"one of the most PROFESSIONAL and DRIVEN writers I’ve ever known"

Summer Pierre interviewed me for her series of Artist in the Office Interviews, and today you can read the interview on her blog. (If you join the conversation via the comments section, you'll even be entered to win a copy of Map.)  In Summer's introduction last Friday, she called me "one of the most PROFESSIONAL and DRIVEN writers I’ve ever known."  And then to top it off, she even DREW me.  It's all here. 

Art Thrives on Connection

I woke up this morning to an introduction on Summer Pierre's blog that brought me right back to being twenty-one, trying to find my way in Boston.  It had been a rocky start to post-college life, and the night I met Summer, I was determined to simply make it out of my apartment after dinner.  I told myself I didn't have to go far and I didn't need to stay long.  There was a music open mic night a few blocks away at Ryles in Inman Square, and I made it out the door, to the club, and into the room.  Two people chatting in a corner.  A bartender.  Many many empty tables.  And one woman with a guitar sitting by herself.  I cannot tell you how glad I am that I overrode my shyness and spoke to her. 

I first knew Summer as a musician and friend, through open mics and a handmade recording and her CD Far From Here, which was released by That Promising Seadog Media, the record label of our mutual friend Nathan Pyritz, who I also met that night.  Through Nathan and Summer and Club Passim, I met other musicians, and I found an artistic community that would help inspire and sustain me through those early years.  Later I learned that Summer was also an artist and a writer, and one time when we swapped work for feedback she also sent me a copy of an awesome handmade 'zine she'd just created called The Artist in the Office.  I was so excited when that 'zine made its way into the hands of some New York publishing folks and turned into an offer to expand it into to an entire book.  Now The Artist in the Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days a Week is on bookshelves everywhere (you might even want to get a copy for yourself), and Summer has been running a series of Artist in the Office interviews on her blog.  I'm honored she chose to include me.

Words and Tidbits

Welcome to all you new readers stopping by via Pimp My Novel!  If you browse through the archives, you'll get a more detailed picture of the early life of a self-published memoir, including the arrival of the first batch of books, what the first online sale means, and a trip to New York for the Lambda Literary Awards.

If you didn't come here via the Pimp My Novel blog, I recommend a visit... my guest post On Publishing Choices: An Opinionated Primer appears today.

In other news, whole fame thing may be overrated, but I have to say it was pretty cool to find my June guest post on Heim Binas Fiction, Writing About Real People, mentioned last Thursday in a Huffington Post article, The Making of a Novel: Can You Write a Real Person Into a Fictional Story? 

Happy Tuesday!  Stay tuned for my Artist in the Office interview on Summer Pierre's blog next Monday.

How Much Is Enough?

Some years back, when I was considering a career in book publishing, I informational interviewed a few people who worked in book publicity.  They told me that the work never ended--there was always something more you could do to promote a book.  To survive in the job, you had to learn to set limits for yourself.  And so it is with Map.

I want all the best for my first-born, and everywhere I turn, there is something more I could do.  Video clips, my mom suggests.  Wait until the new fiscal year and then contact all the libraries again, my librarian friend advises me.  Become an active participant on GoodReads, says a panelist at a writers conference.  I have suggestions of places to pitch readings, people who've expressed interest in hosting me or buying the book but haven't followed through, email addresses of people who might welcome an email about Map.  I have to-do lists up the wazoo.  But I am not only the author of a single book.

There's another book waiting in the wings, and two more in embryo form.  My day job needs attention, or better yet replacement.  There are people I want to enjoy, and a slower pace I want to find again.  In September, I begin to teach again. 

So I am preparing to give Map a rest for a while.  What does that mean?  I still welcome invitations--to read, to speak, to lead workshops--and I expect I'll continue introducing Map to most everyone I meet.  I will certainly be following through and following up on activities that are in the works (a possible giveaway, a guest post on the Pimp My Novel blog scheduled for August 16th, a possible fall reading at the Penn bookstore, a workshop for the CCAE Fall Writers Conference on October 24th, an Artist in the Office interview).  But I won't be actively pursuing new opportunities with Map... maybe not until the fall, maybe for longer.

I feel conflicted about this, of course.  But I also feel human.  And it's time to pursue the sense of wonder and appreciation that comes from admitting you can't do everything, and choosing the few that call to you the most each moment for attentiveness and care.

13th Annual CCAE Fall Writers Conference

I was honored to be invited to help coordinate the Cambridge Center for Adult Education's 13th Annual Fall Writers Conference.  With the help of my colleagues Jane Katims and Michael Cicone, we've pulled together a great lineup in record time, and I encourage you to attend the conference on Sunday October 24th 2010.

This year's conference theme is The Long Journey: Emotional Terrain, Discipline, and Stamina in Writing. 

Part of the fun of coordinating a conference is that you get to think about who you want to listen to and learn from, and I was thrilled when Tova Mirvis signed on to give the keynote speech.  Tova's two novels, The Ladies Auxiliary and The Outside World, are phenomenally good, and if you haven't read them yet, I suggest you stop reading this post and get to your nearest bookstore or library to remedy the situation.

I'm delighted to be bringing two workshop leaders to the conference who I've known for a long time but are new to the CCAE, Susan Chernilo and Toni Amato, to be joined by two long-time CCAE instructors, Jane Katims and Barbara Baig, and yours truly.  Even if you skip my workshop, it's going to be a tough choice to narrow it down to two for the day!

Workshops:

How To Stay Alive in the Words: A Complete Guide to Finding Food and Shelter in the Literary Wilderness (Toni Amato)
Where Writing Meets Baseball: How to be a practicing writer (Barbara Baig)
Making It Through the Long Haul (Susan Chernilo)
Where Things Pivot: Writing That Starts Anywhere, and Proceeds in Any Direction (Jane Katims)
Letting Go of Your Manuscript (Audrey Beth Stein)

Registration will begin on July 30th at www.ccae.org, and I'll try to update this post with a link to the catalog then as well.

More Virtual Book Tour: Writing About Real People

Today I am the guest blogger on Heim Binas Fiction, blog of the fabulous Carrie Kei Heim Binas (writer of intelligent women's fiction, insightful and entertaining blogger, former child actor, wonderful person), where I am discussing Writing About Real People.  Readers of this blog are usually pretty lively and have interesting things to say, so please come join the conversation and stick around.  Also, there's a giveaway -- a copy of Map to one lucky commenter between now and July 2nd (2010). 

I'm still wrestling with the challenges I talk about in my guest post... while I was on my writing retreat recently, I began a new book project that includes writing about some of my day-to-day activities over the next year, and discovered pretty quickly that this includes writing about some of the people who are actively a part of my life.  Relationships that I care about more than this new book.  I'd been trying not to write about them, but felt stifled, not just in communicating to others but in understanding for myself.  I often think aloud, to the point that someone in college called me a "walking thought process."  What to do?  Right now I'm seeking strangers for a writing group, and trying to follow my own advice to others about getting the story onto the page, but I'm curious what you might do (or have done) in this situation.

Interview on yaReads

The interview with me on yaReads has just been posted -- enjoy!  A couple of fun questions I was asked: If there was going to be a movie made about your story, who would you want to see play Audrey? and How does falling in love with someone you’ve never met in person differ to the more ‘conventional’ way?  Thanks again to Nikki and Ivy for featuring Map as yaReads' Book of the Month for June.  It's not too late to enter their giveaway to win a copy.

If there's a question I wasn't asked that you are wondering about, feel free to ask it in the comments.