Autobiography as Destiny
I heard a lecture this summer on the writing of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde before we went off to see the opera in Seattle. The lecturer, to make his point, had some seemingly revealing statements to make about Wagner’s autobiographical connection to this opera.
At the moment that he uttered these rather banal words it struck [...]
What I learned on my summer vacation
Usually the question is: what did you do? But for me, this summer has been a set of lessons. I learned so many things and much of it, I am certain, will find its way into my novel, Scags at 18. I mean how could it not?
This summer I have looked at death with a [...]
Celebrity and Success
I have been reading Although of Course You End up Being Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace.
It is a trying book. These two men talking at each other for most of the recorded interviews. There are snippets of it that are worth having spent the time with them, but overall, if you can [...]
What’s a Scags?
It has hit me that most people hear the name Scags and don’t know what or who I mean. So this duo of me and my wife are hitting the road, taking the book with us, Scags at 7, that is, and we are going to see if anyone knows what I mean.
I hadn’t thought [...]
Starting Over
Sometimes the struggle to find a voice and to maintain it is too difficult. That it is when I usually decide not to write because I know all the time I spend writing will be one long frustrating mistake. I end up thinking it would be better to do nothing but wait for something to [...]
Off to Chicago for a short Hiatus
I want to write a longer blog entry but in fact I don’t have time.
Suzanne and I are off to Chicago to be with my cousin during serious surgery.
Next week we’ll be home and I can return to my work. Thanks for waiting.
A book review and more thoughts about writing will [...]
Deborah Emin reading the first few paragraphs of her new novel, Scags at 7, to the students of Niles North High School in Skokie, Illinois.
Deborah gives a live talk about how to incorporate autobiography into your novel by using her own experiences in writing Scags at 7 and its upcoming sequel, Scags at 18.
What a retreat it was
We left on Wednesday morning to drive up to Holy Cross Monastery. The weather promised to be a good indicator of how good the retreat was going to be.The weather, the company, the location, the food, the time to be spiritually recharged–all was just as we had wanted it to be.
One of the reasons I [...]
The end of the week
When working on as many projects as I do because of the work Sullivan Street Press does, it is often a temptation to divert all creative energy into the company and reserve none for myself. It is certainly easier to do that. I have no illusions that hordes of people are going to be waiting [...]
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