, and I think that can only help my sense of organization. I found some surprising writing exercises in it. The Creative Journal Writing book is still on the back burner for me. I did like journaling about goals for a particular project--it helped me clarify a direction I'm taking with my collection of stories I seem to be working on now.

I was also thinking a lot this week about writing groups vs. classes vs. one-on-one mentoring. I've been shopping around for a writing group to join, but find many groups blocked to my entry. I think it's just that people get used to each other--hmm, what am I trying to say? I keep encouraging people in my classes to also think about finding someone whose opinion they really trust to help dig deeper into their stories. I have one or two people whose opinions really matter to me; I'd like to find one or two more. One thing I think that happens is a person needs help with just one small issue in a story, and an article or a craft book doesn't really address that. I read the flyer/newsletter from Glimmertrain called Writer's Ask? Is that what it's called. Anyway, I feel like they need to have the articles dig a little deeper on some of their topics--too superficially treated. I think helping students with a particular topic works in a one-on-one question/discussion format rather than in the workshop model. In a workshop class, students bring the writing to the table and are told the strengths of the piece and then some areas that need attention. Or the others ask questions. The writer is silent until the end, but I find that if I am allowed to talk about a story to a group, I'm able to come up with the answer I needed. By that, I don't mean that I justify the events or endings or whatever in a story. If it aint there, it aint there. I mean, say I don't like me ending, but I can talk about my ending, maybe I can figure out why I don't like it. If a group tells me the ending doesn't work for them and then suggests alternate endings, they've gone too far in trying to write it for me. I attended a group last week, and we sat around and ate chili and salad and laughed and talked about our stories and that helped free up my writing more than any prescribed group vs. writer type of setting. Journaling about a story helps, too. Still can't work in a vacuum. I'm not that writer. All right enough rambling. I've got stories to edit and I gotta go see a man about a mule.

Writing Fiction

2009-02-08T19:00:00.000-08:00

It was nice to see a couple of people read my blog--Peter and Kevin. Kevin asked about my fiction class that I teach on Thursday nights at the Writing Salon. It usually runs as a nine week class. In each class, we address an issue of craft, such as developing characters or finding the arc of the story. I try to bring new articles and ideas surrounding craft for each class. That means if you've taken the class before, I still bring in new stories and new techniques for addressing craft. We have a short discussion around craft, read a story related to the issue, and discuss that. Then we try some writing within the class--something centered around the story we read or the craft issue. Maybe we'll try writing a story that has lots of dialogue with lots of subtext, something like that. Then we workshop 2-3 stories for the rest of the class. It's a jam-packed night. If you take the class, you get to workshop at least two stories within the timeframe of the class. It starts again in the summer. Sometimes I teach a flash fiction class on a weekend, but I've had more trouble drumming up a class for that. the website for any classes at the Writing Salon is writingsalons.com.

Kevin--thanks for the quote from Bukowski, but I think he was a pretty ambitious poet. He's not giving himself enough credit.

As for me, I had a great time at the Good Vibrations reading on Friday. It was very tastefully prepared and everyone seemed to have a good time. Laura Riggs made some beautiful cards with our poems/flash fiction/nonfiction on them, so I was especially pleased. (By the way, it was on Polk--oops)

I'm working on a story now that I got inspired to write by reading the book Ron Carlson Writes a Story. It's a book that follows how he wrote the story "The Governor's Ball." I liked it because it looked at how we writers write a story, instead of looking at story from the outside ie. craft. I was so inspired by it that I decided to include a period of time within my class at the Writing Salon where we don't just talk about craft, but also talk about where we get ideas, how we make decisions, how we get into and through the revision process, how we set a writing schedule that works for us--stuff like that.

Bummed. I went to Zack Rogow's reading today at Diesel Books in Oakland on College (His book: lovely, lovely, lovely--called The Number Before Ininity) and forgot my purse, so I didn't get to buy all the books I had picked up for myself and for loved ones' Valentines--I gotta get back over there. Well, it's time to read and write a little, spend some time half-watching a kid movie with my younger daughter and get some sleep. Be kind to yourself and say hi to me when you get a chance.

Wait let me just say one more thing about Zack's book. It's a collection of poems that are wonderfully written. The blurb on the back says each poem is a chapter in the story of two lovers united by passion but separated by previous commitments. I especially choked up over his poems involving children caught in the tug-of-war when two people move apart. The Number Before Inifinity

Poetry Reading

2009-01-29T17:40:00.001-08:00

Hey, If you read this. Leave a comment. I need to know if anyone reads this in order for me to continue. All right--up on the agenda--I have a reading coming up on Feb. 6 at Good Vibrations in San Francisco. We are reading love poetry at that location and selling a little gift card with our poems in it. Cool. This is all arranged by Laurie Doyle from my Fiction class at the Writing Salon. More on this later. Come on over-it's at 7:00 on Valencia Street in the Mission.

Checking In

2009-01-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while. My new Fiction Class at the Writing Salon starts next Thursday, the 29th of January. It runs from 7:00 to 9:30. I'm looking forward to it. We're planning to address issues of craft as usual, but I also want the class to talk about the process of creating a story ie. "Where" do they come up with stories? How do they find time to write? How do they stay with a story until it's finished?

I finished Mark Budman's novel and enjoyed it--nice voice. I also picked up a copy of the current 2009 Pushcart Prizes and was a little dismayed to read the editor's opening comments dissing on-line magazine submissions. I find it in poor taste to allow editors from on-line sources to submit stories for consideration and then to openly criticize on-line venues for the poor quality of the submissions. If the Pushcarts don't want on-line magazines to submit, then they shouldn't have opened the door to this. I'm not sure what's going on there. I've read some pretty amazing stories on-line in Narrative Magazine, Virginia Quarterly, Storyglossia, Western Humanities Review and some great flash at Smokelong Quarterly. I also enjoy reading the flash at Vestal Review. I'm not published in most of these magazines, so this isn't self-promotion. I just find it plain RUDE that print publications are being such dinosaurs about what they consider to be quality fiction. I see lots of award winning authors publishing on-line these days. Enough. I'll stop after I say one more thing--weren't the Pushcarts established in order to honor literature that doesn't get honored. Isn't that the spirit of this prize? I feel like the on-line venues should start their own Pushcart Prize. We do have the Million Writers Award, but this typically picks only one story. Dzanc Books publishes a Best of the Web book now, so I guess that's our Pushcart. It's daunting, though. I hear so many new writers say, Maybe I shouldn't try to get published on-line. I say, do your homework...read the magazines...see if you like the stories. Water seeks its own level. Okay I'll stop.

Writing? Yes, but for now, that's under wraps. I do have a short creative non-fiction piece coming out on the ON-LINE edition of 580 Split. I'm very proud of it and very proud to be included in 580's inaugural on-line edition of the magazine. It's out at the end of the month, called "In the Shed."

Anything else? Read Ron Carlson Writes a Story. It'll inspire you. I went to Instant City's reading for their new magazine issue. I feel like it's a small select crowd who all know each other that gets in the mag. Nice people, but Gravity Goldberg was joking about nepotism, and hmm. I'm not from SF, but being from another state and moving here, I feel like I'm a San Francisco-an. I'm from the East Bay. The story has to be about San Francisco--okay, I'm okay with that, but there's also this gritty realism thing, too. Is that all SF is? Drugs, violent scenes at poetry readings, confrontations on mass transit? I need a stronger point to some of the stories I like. I did like one story, though--"Eucalyptus" by Cynthia W. I forget the last name and I left my copy at work. Anyway, that story captured a generation for me. She did some nice work there.

Other on-line venues I like, of course, are VerbSap, Wheelhouse, Midway Journal. I'm published in these. I'm not looking to win awards with these stories, but I still love these stories. I submitted them on-line, not because I felt they weren't good enough to get into a print mag, but because they were shorter, had a trendier, more on-line feel to them. I can't say what that quality is that makes me say submit this on-line. A little shorter than average is one quality, though. Midway wanted experimentation--I liked their logo and I liked what I saw when I went there. I also liked that they were a Midwestern base. Don't be an elitist. Submit to both print and on-line. Encourage and support.

A New Year

2009-01-03T11:11:00.000-08:00

What am I finished reading?
Iron Horse Review, The HolidayIssue; Cimarron Review, Summer 2008; Mississippi Review V36, N3; the Iowa Review 38/1.
What am I reading right now?
Mark Budman's novel, My Life at First Try. So far, I really like it. I love the short episodic nature of his chapters. I like it that he tried something different with narrative. I love the voice of it and the cultural details around living in Russia. I'll let you know how well I really like it, when I'm finished.
What did I dream last night?
I dreamt that my deck on my house started falling apart and that I was sleeping outside in this shed in front of my house. Then I was at the school where I teach and I was taking some weird sex class that I couldn't figure out how to pay for. Then I had to get home to my kids, but I had to take this strange kind of vehicle owned by one of the teachers. It had a weird gear shift, like a tractor. I was driving it crazy and fireworks were going off in the field nearby. Okay, that's strange. Shall we interpret that? Home, kids, sex, money, work. Yeah, I'm not hard to figure out.
What am I going to do today?
Write something new. Revise two stories that need work. Journal about my idea for a novel. Ieee. Exercise first so I can establish my priorities.

Iowa Short Fiction Awards

2008-12-27T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well, it's bittersweet. Once again, a semifinalist for the Iowa Awards. I know you are saying, bitch, you should be happy. Ten years writing and writing once we hit '09 and still no book published. What do I have to do? I have to write 15 Stories that will knock your socks off. Or just get lucky, I guess. Maybe it's something to do with the times. Oh well, I think I'd rather get a semifinalist letter than no letter at all. That's in the top 20 out of almost 400 people, according to the editors...so quit y'bitching, Ms. Genna. That collection is still out there looking for a home. It's called Stories I Heard When I Went Home for My Grandmother's Funeral. The stories in it all have some reference to Iowa. I thought it was pretty lucky to get picked as a semifinalist for the Iowa Prize because they don't look for Iowa stories. I have been shopping for a press that does Midwest stories, but they are few and far between.

X-MAS OVER / NOW WHAT?

2008-12-26T09:58:00.000-08:00

Thank God, X-mas is over. I still want to to go to church, just to sing all the old hymns, clear those rusty pipes out. But hey, it's time to look forward. Can someone point me to a bookstore? I'm finished reading all my lit mags that I have on my shelf: Cimarron Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, and, oh wait, I still have to read River Oak. The Cimarron issue started off a little slow, but then it grew on me. I'd have to say I enjoyed the poetry the most--lots of narrative stuff that I could appreciate. Toni Graham is the fiction editor there; she used to teach at USF, so I thought I'd check it out. The stories in there--let's see, I really liked "Funny Looking People" by Gemini Wahhaj--a story I thought my students at Hercules would like. "Gazelle" ended a little abruptly for me, and I love an abrupt ending. Oh, and I finished Opium 7. I love the graphics in that magazine. What's weird is that my name's in it and I keep forgetting that. I'm going to show it to my students as a possible idea for imitating some of the different layouts. We produce a high school lit mag called The Dynamite Factory, which sounds like an old school 70's name, but is really based on the fact that all of Hercules used to be a powder works company. We should have our website up and running soon for that class, too.
Okay, so writing. I think the best thing is to read what you want to be writing. By that I mean, if you're gearing up to write a novel, read novelists you admire. Someone gave me a copy of Water for Elephants, and I can't get past chapter 2. I wanted to read it, just for the fact that it's about circus people, but I couldn't get past the convention of old fart telling his life story. I remember a really good novel called Geek Love that does this much better. Read some Richard Yates. I heard a review of the movie Revolutionary Road on NPR that said it was an okay version of the book, but don't do what I did with Atonement and watch the movie first. I can't get through that book now, and I felt the movie was anticlimactic. The lit mag Water~Stone Review is just beautiful, inside and out--try that one. I have a few more pages of that left to read. So my two faves in L.M. This year are still The Iowa Review and Opium. They fit my sensibility. Of course, there's always McSweeney's and Missouri Review. If you're a short story writer or a poet or a creative nonfiction writer, you should be reading lit mags, period.

Stories to get oneself fired

2008-12-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

Finished the Mississsippi Review's magazine about Literary Magazines (Volume 36, Number 3) and found a great deal of the information in there to be useful to me as a short story writer. I also finished Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and loved, loved, loved it. His dark themes and his writing style are right up my alley. If you're a writer, order that lit mag; it'll be worth the investment. The editors who talk up in the magazine also recommend some new writers and I found them all disturbingly inspiring. I'm not a critic, just a writer and a reader--so order it for yourself and decide.

Well, it's vacation time--time to catch up on the writing and make some resolutions:
1. Get in better shape--the back problem is, for the most part, resolved, so it's time to work on the legs and the arms. They got a little flabby this year. Personally, though, I think it's pre-menopausal stuff, to be honest, because I stayed pretty active even with a bad back.
2. Well, it's time to start thinking about a novel. I have an idea for one--As Lewis Buzbee said to me once, "Don't write a novel unless you've got an idea for one." But what happens to me is I start out to write a novel and it ALWAYS turns into a short story. That may just be who I am.
3. Which, by the way, leads me to another resolution and that is to order a new copy of Lewis's book Steinbeck's Ghost and read it. I had just started it, took it to school to show off to my students, and it came up missing. An avid high school reader, perhaps? Anyway, I can't wait to get it again and read it.
4. Read some long fiction: I'm thinking Toni Morrison's new book Mercy sounds good. Any suggestions? I like to read books that I could also share with high school students, so nothing too obscure. It works best if it's something that will get published later on in paperback.
5. Read some short story collections: Ron Carlson, Charles D'Ambrosio? Any suggestions there? I read Haruki Mirakami's collection this past summer. How about a woman writer? Nona Casper's collection was also right up my alley (IoWa, IOwa, IOWA).
6. Write some short stories about my teaching experiences, if they won't get me fired. As always, thought, that might not be such a bad thing.

New flash on-line

2008-12-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.bigtoereview.com/id77.html

This is a story I wrote for Big Toe Review called "The Holiday Issue." Tell me what you think.

Correction: The Mississippi Review / Literary Magazines

2008-12-09T08:49:00.000-08:00

OOPS! The magazine is the Mississippi Review: A Journal of Contemporary Literature. The issue is called "Literary Magazines / Volume 36 / Number 3. I just got it and will let you know if it's useful for finding out about literary magazines. I want to know what the state of the art is. I send a work called "The Holiday Issue" to Big Toe Review and got accepted, so look for that piece of irreverent flash. More later, recovering from the flu.

Read about Literary Magazines in Missouri Review

2008-11-24T21:36:00.001-08:00

Reading the Newpages blog and they had a great note on one of Missouri Review's literary mags--it's a magazine about literary magazines. They talk to editors about the state of the art in lit mags. I ordered my issue. I'll be curious to see what they say about issues of print vs. web. More and more, I'm turning to websites to publish because the wait time with print is so long. I love seeing my work in print, but one thing I've found--I've said this before--is that telling friends, students, coworkers they can find your work archived on-line is really rewarding, especially when the work you've gotten published is some of your finest. When I sent my story "Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral" in to Storyglossia, I had no idea he'd nominate it for a Pushcart, but I did know that I liked it well enough to send it without any input from my writing group. There's a job posted for Northwestern College, which is in Orange City, Iowa, on that newpages.com blog, too. I could go back there and teach creative writing. Orange City is an all Dutch town (or mostly). It really is a throwback to another time to go back there. Oh, I miss it all.

Classic lit, Acting, and Unblocking

2008-11-23T13:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 1:15 on a Sunday afternoon. My teenager's eighteenth birthday came and went yesterday. I've been reading the River Oak Review and finding it much more diggable as I went on. Loved the short story "Misfortune" by Lanner Tremont about a fortune teller substitute. Clever little flip to it. It felt like a story I could share with my creative writing students at HMHS. "Sky Full of Burdens" by Meg Moceri especially trips my trigger because of its reference to a fear of heights. I thought the dialogue in it was funny. I'm still reading it. I'm looking to read a few good novels between now and end of the school year. Probably Toni Morrison's Mercy. Did anyone go to see her talk in SF this weekend? I had to act in the school play--what fun! I realized that what I've been missing once again is activity. By that I mean, moving around and having fun. I'm finally getting over a back injury from a year ago, getting out and walking the new puppy, exercising, and thinking about what to write. The activity has to be fun, though. Just acting in a play, recalled all the memories of teaching theater at Richmond High School. Love those 11 YEARS. I miss it, but I know the amount of work that goes into being a theater teacher, which is why I decided to become a writer instead. I missed doing things on my own rather than always teaching others. And that moment in the spotlight Friday night made me realize that I'm teaching too much or else falling into the trap of quizzes and study guide questions again. I wanted to teach My Antonia, Farewell to Arms, Ethan Frome, and The Great Gatsby: 1870-1930 lit: in a new and interesting way and I started just assigning and moving on. YUK. So it's time to reasses. Monday, no quiz. Kids will have to draw what's missing in Huck Finn. They were joking, no pictures, Ms. Genna and I said, well, they're used to be. We talked for a long time about the language in Huck and what's redeemable in it, but Ilike to give them class time to read. I think they should draw or make a graphic comic or a play. It's been done, I know, but not by them. We'll see. As for my own writing, I keep debating about whether to write memoir or fiction or novel, and suddenly I decided I was giving myself a block. Why not do all three! I can always write memoir and keep a running story going--these stories about growing up in Iowa in a farming family of 10 kids are classic. I don't have to think about publication. I could also write stories as they occur. Still looking for that novel idea, but I think I need to be reading novels to be in that frame of mind.

Taking a break

2008-11-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, I figure if the only writing I get done is this, at least I've gotten some writing done. I had to take a break from reading The Crucible essays and stories from my two creative writing classes. I'm reading my e-mail and regretting not being able to go to the FlatmanCrooked party. Couldn't find a babysitter--actually Jacklyn's 10, but still gotta have that older person there to look after her. Enjoying the new puppy every day--he's sweet and has learned how to sit up instantly for a treat--he looks like a thick little prairie dog! AWWWW. Got a super-fast rejection from Memoir(and)--one day, and wondered if they even read my stuff. It was super-short, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. I think I'll order a copy of that mag, though, because it looks interesting. I got a copy of River Oak in the mail and thought it was a little on the quaint side, but still have to look through it to get a better perspective. I read pretty much all of Water-Stone Review and was impressed by the quality of the work. Recently finished Opium's latest mag and had mixed feelings on the stories. I wanted more depth. The writing is good, but feels trendy at times without substance. I did like the writerly quotes in there. Lewis Buzbee gave me one and then he submitted one. I hope this magazine stays on top with its quirky humor and strange angles of life. So, I recommend sending for a few samples of magazines if you're wondering where to submit. See if they're your cup of tea. Sometimes I find that a magazine has all "names" in it, with very few new people and I think, nope, not yet. Gotta' wait til I get a book published (if this every happens). I went through a long period where I sent no manuscript out. Just tired of those finalist/semifinalist letters and thought maybe I needed to change something. Now, I'm in a down period because of lack of time. Dont' think I'm not thinking right now, that I could be writing instead of this, but this is a nice way to clear the deck.

November already

2008-11-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

I can see that FACEbook has taken over the blogging territory. Does anybody blog anymore? I see blogs attached to lit mags. The one on New Pages is pretty good. Storyglossia's editor used to have more entries, but fewer now, so I think everyone's over to Facebook format. My concern is that someone will post something inappropriate on my facebook account. Writing world for me is non-existent right now. Too much to do--grade essays, grade, grade, grade. I can see where teaching interferes with my creative process. I'm curious how people who are teachers deal with losing the impetus to write when they are all the time working on lessons, evaluating, and don't forget--going home and taking care of kids and pets. McSweeney's and the new FlatmanCrooked are having a shindig in San Francisco tonight. Look it up on the web and think about going. I'm going to try to make it over there. I did write some experimental type lyric essays, but need the time to sit down and edit them. I don't think it's about being blocked--I think it's about being overextended.

This Blog

2008-09-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

I am doing the following: dealing with pets, grading Scarlet Letter short answers (not bad), feeling woeful over not being asked to read at Litquake by Tim Foley for the magazine Farallon Review. Long story, but do not feel like going into it. Suffice it to say, he has according to him--"not done anything wrong." A version which I strongly disagree with. According to Litquake people--they leave it in the hands of the cocurators to invite who they want. They encouraged me to get to know other editors in the area and submit. Therefore, I am moving past it. On a personal note, I am loving my creative writing class. Ken Rodgers came by and taught a lesson on imagery and the kids, as always, loved it. Yeah, Ken. Thanks for the respect and commitment. You're a friendly face at a time when I needed to see one. As for writing--I gave myself permission not to write until my back feels better. I'm going to see a specialist at the end of the month--it's beyond Tylenol's help. Not doing too bad today, though. Hi, Jean Womack. I got your comments--your paintings of Yosemite are dynamite. I want to buy one. Are they expensive?

Sign up for my fiction class if you are a new time writer or experienced or even if you have taken the class before. I'll be mixing in new stuff with the old, so it won't be tired. This class is about working on your fiction. I do have novelists that take the class and work on chapters. That's okay with me. I am primarily a short story writer, but study the novel and teach it.

We had a lot of fun the last time I taught the Flash Fiction class, so join in and see what creative ideas you can come up with. The short short is an art form that deserves a second look.

More later.

Online Journal

2008-09-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

I have a few minutes and then it will be time to lie down with Jackey on her bed--read a little of The Longest Winter to her and then go to sleep. I didn't have time to read Period 1's essays about a turning point in their lives, although they are easy and enjoyable to read. I just need a moment to cleanse the palate of my mind. Today, I did not read a book. The students didn't read--it was picture day, which took almost all period. We did discuss the use of the hyphen, a rule I think will stand them in good stead. I could be reading one essay right now. My plate is too full, though. I need a break. Tomorrow night is my creativity class, so that'll be a refreshing break from American Literature. We are going to generate stories and a mind map. Hmmm. Stealing this idea from someone. In October, my friend Lewis Buzbee's book Steinbeck's Ghost is coming out. He's reading in the city somewhere...Oct. 9th I think at a bookstore. I'm looking forward to this book. All right all. Goodnight.

To sleep or not to sleep

2008-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ayee, too much work. Reading the study guides for The Scarlet Letter that I thought I did not assign this summer. In class I forgot where the story takes place and got all owly with students when they called me on it. Boston or Salem? Oy. Boston, but Hawthorne lived in Salem--what a stupid trivia question. This absent-mindedness I am attributing to 1) my dad's side of the family--his undiagnosed dyslexia--I've got it when it comes to remembering people's names, street numbers, and numbers, period. Oh, you're saying, everyone has that. No!!! Not like me. I could forgot the name of a former best friend. It is like a huge hollow space in my head and then suddenly, three days later it pops into my mind. I could memorize a scene from Macbeth and then suddenly four whole sentences will be gone. I reverse order of words all the time. It's embarrassing to run into your former babysitter with the unusual name that you know starts with a V and not be able to remember that his name is V---I can't remember now--Ventura! I got it. It gets worse when I haven't had enough sleep. I don't get enough sleep when my back is acting up, which it did this weekend. MISERAble. I'm trying not to complain out loud, though. So I'll just do it in writing. What does this mean for my writing, though? I have to clear the air, get rid of the frustration with pain, find a quiet and pain-free space and a line that keeps repeating itself inside my mind--a line that wants to be a story or a poem. A sentence that someone uttered, a moment that sticks. What is it? I can remember those. I remember standing outside the French doors of our newly remodeled basement and not speaking to my husband. I remember seconds and flashes of moments, but not names. You could tell me the name and the number of the street and two, no one, second later, I will say where? This isn't Alzheimers, it's for life. Ahh, the brain. I hear exercise is good for it, so maybe I'll go work out, or else go lie down.

Writers

2008-08-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

So, I was thinking and thinking about writing this morning. I wondered how to make this blog useful to both myself and others. I think maybe clients might read it; teachers from my school; a few old friends here and there; some family members might read it (that'd be rare, but they are sure to talk about it to each other rather than to me!). I think writing in seclusion can be frustrating, yet if you don't do the alone time, nothing gets done. I like to go for a walk, then write. I like to get on a schedule. I like to teach. I like to hang out with my kids and / or my husband. BALANCE is essential. The other day my nine year old went somewhere with a friend and I was at a loss for what to do when I didn't have to squeeze writing in. That was a signal to me--I could get that empty nest syndrome when she's gone, even though I have plenty to keep me busy. What I need to do, however, is write. So that's what I'm going to do: make a list of stories that need work, pick one, and revise. I was looking at a story this morning that I thought was finished, but that I wasn't quite happy with. I'd been sending it out, getting rejections, but still that feeling--I don't like it as much as other stories I've written. Having left it alone for a long time, rereading it, I realized the language was a little listy, a little clunky. I wanted to throw it away, but Ilove the ending of it (I'm not saying which story). So I realized that I need to go at it with a pen and my vocal chords. Read it out loud. I had read it aloud when I wrote it, but now with time and distance, I can hear it better. So I'm going to go into my new writing studio and read it out loud. CU LTR

CANT

2008-08-07T23:15:00.000-07:00

Places you can't find my work: the fifth corner of the Monopoly board game, the Missouri Review, the New Yorker, on the side of a bus, tatooed on my tooth, the Kenyon Review, inside the dynamite factory, Alaska Quarterly Review, written on a roll of duct tape, oh stop. You get the point.

Which is not say I haven't tried. Well, I haven't tried the New Yorker, and I haven't sent anything to the Kenyon Review for a long time. But the only way to find out if someone will or won't publish your work is to send it to them.

On talking to people who've never been published. It ain't that easy. Send to smaller magazines first. Go on-line, read magazines on-line that have received notoriety and success in the on-line market: Storyglossia, Wheelhouse, Story South, Pindeldyboz...(Stop putting these websites down; we're talking short story writers here, not novelists, although lots of novelists have been published on-line). There's many many others. Read that stuff! It's great. A few good writers you can read on-line: Laurie Seidler, Neil Crabtree, Stephanie Dickinson, Steve Almond, Tobias Wolff. Those are not in any particular order. See the writers.

Back to Work

2008-08-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

I'm taking the RIAP conference on teaching reading and writing and am overwhelmed with work, so the blog is off the map right now.

Just want to mention my Creativity Jolt! class at the writing salon. It runs five weeks and is starting August 20th. Sign up! You'll love it. It's just the thing you need if you want a place to write without judgment.

To all friends who are waiting for me to read their work--sorry, but I'll get to it. You know I'm good for it.

I'll be back this weekend.

New Class: Creativity Jolt!

2008-07-22T10:25:00.000-07:00

I've created a new class to teach at the Writing Salon in Berkeley. It's for those of us who need to be energized with our writing. It runs five Wednesday evenings, starting August 20th through September17th. We'll be doing timed writing exercises and then sharing our writing in a nonjudgmental atmosphere, looking for that germ of an idea for a story or a chapter. Often in a writing class, it's about criticism and revision, and there's a valid place for that, but I need to get excited about the idea. So we'll be doing writing exercises around creating story, character, setting...the craft elements of writing, but we'll try different techniques for getting into the writing. I want to make writing fun again--not work. You can do that at home. In addition to writing and sharing, everyone will be given a manuscript consult on one work from the class, so you'll still get that individualized attention. I think I'm more excited to teach the class than you will be to take it. Feel free to e-mail me (ask Jane for my e-mail via writingsalons.com) or comment or ask questions about the class via this blog. I still have openings for the flash fiction class that starts Saturday, August 2nd from 10-4.

As for my own writing, I'm stoked to go to the FC2 Writer's Edge Convention. We'll be studying fairy tales, creating a collaborative novel, and looking at experimental combinations of mixed media (film, writing, art). I'm so looking forward to this trip. I love the ten hour drive--I'll have to read the work for Lance Olsen's class on the way up, though. I've been drywalling my new writing studio in the back yard for about three weeks and it's finally done, so when we get home, I'll have to start writing something for real. I did write a little something called "In the Shed" with the help of my own writing coach, but it needs revision.

Writing Process

2008-07-10T11:40:00.001-07:00

Lately, I've been paying attention to the fact that when I'm on the computer in the morning and researching venues to send my work to, I get a very businessy mind that is hard to shake. I get like this anxiety and a sort of crunchy feeling inside after I've been at it a while. I guess sending my work out gets a little ouchy sometimes. Trying to figure out where to send work and who will accept it leaves me a little empty. There's trendy, experimental, voicy kind of magazines (read contemporary) and then there's the more traditional mags. There's on-line shorter types of magazines that seem to want edgy flash pieces that sometimes read like poetry rather than story. And there's contests to consider. Whew! So I have to figure out what category my work falls into; then I have to decide whether to read a little of the stuff on the website, if it's offered. I have to decide if I personally like the name of the magazine. I also have to decide whether to buy an advance copy or order one when I submit, or simply to submit blind. (I don't recommend doing too much of that last one.) There really is no such thing as a clearly blind submission. When I'm submitting, I look at, again, the title, the editors, the blog--if they have one, sample selections (Yeah to those mags that do have these) and as often as I can, the magazine itself. I get the magazine by entering a contest that gives you a sample copy. I send for a sample copy if I like all of the above, or if the editor has given me a rejection with a nice note. Or I subscribe, if I really like the stuff I've seen inside. I especially subscribe to magazines that publish my work. If a magazine seems to fit my personal profile of writing, I subscribe to that mag. I actually don't subscribe to many magazines lately, but I like reading magazines more than books. So, I guess this is a blog about subscribing to magazines and about publication. Where I was really headed was to write about how to get out of business head and write stories. Yesterday I went swimming at the public swim pool for a while, read a little Lydia Davis, and then felt the urge to write, so I pulled out my journal and wrote a few pages. Voila, writing block broken. I urge you to get away from your computer and publishing. Go read, exercise, then write. These are not new ideas. Read Jane Anne Staw's book Unblocked. That'll help. Reread The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

July 9th; Post Fourth of July

2008-07-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Let's take care of business first:

Writing Salon / writingsalons.com
Fiction Class: July 23rd, Wednesday nights, 9 weeks, 7-9:30
Flash Fiction Seminar: August 2nd, Saturday, 10-4

I listened to Chiasmus Press's (ooh 3 s's, ooh 2 s's) podcast, and I have to say boring promo for their press. It took 15 minutes for them to start talking and they didn't really get into what the Press's books were about. They do have a book contest for new, avant garde, experimental, edgy stuff: undoing the novel. I don't think my work is out there enough for them, but when I go to FC2's innovative fiction workshop, I'll take a look at their authors--Chiasmus is linked to Lydia Yuknavitch and others, so they'll be there. My personal concern is that innovative might just really be a catch phrase lately (and this is not in connection to FC2's or Chiasmus Press books) for anything dealing with sex, drugs, rock-n-roll, or maybe something that doesn't have a story line. Or maybe I'm just the one who plays it safe all the time. So I'm tired of my own blog and feeling like I should voice an opinion about something once in a while. I don't have all the time in the world to listen to podcasts, though. At the same time, I have a hard time sitting down with mainstream literary novels these days. I think I'm somewhere in between.

Haven't been any place lately--drywalling our new shed in the back yard so I can have a writing studio. Hanging wash on the line, so I can utilize the power of the sun rather than the dryer. Two jobs I love, in a way. Dry walling is satisfying--putting the mud on the wall, scraping it even. It's the sanding part I hate--dusty and time-consuming. The part I hate about laundry is putting the clothes away. Isn't it weird that we have parts of jobs we like and parts we hate. I don't mind loading the dishwasher; I hate unloading. I don't mind painting my daughter's room; I like moving furniture around; I hate cleaning the room, though. I don't mind blogging; but I hate editing my own blogs. I don't mind editing other people's work, but I always hate it when I feel like a student/client isn't really going to revise. Well, hate's a strong word.

I was reading the Emerging Writer's Network blog and thinking about how I could make my blog more useful, interesting, perhaps valuable, and crap I couldn't come up with anything except being myself. Which makes me think of something else. When I moved out to California, I found out that Californians think the word "crap" is a dirty word. I never heard that before. We said it in school and no one ever corrected me, but out here, my students say, "Ms. Gennna, ooh you said crap." Well, maybe it's just because a teacher is using it. Well, that's silly.

I saw the fireworks in Pinole with my younger daughter--beautiful and oohful. Back in Iowa, if you crossed the state line into SD, you could buy fireworks, and I miss being a kid and watching my dad and uncles get that big box out of trunk of the car at dusk and setting them off at night at my Grandma and Grandpa Skinner's house. Now that's what Independence Day is really about!
Go to Disneyland and watch their fireworks display and see if you don't get all choked up, no matter how much propoganda and brainwashing you think is in a Disney movie.

Well, someone once told me I was a fence rider, and I think that's true. You can see a lot of things while sitting on a fence, but some things I'm not so fencey about. Injustice, poverty, cruelty, waste, racism. I mean it's the important things.

Flash Fiction Class

2008-07-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

The flash fiction class is August 2nd. Whew! I thought I did a scheduling snafu, but I didn't. I'm starting the fiction class on July 23rd, Wednesday night and the flash is on a Saturday. I go up to the FC2 conference on the weekend of July 25th - 27th.

Books I'm reading: Still working on Miranda July and Lydia Davis. I read a couple of the shorter selections of Davis's out loud in the car to my husband and when I stopped, my nine year old said, "Keep going." So her comedic wryness can hold the interest of a nine year old girl. Hmmm.

If you're a writer, check out the Emerging Writer's Network. Got to go--do some writing for real.

Flash Fiction

2008-06-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that I will also be teaching a flash fiction class at the Writing Salon. In this class, we'll be studying some classic short-shorts by Hemingway, Carver, Kate Chopin, among others. These will fall under the heading of sudden fiction because they're longer than what some think of as pure flash. Then we'll be studying some current flash fiction from various places I've been reading. At the same time, we'll try timed writing exercises and creative ways to write flash. This class is all day on a Saturday at the Berkeley salon (Strawberry Creek business park). I believe it's on July 23rd, but check the website: writingsalons.com. Or call Jane, the owner/manager with questions. We'll try writing short stories that are 1,000 words, 750 words, 500 words, and possibly even shorter. But we won't sacrifice story for length. Check it out.

Quick Reads Worth Looking For

2008-06-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Read Laurie Seidler's short story "Falling" in Small Spiral Notebook. It deserves more than one read-through.http://www.smallspiralnotebook.com/fiction/index.shtml I was reading VerbSap's summer issue and saw her link to the story and I agreed with another editor. It's the kind of story that makes you pause. Very skillful blending of imagery: the moon, the surf, the narrator's situation. Poetic.

Fiction Class at the Writing Salon

2008-06-27T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'll be teaching a fiction class at the Writing Salon again this summer. It starts on July 23rd and runs for nine weeks. That's on Wednesday nights from 7-9:30. If you haven't taken a class at the salon before, it's got a great atmosphere for writing. It's in the Strawberry Creek business park; there's a little grass park right there and you can hear the creek bubbling by. Jane has a wonderful studio for writers there that is quite conducive to inspiring people to write. If you've taken the class before, but wish you could take it again, don't hesitate. I think you'll learn something new. I like to use different readings to study, but the craft issues are always important to look at. I'm also into using new writing exercises and new essays by people who really know what they're doing. We look at the arc of story, plot, character, what the character wants and desires, setting and how it affects story, point of view and voice, theme, metaphor in story, and much more. You'll get a chance to write and workshop at least two full-length stories for class. When I graduated from the masters program at USF, I continued to take classes through the Writing Salon so I could stay inspired and continue to grow as a writer, and I was never disappointed. So I think my class is beneficial to both new and experienced writers. A rough draft is always a rough draft, so don't feel intimidated--just write.

Watchword Press's shindig

2008-06-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, the art at Watchword Press's thing last night was pretty amazing. And the performance pieces were really quite moving: some funny, some disturbing in a good way (whatever that means). I had a chance to chat with the author whose work the installations and dramatics were based upon--Britta J. Astin. Each day for a year she typed little "stories" or as she said, not wanting to call them anything, on little notecards with an old-style typewriter. One act interpreting her work used typewriters as a main prop and when they brought out the tan suitcases it brought back fond memories for me of my parents' old typewriter I used to play with growing up. I am old enough to have had to learn how to type on a typewriter, how to erase with a whiteout reel or tape, and how to retype a whole page when you really screw up. I was the second fastest typer in my high school...Laurie Schlueter being the fastest. She was an adopted Asian girl, the only Asian girl in our all-white high school back in Iowa. You see the floodgates that typewriter image opened up for me. Speaking of floods--my parents farm is not underwater, it's on the other side of the state, but their bottom is, as always, flooded. I don't feel so bad about it--dad sold the bottom and kept the fishing rights to the river, which just means that, for now, they can't go fishing. And no, they can't just fish in the field.

Watchword's exhibition is still going on at Intersection for the Arts at 426 Valencia and the work is really worth seeing. They're having an encore presentation of the performances on the 26th of June, I believe. Susanne Dyckman's poems on iconic religious cards are worth reading, looking at. Love the holiness of putting poems on the back of what was a staple in my grandmother's household growing up. Pictures of Jesus and the lamb. Mary, Joseph, and the baby--all with halos around their heads. There is one particular picture of the baby Jesus that looks just like my youngest sister when she was a baby--pure white skin, rosy cheeks, rosebud lips. Hilarious and yet so sweet. See how we get our religions.

Picked up the new Watchword X and have only had time to thumb through it, so stay tuned on that lit mag. I'm also reading Lydia Davis's book Variety of Disturbance Stories. It caught my eye because of a story called "The Fellowship," which is hilarious. It's about how when you apply for a fellowship your work isn't good enough or that you have to forget about applying for the fellowship or else you won't win. This cracks me up. I was reading the Tao of something in my sister's bathroom in Malibu and it was suggesting the same thing--that if you want something too badly, you won't get it. That you have to send it out to the universe and forget it about it and the you will be rewarded. What a nut-job way of thinking of god, that if you pray for something, but pretend you don't want it, god will suddenly reward you with it. Yeah, that's why I send my work out everywhere, all the time, so that I can pretend that I don't really want to be published.

I'll be attending FC2's summer writing conference called the Writer's Edge, in late July, so I guess in preparation, I'll be reading a lot of out-there kind of stuff. Hoping it gets my creative bug juices flowing. I also picked up a copy of Miranda July's book that's out in paperback, No One Belongs Here More Than You, which I know I've already read a couple of stories from. I heard her read last year at Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco and she was great, very charming and quirky, just like her movie and her writing.

Summer's Here!

2008-06-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah, the time has arrived to finally get some more exercise, eat right, read books, and write. This is a not-necessarily-in-that-order list. One summer must-read is--The Elements of Style. I've read it before, but oh-so-long-ago. (This is a hyphenated summer blog.) I was determined to go to sleep and get up early and start with gardening and laundry in the morning; then writing in the afternoon and what-do-you-know, my back was killing me last night, so I had a rough night and had to sleep late. Tennis is not good for a bad back, I guess. I was thinking it'd be useful to post some of my favorite websites for writers on this blog so here goes:
newpages.com duotrope.com are both great resources for writers to find places to publish
Go to emerging writers website--it's a blog under breaktech.net, but I'm sure if you google in Emerging Writers you'll find it.

Summer Reads

2008-06-09T21:48:00.000-07:00

What are you planning to read this summer? On deck: The Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Oh Pioneers! by Willa Cather. I have to finish reading the set of the Little House books to Jackey. Still have The Longest Winter and These Happy Golden Years to do. I also never read The Little House in the Big Woods to her, but I think by the time I get to that, she'll want to read it herself. Lately, she's been reading the Junie B. Moon series. As for myself, I plan to pick up several short story collections. I keep seeing Pete Orner's name around and want to see what his works like. Any suggestions?

VerbSap

2008-06-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

VerbSap's Summer edition, 2008, is now up and a short story of mine called "Reruns" is on there. It's a crazy womaen story--go to verbsap.com. My high school creative writing class finished their lit mag--The Dynamite Factory and it's beautiful. We did, however, have a student who submitted two plagiarized poems. Sad. Other students recognized the poems--They were the kind of poems kids read on myspace and other e-mail it forward type of poems. I don't know why the student thought this was okay to do, but I think it was probably just a naive mistake. Like, Oh, I really like these poems, can I submit them? Not realizing they had to be their own original work. Odd that someone who loves poetry so much would not try to write their own, though. Overall, though the kids did a great job. Now it's time to start reading my summer backlog of stuff I want to read--all the new stuff that is out in paperback. Go to some readings in SF--I see Aaron Shurin, the director of USF's writing program (along with others), has some readings coming up for his new collection of essays. I'm hoping to go to the one in the east bay.

Reading: The Sun, the Iowa Review, Farallon Review

2008-05-29T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'm reading my copy of the Iowa Review, where my story "Dry and Yellow" appears and really like all of the writing in it. I'm not much of a critic, but I do find the essays intriguing. Eula Biss's "Time and Distance Overcome" has an interesting take. She (he?) writes about the history of telephone poles and then morphs into some history around the use of telephone poles for lynchings. The stuff you find out on Google! Definitely a disturbing and need-to-know topic. Patricia Hampl's "The Dark Art of Description" looks like a great essay to use with creative writing students. I am also reading a couple of stories from the Sun magazine--comments later because I don't have my copy in front of me. I feel remiss that I haven't ordered a subscription to the Iowa Review before this; it's a solidly good read. Sounds funny when I say that. Getting together a collection of stories centered around the place (IOWA!!!), but don't feel like going back for the all-school reunion. Don't want to spend the money for plane fare for one thing, but I would like to see my folks and the landscape. Oh well. If you are a student taking my class this summer at the writing salon, feel free to drop me a line about questions or concerns you have regarding the class. It starts in July.

Yeah, Finalist for the HUdson Prize

2008-05-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I'm a finalist for the Hudson Prize. This is short story collection or poetry collection prize. There are quite a few finalists, but keep your fingers crossed for me. Don't be a hater. My collection is called Still Slipping on the Ice. If you want to know more about Black Lawrence Press and their other contests go to-- http://blacklawrencepress.homestead.com/hp08finalists.html

May 2oth at the BAZAAR CAFE: FARALLON REVIEW Reading at seven

2008-05-11T19:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Come to the Bazaar Cafe on California Street in SF for a reading on the 20th. We'll be reading selections from the new Farallon Review (farallonreview.com) It's a new SF magazine that has some very interesting stories in it. My story is called "A Good Swim." And I'll be giving a little teaser from that story.

I'm waiting anxiously for my copy of the Iowa Review to see my story "Dry and Yellow" in print.

As for what I'm reading--I got a free copy of the most recent Glimmertrain and was impressed once again by the quality writing in that mag. "The Closer You Were The Less You Knew" is an interesting 9/11 story. (At times, I did feel it was a little too novelistic, as if trying to shove too much into a short story, but I ended up liking it.) I also have a copy of Georgetown Review, which I think really suits my tastes--lots of stories about real people. I like Brady Rhoades's story "Home Inspection"--a realistic/sci-fiish story that blends fantasy and reality really well. Read Neil Crabtree's story (sorry, I forget the name of it at the moment) on VerbSap. It was nominated for the StorySouth's notables list and I recall enjoying it when I read it. I don't want to switch over and find it--I lose my post too easily. All right, I'm going to go look for it right now.

Publishing

2008-05-04T11:00:00.000-07:00

Keep reading about publishing this morning and feeling that familiar anxiety that comes up after investigating lit mags and venues for publishing collections. It gets so bad I don't feel like writing. I need to break my morning routine of looking at duotrope.com on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I get super-discouraged about writing. Life was better when I wrote and wrote stories, but wasn't trying to get anything published. I had no knowledge of publishers, lit mags, on-line venues, e-books. I wrote for the love of it. I guess I'm too far gone to go back to those days: the pre-publishing days. I wouldn't want to wrote those stories again, but there was something about just writing for the love of it. Even this self-reflexive writing on-line is replacing the private and somehow magical journal writing I did in the morning. Are you feeling this?

Back pain and Literature

2008-05-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I go to get an injection in my back and the doctor says that I have arthritis in my L4 joint. What exactly does that mean? I say. She says, you have no cartilage left between these two bones. I can't see any. OUCH! So she gives me an injection there to see if that's the spot and now we wait. The funny thing is--people respond to my back pain entry, but not to comments about writing. This is what's happening to us--we're getting older. The problem is, all the doctors kept saying, but you're not old enough to have arthritis. I keep telling them--aerobics! I taught aerobics for twenty years: high-impact, step, low-impact, you name it. I ran for so long, I broke my foot in two places. Now, all I can do is walk. I guess I'm going to have to switch to swimming or yoga.

Nature, Cysts, Back Pain, Dynamite

2008-04-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Went to the Headlands in April and saw an otter swimming in the lagoon. Then he came up to the shore and stuck his head up and looked right at us a couple of times. Were we lucky. Then last weekend we went up to Point Reyes to the lighthouse and saw a baby whale and its mother swimming all the way around the lighthouse. Lucky again. Of course, both times the camera was full and we couldn't get a pic, but so what--it's all up here. Wonderful times hiking around. Got an MRI this week for my "Bad BACK" and found out I have a cyst on my joint. The doctor said these things don't usually cause pain, however, since I am experiencing pain right there, in that spot, specifically where the cyst is, maybe that's what's been killing me for over a year. I went on-line and researched cysts on the L5 joint and found they were the most common place in the spine for cysts and they can compress a nerve and cause a lot of pain. I am praying praying praying that this injection will kill the pain. I'm hoping she accidentally nicks the cyst and pops it. Nothing worse, except for teeth pain. So sick of Vicodin and sleep medication. It was really interesting to read about what's inside a cyst: blood, hardened gel, fluid, calcium deposits. Blegghh. I've become my uncle Bob. "Hey can you look at this lump I got on my back? Maybe I should go see a doctor and have that thing scraped off!"

As for reading--some more of Tobias Wolff's stories. Read "The Liar." LOvvved it. So This Boy's Life in a short story. I look at the cover of his book and see him looking at me and then when I get home there's a pic of Ray Carver looking at me and they're saying--WRITE A STORY! I've been listening to the radio in the morning and hearing them talking about people with kids and people who choose not to have kids and I thought maybe I'd write a story about that. That's all I'll say, don't like to take the power out of it if I talk too much.

Students in my Creative Writing class decided (at my pushy suggestion) to name the high school lit mag at Hercules, The Dynamite Factory. I am so stoked about that b/c Hercules used to be mostly a dynamite factory and there's a lot of history behind that name. In my research I also found out that there was a whaling dock outside of Richmond, which I just find fascinating. The kids in Hercules used to go out to the dynamite factory after it closed down and they hung out, skateboarded, and graffitied inside. Someone had taken photos of that before they tore it down, so it was really groovy to look at all those photos and read about the buffer zone for explosions. I think it's a great title, and most of the kids do, too. Last year, our magazine was called Sui Generis, which I like, but it somehow wasn't quite right for our class this year.

Spelled Jhumpa Lahiri

2008-04-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

Jhumpa Lahiri, not Jumpha--ouch

KIte Runner

2008-04-25T22:55:00.001-07:00

Yeah, we read it; we watched it. Something else. I'm open to Filipino titles, too. We've read When the Elephants Dance. I'm open to suggestions.

Andrew Lam

2008-04-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Go to You Tube and watch Andrew Lam's video about his return to Vietnam. It's very interesting. I worked with him for a while in a writing group. Check out his book Perfume Dreams, about the Vietnames Diaspora. I'm looking for books, plays, poems about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, India--you get the picture. Stuff I can use with my high school students? We just finished reading Fences by August Wilson and they liked it, but the comment was--Ms. Genna, why are we always reading black lit? And I said, that's what's in the book room. I have some short stories by Jumpha Lahiri but really I need some diversity. Poems by Rammi? Any ideas? Current stuff that kids can relate to?

Eclectic

2008-04-19T14:35:00.000-07:00

Reading the Tobias Wolff collection still and enjoying the newer works. I felt punched out with "That Room." I had read several of these stories here and there already and was surprised at how much I've followed Toby's work. It's like that line in Catcher in the Rye, which those of you who know me, know I cannot quote exactly, but it's about wishing you could call a writer up and talk to him. I've also recently visited the website Eclectic (eclectic.com) and found a great website for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, etcetera. It's great. It's been around for a long time and I've missed out. I'll be sending something their way and keeping my fingers crossed.

Classes coming up: Fiction class at the Writing Salon in Berkeley--if you've taken the class before, it's the same format, but I'll be using new material. I always like to try new things. Of course, some of the basic material will be the same. I like Burroway's chapters on writing from several of her textbooks, but I'm still reading up on the craft of writing and intend to infuse the class with lots of ideas. It starts this Wednesday and there is still space available. Go to writingsalons.com. One thing I did after graduating from an MA program was I continued to take classes through the salon and other venues because I need the excitement and energy of a group and to share my work with others. I always learn something new. So don't feel intimidated by taking a class even if you have "GRADUATED."

I'll also be teaching Flash Fiction on April 26th, all day. We'll be reading some of the latest work that's out there and trying all kinds of creative writing exercises. The thing about flash that I like is that the kernel of the idea comes from that, but sometimes I get together two or three flashes and they become a longer story, so the art form is not limiting. I don't like gimmicks either. I'm not especially focused on word count, but more on the idea that we'll come up with a story by looking at other short-shorts, both classical stories and newer stuff that's coming down the pike.

So check out Tobias Wolff, Eclectic (Or is it Eclectica?), and check out my Fiction and Flash Fiction classes at the Writing Salon. Yes, this is a sales pitch, but you get your money's worth.

The latest

2008-04-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few minutes to check-in: Farallon Review is out with myself and five former USF MFA students from different years. (By the way, I have a masters from there--missed my chance to turn it into an MFA by a year.) My story in there is called "A Good Swim." Check it out at farallonreview.com (To purchase). The magazine is not limited to receiving submissions only from USFers--it's just that this is the first issue and that's who submitted. Tim Foley and friends have turned out a tidy, professional magazine. I especially like Ken Rodgers short story "Brown Sparrows." More on a possible reading later. Vestal Review has my flash fiction in Issue 31, titled "Quitting Smoking." This is another one that needs to be ordered.

I'm reading Tobias Wolff's collection, Our Story Begins. Went to a reading/interview at the Herbst Theatre in SF--thanks for the tickets. It was wonderful and refreshing. T. Wolff seems like a very genuine, lightly humorous, sweet person. I, of course, have been a fan of his for a while, but it's nice to reread some of my favorites of his: "The Rich Brother," "Powder," "Bullet in the Brain." I'm excited to see what he's writing now. He reminds me of a softer Carver, whatever that means. Did you read the article about Tobias Wolff in Poets & Writers? He's very accessible and he also talks about Carver's recent republications of his work by his widow. Controversial, but the argument is a little passe'. (I'm trying on this word, so give me a break.)

Waiting anxiously for my May 2008 edition of The Iowa Review, which contains my short-short "Dry and Yellow."

As for teaching, I'm reading a collection called PP/FF from Starcherone Books in order to expand my repertoire of flash fiction for the flash fiction class I'll be teaching through the Writing Salon in Berkeley. I like it--order it if you're so inclined. Two other classes I'll be teaching are Fiction Writing class (9 weeks) and a publishing seminar on Friday, April 18th. The publishing seminar is a discussion of on-line and print venues for short fiction and poetry. We'll also touch on where, how to send out work to contests--this includes longer manuscripts such as collections of short stories and poetry. Probably you already know this information, but it is always nice to touch base with an instructor and other writers who have run the gamut of trying to get published. You get to ask questions about those bothersome little ideas like should I publish on-line? Isn't that considered "not as nice" as print? What are some of the "better magazines?" Is there such a thing? How do I know when to send a piece out? I don't know if we'll have exact/right/correct answers to these questions but we will have a forum for discussion! I've met lots of people who needed this venue. Feel free ask questions via this blog.

Coming UP

2008-03-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

The University of Iowa's on-line venue "Iowa Writes" for writers from Iowa or writing about Iowa got ahold of me and asked if they could publish my flash fiction "Dry and Yellow" in The Iowa Review. Hell yes! Suhweet. In the May, 2008 issue. Then I got my copy of Vestal Review, issue 31 with my short story "Quitting Smoking" in it and was thinking how there's room enough in this world for all of us. I received my first paycheck for a story, too--$15 for a flash fiction story. What a pretty paycheck. Tim Foley and friends new SF lit magazine The Farallon Review is going to be out in a couple of weeks. Who wants a copy? Get a hold of me to order. The --logo-- for it is rather cool. Check out his website: farallonreview.com. If you're a writer, you might think about submitting. They want SF writers or writers who have a specific Western take. BRAG BRAG. I have a soft spot in my heart for the story I submitted to it--it has blow jobs and boulder fights in it. Same old, same old, Ms. G. Hey, calling all on-line lit mag readers--nominate your favorite short story for the storySouth's Million Writers award. (Hint, hint: "Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral" Storyglossia, Issue 24). Well, my daughter nominated me already, but she honestly loves that story. I have 9 brothers and sisters to put me up for it, too. But I do like that story. Actually, read Stephanie Dickinson's "Where the Flashlight Girls Run" on Storyglossia. It's an amazing story. Still reading Alice Munro's The View from Castle Rock. C.J. Singh loaned me his copy of Deepening Fiction and I'm slogging through that, too. But really, too busy grading essays, group roles for novels, and reflective essays. Those personal reflection essays are cake--I learn the most interesting stuff about my students and I wonder how it is I don't even know who they are. This is the facade we all adopt . Go to class, behave, or act out, but who are we, really?

Girl Scout Cookies

2008-03-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Ayeee, I am overwhelmed with fat and sugar--GSCookies. Impossible to eat just one. BUSY grading those Great Gatsby essays, reading work from the writing class, and figuring out how to do an on-line signature for the FAFSA for my daughter's education. I say live at home and eat the parent's food and get free room and board, but independence is knocking. Not much new on the lit scene--I went to a reading by the USF alumni and was very impressed and entertained. I especially liked a story about a woman in a recovery type place. I'm reading Alice Munro's View From Castle Rock. At first, I didn't care for it, but once I got into it, I started enjoying it, appreciating the sense of history blended with story. Still trying to finish Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. This is not to disparage the quality of his writing--I'm just a short story reader. I am looking for several novels to read this spring and summer and am thinking of writing a novel, always thinking about that, but I think I'd need an MFA program to get it done. Every time I read a novel, I start thinking about writing one. Glad the primaries are winding down (or are they). I am not married to either Clinton or Obama, but I am worried about McCAin getting into office after hearing him speak on the radio today. It didn't sound like he'd be in any too much of a hurry to get us out of Iraq. or look into diplomatic and communicative ways to solve our country's issues in the Middle East. SCARY!

Read Wheelhouse Magazine On-line

2008-02-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

My short story "Wood is Wood" just came out in Wheelhouse magazine. It's an on-line zine that I found to be edgy, political, and I loved the artwork and video aspect of it, so I submitted and voila. "Wood is Wood" is one of my funky relationship stories--you just have to read it to appreciate how weird people really are. I'll put a link at right. So what else, I'm teaching this fiction class and the question comes up--what is Memoir anyway, and I'm thinking how I read the Writer's Chronicle and whenever I come to one more article about the difference between fiction and memoir and James Frey's name gets mentioned, my eyes glaze over (break out the country girl / poor white trash profanity). Really, I think it's about our fear of writing true and personal stuff down and getting in trouble for that--at least for me it is. Whenever I write a fictional story that is somewhat autobiographical in nature (which is quite often!), my family members always say--well that is your perspective, or that's how you saw it. Of course it is! There's always some underlying tone of reproach, which I really think is guarded jealousy that one of them did not sit down and write it first. I know I DON'T always get my facts straight and that I bend and put events together that did not really occur at the same time. My sister or a brother will correct me and say--that's not when that happened or , "No, you said this!" But c'mon, as my MA teachers always said, you are digging for the EMOTIONAL TRUTH of the story, and that's why I write fiction--because I don't always have to stick to the exact facts. I have a poor memory for those things (facts) anyway, but I know I have emotional intelligence or else I wouldn't be a writer. I think that some of us writers are more concerned about writer's ethics and that this is just another way to block ourselves in our writing. I do have to say--there are some things I can't or won't write about (right now). I was reading an on-line interview with Junot Diaz on Failbetter.com where he said it takes ten years for him to write about his past, and for some reason that tidbit rang true for me, too. That is why the divorce stories of mine are still coming out in print (Sorry, Kent--they're fiction! and that's a story from your perspective, Jamey). And I am just now getting stories about post-divorce relationships published. I'm reading at a French Garden Restaurant in Sebastapol on March 2nd--poetry with the Topper's Hair Salon Poetry group. They graciously allowed me to read with them even though I have not recently been a dedicated attendee or have not even been writing poetry. I did, however, read a recent issue of West Branch and loved the poetry in there. So, on-line magazines to check out: wheelhousemagazine.com, failbetter.com , juked.com, and again, storyglossia.com, and smokelong.com. I'm trying to come up with a list of on-line faves. Going to the Chinese New Year Parade this Saturday in SF as my teenager is in Color Guard. GO DEL! still missing Roger. USF alumna are having a reading Saturday night at Canteen near the ACT theater. Their reading series is called Babylon Salon if your'e interested. I will attempt to post some links at right. Peace out--we need a new way to peace out. Keep writing...oh yeah, Jane Anne Staw is giving a free lecture tonight, Thursday, Feb. 21st at UC Berkeley on Creativity. Love her.

Upcoming Flash Fiction Seminar in Sebastapol

2008-02-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

On March 17th, I'll be teaching a class in "The Quickie." We'll be reading and writing flash fiction on a Monday night at the Sebastapol Arts Center. The classes are only $15 and are, in part, funded by the Poets and Writers Grant. So, look them up and see what other great writers will be there. I intend to take all of them! They start in late February or early March, so sign up early. It may be a ways for some of you to travel, but the rewards are worth it. On February 16th, the Progressive Reading Series is meeting at the Makeout Room in San Francisco to help raise funding to beat initiatives that want to get rid of rent control. Steve Almond and Charles D'Ambrosio will be reading so check it (along with other terrific artists). I'm going. How about you?

End of January

2008-01-29T21:14:00.000-08:00

So, what's going on. I've been teaching a fiction writing class through the Writing Salon in Berkeley and it's really interesting and exciting for me to be able to begin working with adults who want to write and read and share fiction. I'll be teaching a flash fiction seminar up in Sebastapol in March. This is a series funded by Poets and Writers. Lately, all I've been reading are short story collections. Then I went with a friend to hear Khaled Hosseini(Sp) to hear him talk about Afghanistan and his books. I picked up his new one A Thousand Splendid Suns, started it and got caught up in the prose. I'm teaching The Great Gatsby in my high school class again and trying to make the students slow down and appreciate the gifted prose. Then in the other class, we're reading Their Eyes Were Watching God. I'm hoping to sustain the interest level, but those high school kids are a picky crowd. Some of them are pretty literal and when Zora Neale Hurston waxes poetic about the bees and the pollen, some of the guys' eyes wax over (and some of the girls' too) and I've lost them. Oh well. They do like the word play when Amos Hicks is trying to hit on Janie. Been thinking about all the things going on in the world and how far removed I am from everything--the war, the economy, movie stars accidentally od-ing---sad, sad, sad. Wonder how we're ever going to get out of Iraq if a Republican wins the election. My teenage daughter has a good friend over there--kid fresh out of high school, a boy who went to church every Sunday by himself because he'd had some kind of vision, but couldn't find a job when he got out, so he enlisted. And the people over there, sustaining the hit. There's a new cable channel called Current (107) that shows podcasts and videos from viewers, has interesting insight and less censorship--take a look at it. It's a strange world.

Resolutions

2008-01-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

1. Spend less time on-line ie. use time on-line to check e-mail, respond, go to favorite websites and read a story or poems.
2. Write in journal once a day.
3. Exercise once a day.
4. Sign kids up for classes--keep 'em busy. (Jacklyn: French and piano / Del: ?)
5. Take a vacation this summer with husband.
6. Go home to Iowa.
7. Go to other writers' readings in SF, Berkeley, Sebastapol.
8. Decide on a focus for my collection.
9. Find new writing spots.
10. Keep classroom focused -- have them do more creative writing, along with required stuff.

Time to go write this down in my journal--what's yours?

Happy New Year

2008-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

New Years Resolutions: Write some more short stories. Create a new collection. I'm reading Creativity for Life by Eric Maisel (in little bits and pieces). I especially enjoyed the chapter on the artist's personality. I did some of the exercises with my teenager about her goals and plans for the future--pretty funny. One said to draw two animals, describe them with three adjectives, and then ponder them for how they are symbolic of one's own contrasts in personality. It was amazing how she picked two completely opposite animals and a little scary how the issues attached to the animals were similar to things she struggles with. Then we did an exercise around goals where she had to draw symbolically things that were in the way of what she wanted out of life and we found that money was the number one road block. So we talked about that for a while. I can see where my own fear of poverty has reared its ugly head in my own daughter. Time to write a story about mother/daughter relationships, I think. We made sock monsters over the holidays--super cute. I finished Lost in the City by Edward P. Jones. It's an older collection of his short stories, but I'm definitely a fan. I also read Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie, which I enjoyed. He does have a sentimental tone to some of his stories, but they gave me the courage to write something less ironic. Looking for a new collection to read. I usually go to a used book store--Dog Eared Books in SF is one of my favorites. There's also one in Oakland on Piedmont that I like, but due to my dyslexic nature around names, I've forgotten what it's called. Finished reading The Little Town on the Prairie to my younger daughter and now am looking for old used copies of The Little House in the Big Woods, The Long Winter, and These Happy Golden Years. My mother bought the set for me and my sister when I was in the fourth grade, but these are missing. If you're not from the Midwest, you probably think these books are boring, but we don't. Jacklyn is shocked that Almonzo, who is 23, walks Laura (only 15 and a half) home from church. She keeps saying, "That's eight years older! She's not even 16!"

Dog Whisperer

2007-12-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

Having grown up a farm girl and knowing instinctively how to work with animals (domesticated and farm animals), I felt vindicated and happy to see how an older calmer dog keeps a younger more immature dog in line; teaches him to be calm. My older dog was always so patient and sweet and we felt he taught Casey the new puppy how to behave. Now that Roger, the older dog, has passed, Casey seems a little depressed and out of sorts, but I think she is also reacting to my vibe. I'd love to get her a middle aged dog that's good natured and loves cats, too. It seems like a tall order. I know some people don't agree with his methods, but realistically there are some pretty out-of-control animals that need a tighter reign than other animals. I haven't seen anything on the program that I really disagree with--as per his methods, but I've only watched it a couple of times.
What do you think?

Responding to comments

2007-12-27T21:22:00.000-08:00

By the way, I really truly appreciate your comments you leave. I haven't yet figured out how to respond via blogging. So I'm just responding with my own comments. Anybody who can tell me what button to hit to respond to someone's individual comments? I'd greatly appreciate it.

New Classes

2007-12-27T21:13:00.000-08:00

Starting in January, I'll be teaching a fiction writing class in Berkeley at the Writing Salon located in the Strawberry Business Park. You can find out more on this class and other great classes provided there in the city (SF) by logging onto writingsalons.com. The classes are reasonably priced and are great for getting the creative ideas brought to the forefront--just in time for the New Year--2008--writing resolutions. We'll be reading a diverse choice of authors and studying their short stories for a focused element of craft and then we'll be sharing our writing, critiquing with a fair and generous attitude, but remembering to look for purpose and intent.

I'll also be teaching a flash fiction writing class in Sebastapol at the art center. They have a really great affordable series where they invite writer/teachers of writing to come and speak about some element of craft they are familiar with. I'm honored and stoked to be asked to come teach something different that is near and dear to my heart. And I can't wait to attend some of the other seminars and learn from other people's creative endeavors.

Upcoming flash fiction publications

2007-12-15T10:02:00.000-08:00

So aside from having been nominated for a Pushcart, which is still pretty cool, what's new? I have a short piece coming out in The Writer's Post Journal called "The Ring" and another piece of flash fiction coming out in The Vestal Review in January called "Quitting Smoking." I just read a (an old one, admittedly--2004) scathing article about flash fiction by the editor of Storysouth about how flash fiction is really just drivel being pumped out by mediocre MFA students. I'm thinking of the short story by Hemingway called "A Short Story" or work by Mary Robison. If the short story "Yours" isn't considered to be flash fiction--well. This editor does admit that some stories are gifted and need to be told that way, but I wondered why all the vitriolic attitude. There are mediocre full-length stories and mediocre full-length novels being published, too. It's its own art form. I think some stories just want to be told that way. I did agree with his opinions about Amy Hempl's piece and how it is an easy way to publication. But...it's not always easy to get flash published either. There are some great flash websites, magazines, and anthologies: Smokelong Quarterly, Quick Fiction, Sudden Fiction. Maybe his opinion has changed since 2004, though. storySouth / MFA disgust, flash fiction, short shorts, and micro fiction

It's Been a While

2007-11-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

I heard some exciting news from the editor of Storyglossia--he has nominated my short story "Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral" for a Pushcart. What can I say? I'm super-happy and amazed. Just when you think you are dying on the vine. It was nice to hear good news. We had a bad week in the Genna household as our dog Roger, thirteen and a half years old passed away. He had severe arthritis and was in a lot of pain, so we are glad that he is not suffering any more. We are all very sad and there's a big empty space in our hallway, on our porch, in the middle of the dirt-pile on Saturday mornings, and in ours and all our pets' hearts (Casey, Elvis, and Kitty). Del and I have been going over to the YMCA at Hilltop and feeding the stray cats up there. There are two domesticated cats that seem to be brother and sister and they are two of the sweetest cats we've ever met. We are brainstorming a way to find a home for both of them. They seem to be about a year old, maybe a bit more. What can I say, you can take the girl off the farm, but you can't take the farmgirl out of her. We are all dog whisperers and cat whisperers from way back, which reminds me of how Roger always came to the gate and said hello with funky roo. We love you so much and miss you, Roger. Say hello to Taz for us. Wish you could read...messages to the universe

Coming soon

2007-10-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

Forgot to mention where my work will be showing up soon (again).

"Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral" (Nov./ Dec.) Storyglossia.com.
"Dry and Yellow" (November) in Iowa Writes (a branch of the University of Iowa's on-line website.
"A Good Swim" (2007 / end of year) in Farallon Review (a new magazine put out by Tim Foley and friends).

Right now, you can read "Ration Coupons" at VerbSap.com
or "Dirt to Vine to Grape to Glass" at R.KV.RY Literary Journal (ninetymeetingsinninetydays.com)

And recently two new stories accepted:
"Quitting Smoking" Vestal Review (Flash fiction)
"Wood is Wood" in Wheelhouse (late 2008)

Go find them and don't be afraid to tell me what you think.

Interesssting comments about publishing on-line. I think it's an area many writers worry about--to on-line or not to on-line. To publish in newer magazines and have more coverage or wait and submit to longer running presses, but have less chance of publication. What are your thoughts?

Banner Year for On-line Publishing

2007-10-02T17:20:00.000-07:00

So, I've had a few writer friends talk to me about whether on-line publishing is legit. Are those magazines "as good as" print magazines. And my answer is that--yes, most are. I have some of my favorites, of course, because (me, me, me) they've accepted my work, but I've also submitted to places that have really strong writing, strong writers published on them. And then there's publishing on-line for personal reasons. Maybe you have friends in the on-line community who have a website and they want to read your stuff. My advice to you--only send your best. You shouldn't be sending your work out unless it is your best. If there's something in your mind that says, well, this isn't quite that good, so I'll submit it on-line, well then, that piece needs work. But I do have to say I've had more success with short-shorts and flash on-line. I take edgy pieces that I adore and send them to on-line venues. I think that the market might be different on-line. When I'm reading on-line, I have less time so I go for shorter pieces. I have less patience if a story doesn't grab me right away. That's just my own personal attention-deficit disorder. I like interesting titles. Recent website that I visited, read, liked, and submitted to (or I'm intending to submit to) are Vestal Review, Storyglossia, Wheelhouse, Anderbo, The Adirondack Review, and Cutthroat's new on-line magazine. Check them out. There's more, but I'll stop now because I gotta go see a man about a mule.

Thankshanks

2007-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who came out for the reading. It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed Steve Almond's sense of humor and his dedication to his ideals. He read about places his semen had been and about some clever responses to hate e-mail he had received when he resigned from the Boston College (Don't exactly know which one, even though I remember reading about it.) because Condalesa (Sp?) Rice was going to speak at the commence ceremony. His sincerity made me think of Emily Dickinson's poem on war which I can't quote exactly: (Well yes, I can)

Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.

Not one of all the purple Host
Can tell the definition
So clear of Victory

As he defeated--dying--
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!

I'll just leave that hanging there for you to ponder.
Litquake is coming up in SF and I want to go hear the readers but I hate battling the crowds.
Might go see some of the more spacious venues, like at the SF library.

Whoa or Woe

2007-09-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know
I meant to do that
No
A Freudian slip?
You'll never know

MID-SEPTEMBER

2007-09-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update--dropped by the USF reading series to hear Nona Caspers read from her short story collection Heavier than Air. Just some perfect lines in her story "Country Girls." The way (some) Midwesterners have cruel practicality around their emotions--it takes me back. Something in the universe is telling me something because I'm just on a country kick via my reading schedule. I don't know what. I'll have to read my Tarot cards. Or else just go back to Iowa to visit. I can't wait to dig into her collection. As for what's on second, any suggestions? As for the last sentence to my short story "Ration Coupons" on VerbSap--I do think there's forgiveness out there and inside, too. Whoa to those who carry vengeance. All right time to go.

Whew, Labor Day Weekend Over

2007-09-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Well, my husband had the flu and so we were sort of housebound. Poor Mikey. Took those kids school shopping, though, and did some writing. Storyglossia picked up my story "Stories I heard when I went home for my grandmother's funeral." It will be out sometime in October. I'm so happy--I love that zine. Finished Rock Springs, which makes me sad. Mike's reading it now and we are talking about Montana, where we both lived our own lives for a long time and then met each other just before I moved to California. I'll make sure I remind everyone of the Sept. 20th reading once or twice before then, don't worry. It's great to see your posts. Keeping it short because although WCCUSD started a week ago, my kids' school starts tomorrow, so I gotta' go beddy early. Yuk--not a morning person. I've tried it, but I think biologically I am programmed to REM sleep around the hours of six to seven-thirty. If I had a nine to five, I'd be okay, but...or even a night job. Wah.

What's coming up?

2007-09-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

So, I have several stories coming down the pipe this fall and wanted to post those again for friends and family to find. Look for my short-short story, "Ration Coupons" on one of my favorite zines, VerbSap.com, in Octoberish. It's a story about a divorced couple who go to a funeral of young man together. And also in October, I think, look for my short story "From Dirt to Vine to Grape to Glass" on R.KV.RY: A Literary Journal. You have to type in ninetymeetingsinninetydays.com to get to it. This story is about a woman who ponders giving up five years of sobriety in an instant when someone hands her a glass of wine at a winery. (Probably shouldn't go to those all day events if you're not supposed to be drinking. Then again, October or Novemberish, I have a super-short piece of flash called "Dry and Yellow" coming out on Iowa Writes, a zine published by the University of Iowa. It's so short, I don't want to describe it, but there is a dream-box in it. And finally, some folks from San Francisco started a new magazine called Farallon Review, and my short story "A Good Swim" will be in that, hopefully by the end of 2007. The title of the story speaks for itself. I'm having a great summer/fall for publishing.

What else is new? Looking forward to my reading on September 20th. School's back in session and I'm loving my new group of students. They're smart and full of energy and it should be a great year. What I'm reading right now? Still on that book by Richard Ford, Rock Springs--still in love with it. In fact, I put it down during the last story because I couldn't bear for it to be over. I'll have to read his novel Independence Day. I know some of you old-schoolers are saying, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like I've often said, I've had gaps in my education. Also reading the textbook Writing Fiction by Janet Burroway.

As far as writing is concerned--just tweaking and revising. Finished a weird story called "Rat Stories." September is a slow month for me because of back to school, so I take it in stride.

Prairie Girl

2007-08-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

So, a student gave me a copy of Richard Ford's Rock Springs and I'm in love. Love all the references to Montana, where I lived for several years. But mostly, love his prose--what's going on in the stories and how he ends them--with some philosophical passage that hits the mark. Someone asked me the other day if I had read any great poetry books lately and I said, well, I've been reading short story collections all summer. Then I went home and looked at my book shelf. The Read 180 collection, edited by Billy Collins is great. Sun Under Wood by Robert Hass and All of Us: The Collected Poems by Raymond Carver would be my recommendations. I actually get my poetry in small doses through lit mags and the Pushcart Prize Anthologies. Then I go to poetry readings in the community and pick up chapbooks from authors from time to time. I started back to school this week--been rereading My Antonia and in love with the prose and the sweetness of the story. I've been reading the Little House books to my eight year old and so pairing these two prairie girl stories in my mind has made me meditate on a harder time and a simpler time. I'm a Prairie Girl. Sounds like the next book title.

Friday

2007-08-17T11:30:00.001-07:00

The thing about blogging is what I think most of you have already figured out--it's like journaling on-line and people can comment on your thoughts. So now, I'm figuring out, hey, maybe you should be careful about what you say. Plus, I want to write back to people who comment, but didn't know that wasn't an option except via e-mail, so yeah. What's going on today--gotta do some editing for a friend and buy some ink for my printer to print out my manuscript and send out. I'm interested in hearing from people on their process for deciding what goes into a short story collection and how they organize it. I was thinking yesterday that a short story is much like the format of an aerobics class. Start off with an introduction that's easy, relaxing, warm up, get harder and more complicated, build, but don't stay at the hard peak for too long, get up to it, then back off, then move forward, have one super hard song, and then cooldown with some nice relaxing stretching. Oh wait, no, that was an orgasm is much like an aerobics class. Or maybe that was a short story collection is much like an orgasm. I don't know. What was that about being careful about what you say?

Thursday's my hump day

2007-08-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

It's Thursday and I always think of it as the low-energy day. I don't know why. I think it has something to do with being a former aerobics instructor. By the time Thursday rolled around, I'd be pretty beat up. So now, I take it easy on Thursdays. Okay, I've decided I will try to be more grammatically correct but can't promise to clean up all dangling participles. I like things that dangle. I also like it when someone accidentally says something that is funny on two different levels. For example, when I said to my class, "If you're not going to watch tv, then we're not going to watch tv." I'm working on a comic book (very bad drawings) called Ms. Johnson Tries to Get Herself Fired. If you know me, you know that. I've been trying to write a story about winning the northwest aerobics championship and going to L.A. and being on national tv, but there you have it--that's the story. Keep getting stuck on the seamier underside and making a funny story into a sad story. Does that ever happen to you? You want to write something hilarious and it turns dark on your ass. It's no Alice Munro story, which makes me wonder if Alice Munro takes aerobics classes, you know, Pilates, or Yoga or something. (Sorry, my brain does that.) It'd be funny to have her in class in front of you and doing the pendulum. That's how I broke my foot in two places--doing the pendulum, remember that aerobics dance move? I'm reading this Writer's Chronicle article about Alice (Go Ask Alice) and it's talking about rhyming action in her work, and I'm thinking--motif, where's the word motif? There's some good stuff in there, though, about introducing some image and repeating it later, but waiting just long enough so that the reader doesn't remember the image, so that it gets imbedded in your unconscious, and then repeating the image where it's not so obvious. This idea is actually from Charles Baxter's book Burning Down the House, a collection of essays about writing that's just a really great book. I saw him read in SF and talked to him for a while after, a great guy--love the meticulous detail in his short stories.

Guess I should go buy some ink for my printer and print out that manuscript and mail it off to some contests before school starts. Come see me read on the 20th because it's all about me. Both my daughters have that printed on a t-shirt. Just kidding. I am going to get a t-shirt that says, "I Don't Give Directions!" for when I'm out walking. More on the streets of Rodeo later.

I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It

2007-08-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

After chatting about Steve Almond's collection of fiction, I cosmically received a notice from my writer's collective asking if anyone would like to read with him, so I shot my hand into the air and whatya' know, I get to read with Steve, the man with the great last name, on September 20th at Modern Times Bookstore on Valencia in San Francisco at 7:00 PM. Super-de-duper. I'm going to read something very funky and fun, but don't know what yet. His new book is a collection of essays titled Not That You Asked.

Even better news is that my collection of short-short stories (under 2000 words) was a finalist for the Elixir Press Chapbook Awards. Got a great rejection letter with cool typos and the ink running out on their printer--i love stuff like that. The collection was called I'll Tell You That Story in a Minute. This is a line from one of the stories--called "Manx," a line I refuse to take out of the story, despite my writing group's advice. I think it's the best line in the story.

My teenager delaney took some great pics of me, so I'm going to post one or two.

What are you reading? I'm reading a collection of Richard Yates stories. If you're a writer, you have to read "The Builders" a story about being a writer. I read about him in the Writer's Chronicle and so I picked up his collected works. What I like about him is that he said that his work was autobiographical in nature, but not autobiography. That's a great way to answer the question, "Is this about you?"

I'm also reading How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt, and Live Prosperously. We're not in debt, according to the book, but I could use some lessons in living prosperously.

Just finished Andre Dubus In the Bedroom. Absolutely cried reading almost every story. What a great storyteller. Two of his short stories have been made into independent films. "Killings" was made into the film "In the Bedroom." (Look let's just get it straight right now. I know how to edit this page, I just don't feel like it. I know titles of movies are italicized, but I hate searching out the button before and after. I'd rather type three sentences.) His longer work called We Don't Live Here Anymore was made into a great film with Mark Ruffalo (number one hottie). Rent them both, you won't be disappointed. Then read them or vice versa. These are stories that seem to go well both ways.

Peace Out

Favoiite On-line lit mags

2007-07-05T12:53:00.000-07:00

Instead of reading the latest news over and over or watching the new Paula Abduhl reality show, try out some on-line lit mags and see what stories are entertaining and interesting. Try Verbsap, Storyglossia, Monkey Bicycle, Smokelong Quarterly.

Today is a babysitting day-watching the neighbor kid, but I'm squeezing in that writing time. How about you?

What books have you read lately?

2007-07-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the Fourth of July and I just finished reading several short story collections.
1.) The Evil B.B. Chow by Steve Almond--I kept seeing his name everywhere, small lit mags, large lit mags, and read several stories on-line, so I decided it was time to check out a larger body of his work. I enjoyed this collection. Almond fuses pop culture references with story line.
2.) Picked up A Circle Is a Balloon and Compass Both by Ben Greenman and I liked this one, too. Favorite story: "Clutching and Glancing." Lots of clever play with words and the way the stories are lined up is a nice metaphor. Love as Art, Love as Music, Love as Place, etcetera.
3.) Finally finished The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer. It was okay. I thought it went on a bit too long on the love these guys, this place, and a little short on the redemptive phase. It was a little rambly, too, for my taste. I wouldn't not recommend it, though. Best-seller, though? Love that title. I better be careful on my karma quotient, hey?

So today is fireworks, barbecue, and tennis, swimming with the kids. Don't really care for holidays that fall in the middle of the work week. The day gets imbued with too much importance. Delaney is making parfait's with blueberries, rasberries, granola, and yogurt. Red, white, and blue. Jackey doesn't like blueberries or granola. So Del is eating her bb and granola.

Finishing up reading the latest lit mag Opium: Live Well Now. I'm enjoying it. Good humor. Strange, quirky stories, nice graphics (except where they interfere with readability of the story). Nice to get away from the stuffy, we are so important lit mags that I can never seem to get published in. Won't name any names. (That karma thing again).

Time to do a little writing and exercising. Have you done yours for today of either/or?

May 10th Reading

2007-04-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

My reading is on May 10th, & at 7:30 at Modern Times Bookstore on Valencia. That's a go. I'll be reading with Dustin Heron who has a new book being released by Small Desk Press called Paradise Stories. This reading is hosted by Ecstatic Monkey, a writer's collective that hosts readings and provides information to writers about publishing opportunities. To find out more about the collective log onto ecstaticmonkey.com. To read more about Dustin Heron's new book log onto smalldeskpress.com. More on this later.

Reading

2007-04-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'll be reading at Modern Times Bookstore on May 10th, 2007. That's in San Francisco on Valencia. Mapquest it. I'm terrible at remembering addresses. I'll post the press release when it comes out. It's a reading sponsored by Ecstatic Monkey, which is a San Francisco based writers' collective. I'm not sure what I'll be reading--either "Itinerary for the Tourist" or "Turtles Don't Have Hair." The reading starts at 7:30, sharp, for those friends who always come late. I'll be reading first--I'm like the warm-up band to the major act. More on this later.

Saturday Morning Writing Postponemen

2007-04-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

Here I am trying to create a blogsite when I am supposed to be doing the following:
a) Buying groceries
b) Taking Jackey to get a gift for a birthday party
c) Writing a story
d) Getting dressed
e) Reading my students' work

Not necessarily in that order.
Is this how this day is going to go?