I just finished “Girlchild” by Tupelo Hassman. I loved it. And I love this New York Times review, especially the part that says, addressing the fact that there is no huge plot, “….plot, schmot: The action is in the language and who this girl is.”

And I’m happy someone is finally giving cats a shout out (#7), though I’m not sure Fred would be the best inspiration.

Meanwhile, rule #9 is pretty damn funny and, though I dig my heels in against it, #11 is the best rule of all.

All the Living, by CE Morgan, The Outlanderby Gil Adamson,  The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt, The Reservoir, by John Milleken Thompson.

Breaking Bad, Boss, Modern Family, Homeland, Enlightened.

Mary Marcy May Marlene, Buck, Bridesmaids, Win Win, The Red Riding Trilogy, Shelf Life.

Fresh Air, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.

Hedgebrook, Hot Yoga, London, a visit from the Swiss, babies, finding the crack near Boulder Utah (not crack, a crack), Manzanita, San Pancho.

Saying goodbye to Jennifer.

My friends, family, the continual delightful surprise of my mother.

Bill (huh…I looked at the opening paragraph of this post and realized he makes me feel all those things).

First Wednesdays, a series of readings, performances and wine-tasting are held at the Blackbird Wine Shop, 4323 NE Fremont, 7-9pm. This show is 21 and over.

The readers for January 4th  is a night of Intentional Ducati with Jackie Shannon Hollis, Steve Denniston, Bruce Barrow, Mary Milstead, Julianna Waters, Scott Sparling, Jean Hart, Yuvi Zalkow, Sherri Hoffman, Joanna Rose & Stevan Allred. Jean Johnson guest emcees.

More than a writing game, less than a novel, Intentional Ducati is an exploration of group mind! http://intentionalducati.org/.

Come and have a listen to a bunch of very short but cool stories.

Jennie responded quickly and asked to see the first five pages of my manuscript. I sent them and she asked for more (I was thrilled). She said she was interested in passing my work on to the agent but that I needed to do some revising. She was so gentle and encouraging. She gave me extensive notes. I made some changes to the manuscript and gave it back to Jennie. She read it again. It must have been hard for her because, I had NO idea what I was doing. I understood that something wasn’t working with my writing, but I didn’t know how to fix it. I didn’t have the tools. Jennie gave me more note. Ultimately I sent the manuscript off to the agent who very kindly passed on the manuscript, but was encouraging about my writing. Not long after that, Jennie sent me an email about a writing class she thought I might find helpful.  I took that class, (Pinewood Table–with Joanna Rose and Stevan Allred), and jumped wholeheartedly into learning how to write. I began to add tools to my writing tool box. I learned how to take my raw desire to write, combined with a basic talent of expressing images and sounds and ideas on paper, and apply the tools to revise and rework a story, which is the biggest and ultimately most rewarding part of writing.

It’s been ten years now and I’m still learning. But, after having short stories and essays published, after completing my own novel (nope, not published yet), after being taken in by a wonderful community of writers, I think back to what Jennie did. She was generous and kind and honest. She was gentle too, which is so important to a new writer, to be encouraged and guided but also be pushed to improve.

In addition to appreciating Jennie, I admire her as a talented, hard working writer. Since that first book, she has published three more wonderful novels (you can read about them here) and her next book Love, Water, Memory, will be out soon. Jennie is no longer a scout for an agent, no longer looking at raw manuscripts. Her writing career is a full-time deal.  But she is still involved with good works as a member of the Seattle 7, a group of writers who keep reading and writing going strong.

So, in a month of giving thanks, here’s a big thank you to Jennie Shortridge and to all you accomplished writers who encourage new writers coming along.

Well, it’s out now. I sure enjoy these moments, when my work is out in the world!  Just the opening of the story is available online, so if you want to read the rest of it AND enjoy the whole issue, you can find the interview here and you can buy a copy of Slice Magazine at Powells or order it through Slice here.  Better yet, support this magazine by subscribing.

Mid-August, I mentioned to Liz Prato, a writer friend of mine, that I hadn’t done much writing and I wondered if I could still do it. She nudged me in the shoulder and said, “You do this every summer. Remember? You’ll get right back to it in the fall. You always do.” It’s true. How many summers I’ve lamented, “I’m not writing, what if I can’t do it anymore” What if I’ve forgotten how?”  Then fall comes and all that worry and fretting goes away. The words flow the minute I sit down, hands to keyboard. The words have been simmering  and swirling all summer. I’m glad to have this friend who remembers and can remind me. I’m glad to be sitting here just this moment and writing these words.

Yesterday, the neighborhood peacock came and sat on the stump of  tree we had to take down this summer. He’s lost his tail feathers. But they’ll be back and anyway, isn’t he still gorgeous?

One day, about ten years ago, Jennifer and I were walking, as we did almost every Wednesday for several years. Jennifer is one of the fastest walkers I know. We walked whether it was raining or windy or blasting sunshine. We  always took the same path from her house, down to Tryon Creek. It was a beautiful tree-ey kind of walk.

I was just beginning to write back then and I had an idea, a memoir I wanted to start. But it required one first step, a letter to a man in prison, the man who raped me. It scared me. Jennifer was considering doing a new documentary on Powell’s bookstore (she loved to read and she loved bookstores, especially Powell’s) and she needed to make contact with Michael Powell to start the process. She also was  a bit scared. So she said, “I challenge you. You write your letter and I’ll make my call.” We agreed. We shook on it. We smiled at each other. By the time I got home that afternoon, there was a message from Jennifer. She had made the call, the project was started. There was NO WAY, I wasn’t going to write my letter. So I did, that day. And that path was the beginning of me becoming a writer.

Over the years, Jennifer has been a champion of my writing, always asking about it, always showing up at readings, always cheering at my successes. But more than that, she’s been a champion of me. She’s encouraged and pushed and she’s continued to challenge me. She’s been a dear friend, most especially because we’ve gone through times of conflict, becaue there are ways we are so very very different. I treasure those times because it has simply deepened the grooves of our path to each other.

And I’m not alone. She has a huge group of people that she’s touched. Because she’s curious and open and honest and funny, and she’s got a great voice.

I got to work on the documentary, while it was being filmed. It was so cool to see Jennifer in her element, interviewing people, drawing them out, loving them, connecting. The finished project, Shelf Life, is a wonderful story of the love of reading and books and Powell’s.

On these last days of her life, as we all gather around her, I am endlessly grateful for the day Jennifer stepped into my world. This world is going to miss her.

In the meantime, here’s something that was fun: Paula Kay McLaughlin contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in being interviewed for the Writer Spotlight on her blog Write Now.  Paula interviews writers who are in the process of querying agents. Of course I would! Paula asked some great questions, most particularly a question about deciding which market I was targeting for At the Wheat Line.  She also wanted to know what my most and least favorite words are. If you’d like to find out and read the rest of the interview, you can find it here.

If you’ve had a desire to write or if you’re a writer who’d like to explore flash fiction, then I’d highly recommend this class. Stevan and Joanna will help you love to write and to find just the right way to say what you want to say.

FLASH FICTION Workshop at THE PINEWOOD TABLE

The beauty and power of flash fiction lie in its streamlined brevity. In a two day workshop we will explore this elegant genre, sometimes called sudden, micro, quick, or postcard fiction. Participants will read selected examples, explore various methods used in flash fiction, write at least two short-short prose pieces, and learn about the many publishing opportunities for flash fiction writers.

Join Stevan Allred and Joanna Rose from 10-4 on two consecutive Saturdays, June 18 & 25, at Stevan’s fabulous home outside of Estacada.

Stevan has published short fiction in over two dozen journals, both print and on-line, including Berkeley Fiction Review, Beloit Journal, Rosebud and the Iconoclast. Joanna Rose’s short work has apperared in ZYZZYA, Story Magazine, Artisan Journal and Pine Grove Literary Review.

Great Recession Price: $100 (paid by June 11) or $125 thereafter.

Optional field trip to Estacada’s infamous Safari Club after the workshop on the 18th. The Safari Club would be the quintessential ‘dive’ bar, were it not for the décor, which features a collection of large animal taxidermy arrayed in dioramas. A great place to have a beverage while you take notes on what a strange world we inhabit.

Find out more here https://www.facebook.com/pinewoodtable