Ooh baby, baby!!

Well, that big project that I mentioned a few back is here...our beautiful baby! He is amazing and my hands are full, leaving very little time for anything else. Alas, I am putting up my "Gone Fishing", or rather "Gone Mothering", sign and saying see ya later alligators for the next little while, until we have found our rhythm.

I'll still post from time to time, but if you want any new updates, I think it's best to subscribe, so that you don't have to check back and see if I have made it out from under a pile of diapers!

Ciao for now!!

The wait continues...into the New Year

Sigh. More time is needed with my latest revision. More distance, more space, more opportunity to discover new things and see familiar words with new perspective and clarity. I am being forced to recognize that everyone works at their own pace. And that my pace may need some reconsidering too. Some people I know take 4 years to write a book, others a year. A screenwriter friend of mine makes huge changes in his drafts in 48 hours getting them into the production team that wouldn't accept them a minute later. A successful namer I know can name a company with the first name that comes to mind, but will still do due diligence and submit an additional 150 names, spending a week or two stewing over choices, only to routinely have the first name be the winner.

Me? I write slowly. Very slowly. I wander in the dark and doubt myself and don't map until much later and think and rethink and wait, and try and listen to my novel whispering to me and telling me where it wants to go and what it wants to be. But when it comes to revising, I am fast! Once I know what I want to say, I say it. I see problems and changes and remedies very easily. I am able to come up with alternatives and chuck pages without sentiment or attachment. It is a skill that has been used to great advantage on numerous writer collaborations. When it comes to revising I am an idea girl-full of them!

Some people like to take weeks, months off of their revisions. They like to go away for long enough that the writing seems new and like someone else's when they return, they need to do that in order for the words to seem fresh once more.

As I have a very big project coming up that will take me out of the loop and off of the web for a few months in a week or so anyway, I have been asked to try a little experiment. To not revise, but to just think and let my manuscript turn itself over and over in my brain, speaking to my sub conscious, whispering to me late at night and telling me what it would like its final self to be. It will certainly be a big change, and I am curious as to what it will be like and yield.

I'll keep you posted!

The wait is almost over...

Tomorrow I have a much anticipated meeting with my beloved literary agency about the latest draft of my manuscript. I can't wait! I am so excited to hear what they thought of the extensive changes. This latest version was the one where I restructured the novel, changing the order of some scenes, grounding flashbacks back in the present when they were over and adding new scenes for characters whose motives needed to be more clearly fleshed out. It was a big revision and I did it at break neck speed, as I have a lot going on in my personal life, all good, but demanding none the less.

Apparently I wasn't the only person who tried to get my novel in before the summer, as it turns out that my agent's right hand gal, had 15 manuscripts that arrived at the same time, all ready to be read. Wow!

Now that it is September and all the publishing world is back, things are busy once more, and the race against the clock continues. Soon things will go quiet for the Jewish holidays, then we have just October and November before American Thanksgiving, before everyone goes on holiday again. Of course I am hoping that these latest changes are the last, and that my debut novel can go out into the world soon in its quest to find a home...but we will see. I'm looking forward to the next round of waiting, the kind where I wait for editors at publishing houses to read my book...and then decide they have to BUY it!

Fingers and toes and eyes are crossed!

Writer friends you can trust...

I think that one of the most important things a writer can have is someone, they trust to read their work. I don't mean a fan, or a relative who loves you no matter what you do, or even a harsh critic who hates everything anyone does and is always sure that he/she can do it better...but never does. I mean a talented writer, who knows your work, what you are trying to say, and how you want to say it. It may not sound like a lot, but it really is a tall order. This person has to be able to give feedback based on the work that you wrote and not the novel they would've written. They have to be able to put aside personal taste, and feelings for subject matter and offer guidance that will help you, the writer, get to where they see, you are trying to go.

I am lucky, so incredibly lucky to have someone like this in my life...and a terrific agent and assistant who fit this bill too! As a result, I think that my manuscript, after 6 revisions, is pretty close to done. It is stronger and richer than it was when it started, and it is even longer too! Which is also nice, as it was a little on the short side. I have spent days and nights revising and this week, will polish, tweak, and polish some more, and then send to my fabulous agent with the hopes that they too, will love the changes.

Fingers and toes are crossed...eyes too, at this point! But that's from all the time on the computer!

Novel Surgery...

For the last two weeks, I have been doing surgery on my novel. As a result of some editing, I have been playing with the order of things; rearranging chapters, moving paragraphs, and flashbacks, all while trying to maintain the integrity of the story. As my cousin who is an architect noted when she heard me say that you change one thing, and everything changes..."just like a building". And it's true. A novel and a building have a lot in common. Both need a solid structure, both require skilled and solid framing before you can start putting up walls and decorating. And both are a result of inspiration and careful planning with meticulous execution.

Right now, my novel, or building is under going a major renovation, and I am exhausted. But I am starting to see my way through it, and that is a glorious thing.

The dirty R word...

Revisions. I've lamented about them before, and I am doing so again. I just got back notes on my manuscript, a fresh pair of eyes and a fresh perspective, and am looking forward to discussing them at length with the editor today.

It always takes a while to process new information and opinions about the work, especially when I have been living with it for so long. It's a delicate process, sifting through someone else's thoughts, feelings, taste and opinions. I spent the weekend transcribing every note on my manuscript, re-reading what I wrote, and looking for ways to satisfy the desires of all involved. As my husband and I like to say around here, it's a 'high class' problem, ( we stole that line from our friend Jud!) polishing your manuscript so that your dedicated and supportive agent, can start shopping your debut novel with the intention of finding a great publisher!

I'm lucky to have so much support around me, great writer friends, a fabulous mentor, an amazing agency on my side and an editor who is really looking to help me make this book the best it can be.

Now, I'd just love 2 more months of uninterrupted writing time, and for time to stand still. I know, give me an inch...

Happy Monday!

Where does the time go? And Tayari Jones

I've been nutty and computer averse lately, so apologies for the week delay! I am about to start another revision, have a manuscript to read, a script pitch to develop, and a new novel that I need to figure out. Alas, it no time to be wanting to avoid my computer and office!

In the meantime, please enjoy another Amazing Author Interview, by Amazing Author, Caroline Leavitt!

Tayari Jones talks about Silver Sparrow

I first met Tayari at an Algonquin reading at AWP. To say I was enthralled listening to her read is putting it mildly, but what I loved even more was how spirited she was, how generous (this woman sets off sparks.) I took an instant liking to her--and to her novel, Silver Sparrow. Her debut novel, Leaving Atlanta, about the child murders in Atlanta, is being made into a film and was named one of the best novels of 2002 by both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Washington Post. Silver Sparrow, about a bigamist, about daughters, about love and loyalty, is the number one indie pick for June. Tayari is also an associate professor at the prestigious MFA program at Rutgers-Newark University.


Thank you so, so much for being a part of my blog, Tayari.



I love the secret that is at the heart of Silver Sparrow: two daughters share a bigamist father. What’s the backstory behind this idea? What sparked the writing?

I feel like I should always start by saying my father is not a bigamist. But that said, I do have two paternal sisters who didn’t grow up with me. I have always been interested in this idea of sisters who don’t grow up together. Me and my sisters are ten years apart in age, and they are not secret, but there is still this divide. I have recently realized that all my novels involve a sister who is far away. In a way, isn’t that the fantasy—that somewhere our there, you have a sister, an ally, but you just don’t know it. Of course, in this story there is so much between the sisters that the idea that they will be friends is unrealistic, but the impulse to try.. Or the burning curiosity to know.. who can resist that?

The structure of the novel is as complex as it is riveting. What made you decide to tell the novel from two voices? What problems did you encounter in the writing process?

Since the sisters have two different worlds—one lives in the shadows and one lives what she thinks is a normal life—there was no way a single narrator could get the job done. My idea was to use FOUR narrators. I wanted both wives and both daughters. But then I decided that the daughters could tell their mothers’ stories. The biggest challenge as a writer was making the voices different. The girls have SO MUCH in common that they have a lot of the same speech issues. And they even have the same dad so they share a lot of references. I wanted it so when you turn to the first page of Chaurrisse’s chapter, you immediately know that you aren’t with Dana any more. I had to revise and revise and revise to get it right!

Silver Sparrow has this indelible sense of time and place—so much so that Atlanta seems to be a character itself. What made you choose Atlanta during the 80s as your setting?

Well, first off—I am a Georgia Peach! I was born in downtown Atlanta and most of my work is set in my hometown. The city is changing so much with “urban renewal”, etc. So writing about the city as it was, feels sometimes like an act of preservation. Many of the settings of the novel aren’t even there anymore. And many of the places aren’t the sort of settings that would be immortalized in literature; I mean who cares where seventeen year old black girls hung out in 1987? Who would erect a commemorative plaque? Me, I guess.

Besides being an incredible writer, you also teach. How does teaching inform your writing (and vice versa?)

Teaching really cuts both ways. The plus side is that always talking about writing, means I am always thinking about writing. Working out the kinks in my students stories really helps me be more conscious in working out the challenges in my own work. But the down side is that talking about writing is not the same thing as writing. I get hardly any work done in the school year. I feel so lucky though—next year, I will be at the Radcliffe Institute on fellowship. No teaching for me, just writing.

The ubiquitous question: What are you working on now and how is it a different challenge than Silver Sparrow?

The new book is historical and I have never written anything that has happened before my lifetime. It’s set in the 1930s. I don’t want to say too much because I am superstitious, but I am so nervous about this challenge. I worry that my ambition may be greater than my ability. When I was in high school, there was this huge sign in the lobby that said, “Not failure, but low aim, is sin.” I am trying to keep that in mind.

What are you reading these days?

Pictures of You, of course.

Refilling the well...

This past week I have been itching to write...something. I got my 7th revision of my romantic comedy script approved, my novel is in the hands of a great editor and ready for a fresh set of eyes to give it the once over and after helping several of my writer friends with their projects, (always a pleasure and an honor), I wanted to work on something new. So I returned to some pages that I had started for my new novel. I have about 10 that I really like. I like the voice, I like the tone, I like the innerlife of the character whom it is about but I don't like that I have a sinking feeling right now at the beginning that it is not enough. I know that it is too early to judge, but at the same time, having written 2 novels and deciding to lead with one, and leave the other in a drawer for now, and having done the same thing with my screenplays, I am painfully aware that good writing, even great writing is not enough.

What is the plot? What is the hook? What is obsessing me enough to sustain me through the next 2-3 years of writing, through all the revisions and debates over story and structure and what it is that I am trying to say and why it needs to be said and sent out into the world to be read? It is a huge task writing a novel and it is also a monumental responsibility to write one that deserves a big life outside of my office. Alas, I find myself on familiar, yet shaky ground, and know that I need to press pause and allow my well to be refilled. I have to read and watch and listen and allow my mind to wander to places that are murky and muddled and trust that somewhere in there, a line, or character or image will surprise me and light the tiniest of flames that will lead me out of the writing darkness.

Sigh. This is the hard part. But it is infinitely easier than getting 100 pages or 300 hours in and realizing that I need to go back to the drawing board. Deep breaths.

What a week!

Since last writing, I submitted my novel changes, heard back that they won't be read for about a month, (some distance is needed for a fresh perspective), took the novel back to fuss over, wrote new pages, had those looked at, and am getting ready to go over the entire book all over again to resubmit to fresh eyes in June. Whew! Add to that my fourth round of revisions on my romantic comedy screenplay, a tough call on another script that I am working on, and sleepless nights with a dog that has hot spots! It's finally Friday, and I am properly knackered.

One thing that I have realized though is that I am always more tired when I have things to deal with that are stressing me. Who isn't? I want to avoid them because I am tired, but in avoiding them I feel badly and even more drained. So I've decided that no matter how tired I am, or how little sleep I get, when I wake up, I have to just get up and get on with it and tackle that mountain of work. Hence being at this desk since 5:30am.

This weekend, I am going to knock a few more things off my list in...I will enjoy it more if I do!

Have a great weekend!

Off she goes!

I just submitted the latest changes on my novel. It is why I have been M.I.A. from this blog! I have been reading, and rewriting and tweaking and editing, and staring at my manuscript non-stop for 2 weeks, and 18 pages and countless hours spent at this desk later, I have sent her off and will begin the waiting process. I hope that the feedback is good and that the changes are loved!

I won't be idle for too long though, Thursday I get back to my 2 screenplays; both of which are in the need of some major revising, and that should keep me busy!

Until then...nap time!!

Adding an extension...

I've been trying to flesh out my novel a wee bit more for this latest revision. The feedback has been great, the revisions have been well received and there is much love for the novel the way it is, and I am grateful to have had such incredible guidance to get it this far. But, I have learned that at 263 pages it is a bit on the uncomfortable side of the desired 250-300 page length. It could be a bit longer. It would be ideal if it was. Sigh.

I know it's true. I get it. It's not like I think that there is anything missing from the book, I don't, but people's expectations and they way that a book gets marketed demands a slightly longer novel. It reminds me of when movies used to be 90 minutes. Nobody thought anything of it. Then movies became 120 minutes, or even 140 minutes, and suddenly that 90 minute movie seemed a little short, and movie goers were wondering if they were getting their money's worth. It's kinda the same thing with books.

The tricky part is finding those areas where I can breath more life into the story, without making it seem like filler. Expanding those areas that may have been a passing mention in backstory and giving them their own spotlight. Maybe I shouldn't just write..."we had a big fight", maybe I should write the fight. The fact that I need to do this now, when I have been doing the exact opposite in screenwriting, is challenging too.

And so all last week, I have been rereading and looking for those places where I could seamlessly add. It's kind of like building a house and then realizing you need one more room, but you don't want anyone to notice the extension. It is challenging. But it is possible. And most of all, it's necessary.

Back to the drawing board!!

In between time...

I am still doing the waiting game, and have decided to fill that time with binge fiction reading, (loved THE HELP), and series and film watching. Now I know it sounds like I am just lazing about, but honestly I am doing research. I am watching romantic comedy's for my one script and psychological thrillers for my other script and finally starting to see what my much admired screenwriter friends see...structure. The seams of the stories are more noticeable than they were before. The devices, introductions of new character and plot points are showing more than they were before. I am watching more as a writer than I am an audience member and it is a revelation. Of course I still have so much to learn and still need tons of structure work and guidance but it doesn't seem as impossible to master as it once was.

I have a 2 day vacation coming up, and I plan on just watching movies, the first season of In Treatment and reading a Douglas Coupland book that has been stacked next to my bed for way too long. I am immersing myself. And hopefully when I emerge, I will have news on the things that I am waiting for.

Waity, wait, wait...

As all who know me know, waiting is one of my least favorite things to do. I like being busy, I like getting things done, I like moving forward and progress. But all good things must come to wait. Once I have done my part; my writing, contributing, collaborating, I must send my pages out into the world to their respective bosses and...wait.

It's amazing how waiting can also make me wistful. I find myself pining for things that I could be doing in my 'down-time', and that usually leads to dreaming of house reno-ing, or traveling, and then invariably I am frustrated that I am not doing either of those fabulous, but not so affordable things and then I feel badly that I haven't earned more/done more/made more...which always brings be back to thinking of what else I could be doing to keep moving forward.

It can be a vicious cycle, and in my case an old story of what came first the work or the workaholic? The need or the drive? This spring I am already thinking ahead to the summer, when the waiting gets really bad, and have vowed to give myself a big fat project that I will work on with patience and diligence and care. Something that can not be rushed or judged for speed... a new novel.

In the meantime, I will organize and bake and plan, and try to fill in the waiting time, with dreaming of new ideas time as well.

Wish me luck!

Manic Monday...

It's been a busy start to the week. I am working on a new freelance project that is all tech savvy and challenging for my mildly tech savvy self, and I've been making major changes on my script outline, while putting the finishing touches on my rom-com script.

Thankfully the sun is shining again in L.A. and my energy is buoyed a bit by the blue skies. I mean I love the rain for writing, but that felt like a lot of rain.

Lately I have been starting to think about the new novel. I know, I know, my debut novel's latest revisions are still being reviewed, but I also know that for me, when a project ends it is good to have another one lined up. It is hard right now to even imagine going back to those beginning pages of a novel, where I have no real idea what it is that I am writing, just that there is a phrase or image that keeps whispering to me to follow it. Especially after all this structured screenwriting, to venture into the wild unknowns of the novel is more than a little terrifying...and thrilling. I think I will just keep my ears open to the whispering and see where it takes me.

Birthday week!!

I haven't blogged in a week! Why? Well, my folks came to visit and celebrate my birthday, and our building was in the middle of renovations for a week in anticipation of the city inspector and I had no office...and well, I was playing some serious hooky!

But today is Monday, and I am back at it. Revising, re-outlining, returning correspondence and getting back to my normal schedule!!

Revisions are in!

It's late...almost 10:30, and with the exception of a dinner break, I have spent the entire day at my computer. My latest round of revisions are due tomorrow and I needed to get them in before the morning, as I have a crazy Tuesday ahead of me. Tomorrow I get to rewrite and revise and basically redo, my script outline. That means that this whole crazy process starts all over again! But at least tonight, I can celebrate with a piece of cake and some sugary sweet dreams. And I can feel good about all the changes that my novel has gone through. It is so much sharper, so much clearer, and so much better for all the hard work that I have put into it. Two and half years ago, I didn't know where the story was going when I started, but I can honestly say that I love where it ended up. I am excited to see what happens next!

Deadline Mania

Apologies for a whole week to go by in between blog posts! I am swamped with deadlines. My novel revisions are due in two weeks, my script revisions are due, like yesterday, but I am going to get them in by the middle of March, and I break script on a new project this weekend. Add to that auditions, and callbacks, and I am knackered! My emails are piling up, my facebook is even woefully neglected, and I opened mail for the first time in weeks today! I got behind, or rather I got stuck in revisionland. I made a weeks worth of changes on my novel, and then decided that I didn't like them and had to start over. But a couple of days ago, I finally managed to crack a problem in my novel that has been troubling me, and now there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I am chaining myself to my desk, turning off the phone and finishing the rest of the macro revisions that I need to make. After a day off yesterday from writing, I am actually feeling excited about the mountain of work that is waiting for me. Let the revisions continue!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

I celebrated Valentine's day with a super long walk with my sweetie, and a trip to the park with my girls. After a wonderful week of hanging with my sister who was visiting, I am taking it slow today. It was wonderful to have my sister here and the timing of her visit was perfect! Just at the end of her trip I got notes back on my latest revision of my novel, which were well received, and it looks like there are a few more things to polish and then I am going to go through the whole thing with fresh eyes and see how all these changes have come together. Seamlessly, I hope.

I feel like writing is a labor of love. A long and often solitary labor of love. And even when I am lucky enough to collaborate on a writing project, like I am now, there is a lot of love and patience involved for the work, for my fellow writer, for the entire process and the privilege that I feel getting to do what it is that I love to do.

I have a few weeks before our next guest arrives and I am going to spend it up to my eyeballs in novel revisions, script revisions, and finishing an outline on a new script that is based on adapted work. I LOVE that I can not wait to dive into all this writing. It will be like Valentine's day every day...except without all the chocolate. But I can have always have flowers!

Happy Valentine's day to all of you, and here's hoping that you love what you do too!

Happy New Year...a few days later

I know, I know, New Year's Eve was a few days ago, and we rang it in with dear friends at their place with some glorious desserts and cocktails and a round or two of dominoes. Perfect. But since then, I have been stuck in neutral, kinda pooped and unable to really get it in gear. That is until yesterday when after combing over my novel revisions and giving into a nap, I resumed my dance class ritual at Swerve and sweated my butt off!

70 minutes later, soaking wet, and on a hip hop-salsa-cha-cha high, I felt my old self back. This is great news to me, because my old self has to finish the latest round of revisions, get a haircut, revise a script and start a new one in two weeks!

But first another dance class!

Hope you New Year got off to a high kicking start!!

Slowing down...

As you may be able to tell my the gaps in my posts lately I am slowing down. Unfortunately, I still have lots to do but not energy to really get it all done! I have a few more revisions on my novel to make and a second draft of my script to produce for the end of January, and another script to start in January too! It's all great and I am thankful to have projects to return to and to kick off the New Year, but I do notice that my body and mind are definitely kicking into holiday mode.

The only good thing about this, is that everyone else I talk to, is going through it too. The darker days, the endless rain, all make one want to curl up with a good book and just relax.

Thankfully my copy of Pictures of You just arrived!! I have one and Jeff has an electronic one, and so now we don't have to share! And we can join the small army of cheerleaders, including O, Vanity Fair, and People magazine who are raving about this book!