writing life

Greetings from sunny CA! (WHY do I live in NYC? Oh right- because I love it. But it’s hard to remember that sometimes, from here.)

Some quickies, since my host, my best friend Rebecca, is currently calling me (freshly picked raspberries and blackberries await):

Last night’s reading at Cody’s in Berkeley (above) was a blast. My favorite audience, I think, ever. Though I kind of feel that after each reading, so I’m probably not an accurate judge. Thank you to Laura, Josh, Elline, and others — including, I think, Bitch founder and heroine Lisa Jervis — for coming out! ForaTV filmed it, so I’ll post the link when it’s available.

Sisterhood, Interrupted in the news today: The Detroit News

And over at MotherTalk too (oh how I love those ladies…)

Next week I’m a guest on The Lisa Birnbach Show – will post details when I got em. And next week I’m going to be SheSource’s “expert of the week.” How cool is it that chicks now have our own radio, and database? If you don’t know about Greenstone Media or SheSource yet, be sure to check them out.

…is a work in process, and is growing. Here’s what I’ve got so far, and do let me know if there’s feministy/pop culture/intergenerational stuff coming out that I should add!

Wendy Shalit, Girls Gone Mild (because how can I not, with that provocative title?!)

Kristal Brent Zook, Black Women’s Lives: Stories of Power and Pain (Kristal is one of my co-panelists on the intergenerational panel we’re putting together)

Maria Elena Buszek, Pin-Up Grrrls: Feminism, Sexuality, Popular Culture (this came out last summer; Maria is an assistant prof of art history at the Kansas City Art Institute)

Sylvia Hewlett, On Ramps and Off Ramps (I went to her book party in this fabulous apartment and got a free book; my favorite moment was when she stepped up on a homemade stage to address her admirers, because she is, like me, short)

Rachel Kramer Bussell, Best Sex Writing 2008 (ok, so it’s not out til November, but I’m excited for it! Guess I’ll tide myself over instead with her Caught Looking: Erotic Tales of Voyeurs and Exhibitionists)

Amy Tieman, Mojo Mom (Amy just interviewed me for her podcast and she’s my newest online guru)

Kimberlee Auerbach, The Devil, the Lovers, and Me: My Life in Tarot (comes out in August; she’s a dear friend of a dear friend)

Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love (because I’m behind the times)

Christine Kenealley, The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language (because Chris is supersmart and so will be anything she writes)

In an era of “America’s Next Top Model” and “Age of Love” (more on that soon – I’m fuming), women’s studies scholars have so damn much to contribute to public debate. Yet too often this work fails to reach an audience outside of the academy. Coming off the NWSA conference this weekend, I’m primed and pumped to share more of what I’ve learned in recent years about going, as they say, “pop.”

3 tips from the “Public Voice” workshop I gave at NWSA:

1. Contrary to what we academics (and ex-, post-, and trans-academics) have been told, writing a book for “trade” is not about dumbing it down. It’s about popping it up, with purpose.

2. A dissertation by any other name is NOT a book.

3. Breaking out of academic writing requires an utter willingness to let yourself play.

5 Recommended Resources:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg

Thinking Like Your Editor: How to Write Great Serious Nonfiction–and Get It Published by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato

The Art of the Book Proposal by Eric Maisel

Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents 2008: Who They Are! What They Want! How to Win Them Over!

If you’re reading this and thinking “yes! I’m ready! let’s go!” do sign up for the Girl with Pen e-mail list and I’ll send notification about dates for future workshops and online courses on “Making It Pop: Translating Ideas for Trade.” (And thanks again to the rockin’ 45 of you who signed up for the session at NWSA!)

And so are we.

So I’m sitting in a session at the National Women’s Studies Association conference (photo, tilt left) on Saturday and Jess Valenti and Courtney Martin are projecting some websites on the screen before a crowd of rapt women’s studies professors who are learning ways to reach young women, and how to use blogs in their classrooms. Then boom! My face appears on the screen, ten times its normal size. Freaky. Celina over at feministing sent me some really great interview questions last week, and that’s when I realized that the interview was definitely posted. Check it out here – comments more than welcome (pls post em over at feministing, to continue the conversation…)

This pic, by the way, is rockstars Courtney and Jess doing their thing. And the fact that the picture is tilted is me doing my thing. (I’m still learning how this camera phone thing works.)

The conference was, in Lisa Johnson’s term, transplendent. It was so great to meet and remeet some of my fabulous colleagues in academe (hi Alison! hi Astrid!). And I just have to add (cuz I know she’ll appreciate this): Alison Piepmeier has amazing hair.

Photos from the conference to follow soon.

The sign that greeted us outside of Women and Children First (feminist bookstore in Andersonville) last night. Need we say more?!

Hard as it is to pull myself away from the cushy comfort of my hometown (Mom, Dad: thanks for the memories!), Courtney and I head to St. Charles, IL for the National Women’s Studies Association conference first thing tomorrow. If you’re there, come say hi. On Friday and Saturday, we’ll be signing books together (depending on how much sleep we’ve had, we may start signing each others’…) and then on Sunday at 10am, I’ll be leading a workshop on publishing books for trade — here’s what it’s about:

Publishing in Women’s Studies: A Public Voice
Sun, Jul 1 – 10:00am – 12:30pm
Women’s studies scholars and students write about topics central to public debate. Yet too often our work fails to reach an audience outside of the academy. At the same time, to write a book in today’s competitive publishing climate, scholars must appeal to a broader audience than was necessary in the past. This session brings together the people who can help facilitate these translations-literary agents and editors-with scholars who are currently negotiating the traverse. Panelists will discuss the components of a successful book proposal, the writerly and professional payoffs of “crossing over,” and the scholarly challenges of writing “pop” while pursuing tenure.


Session Leaders
Deborah Siegel, Author and Consultant
Jean Casella, Editor

Nancy Crossman, Crossman Literary Agency

Chicago – SO my kind of town. (Well, NYC my kind of town too, but, well, you know…)

I’m still high from Tuesday’s reading at The Book Stall – the place I went to pick out books when I was twelve. Not only did I have my two grandmas in the house and my high school English teacher to whom the book is partly dedicated, but a 9-mo.-pregnant-and-about-to-pop dear friend from high school (pictured left) and my soulmate from graduate school, Eileen (pictured right), were there too. Also attending: my parents’ beloved shrink friends, two great-aunts, Aunt Shellie and Uncle Jim, and, yes, even some folks I didn’t know. It was so comfy, I felt like I was reading in my parents’ living room. Thank you to all for such a warm homecoming — and for such lively post-reading conversation!

I had a blast reading at Bluestockings last night and was totally touched by Jennifer Baumgardner’s introduction. What a natural high to look out on a hometown crowd that’s full of friends and loved ones. Thank you to all of you who attended (full house!), to Marco and Elizabeth for pouring wine, and to all those who came for a drink at Lolita Bar post-reading.

Moving from the serious to the silly, I spent the day recovering at Coney Island, watching the Mermaid Parade. What a hoot. I want to dress up next year in glitter, bikini (keeping the top on, thank you), and tail. One part Mardi Gras, one part summer Halloween, and fully New York City, it was a dreamy way to kick off the season and take a quick break from The Tour. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend. Even if the idea of shells and rollerblades doesn’t turn you on, it’s a great spectator’s event, and very up-with-people and all. I found myself unmistakably moved by the irreverent celebration of beauty, bodies, and sea.

Washington DC.

My friend Heather once told me, soon after she had her first baby, that all the things that worry you about motherhood when you’re pregnant are none of the things you worry about once you have that kid. You worry about different things instead. I feel a bit like that about this book (Sisterhood, Interrupted). Before it was born, I worried (well, worried is strong – more like wondered) that I’d offend older women readers or alienate younger ones. Or both. Or that I’d be accused of adding fuel to the flame by writing about feminist fights. So far, nope.

In that miraculous stroke of stars in alignment and timing (I think being published right after Jessica and Courtney’s books took off like wildfire, starting crucial debates, was fortuitous), my book seems to be hitting folks in just the way I had hoped — and is drumming up some panels and forums for cross-generational conversation among gals old and young. (Stay tuned for more details – but the first one is a Demos Forum on July 26th. Lots more in the works for Fall.)

So what are the worries, a week post-delivery? Only the silly stuff. Like forgetting my camera on the South Jersey trip and not being able to preserve the memory of walking down Alice Paul’s staircase at Paulsdale, or not publicly thanking the manager of Olsson’s Bookstore last night in DC (THANK YOU, Olsson’s!), or not taking a photo (brought the camera this time) of Emily Napalo and Diana, assistants to Ellie Smeal at Feminist Majority Foundation and Kim Gandy at NOW respectively, who came to the reading, to post here on the blog….

So before I forget, a warm shout out to those in DC: Emily, Diana, Michal Avni, Heather Boushey, Allison Kimmich, Sarah Blustain, Ann Friedman, and especially to my host John Schmidt. And to the young women (esp Danielle) who interviewed me for PBS’s To the Contrary. You all totally made my day!