Room Mag

Well, actually, I'd also like a bunch of material things, such as some new clothes and teas and coffees and maybe a gift certificate or two to a decent restaurant so that I can entertain my fantasy of being a real-life "foodie" and not just live vicariously as I watch the Food Network.

I'm caught up in my wants today for some reason. I blame early Christmas commercials, the music, the wreaths... all of this makes me think of presents. Not just receiving, mind you, but giving as well. I love giving gifts. I enjoy watching someone unwrap whatever material thing I have injected with good intentions and love, especially when the present hits the mark and earns a genuine smile.

As I make my list this year, I can't help but think lists are an excellent device for creative writing. In nonfiction, Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl uses this device expertly. Leonard Michaels' "In the Fifties" is a good example as well, a listing that becomes a sketch of a narrator's experience of an era. 

I think it would make a good prompt for fiction. Each list item can help the progression and smooth out an otherwise more erratic delivery. I'm going to do this prompt with you, that is, if you do it...

Write a short list of presents, for Christmas or whatever holiday/birthday that best suits your purpose:
John, socks - silly-themed socks
Candie, self-help books
George, flavored hot chocolates
Mark, a wallet with a foreign coin in it
Terra, crystals and books on crystals, a candle
etc...
Then, beneath each character and present designation, write out the narrator's reasoning--a short sketch that introduces both the person and this person's relationship to the narrator. The challenge is to see if you can tie it all together at the end (a neat little bow, if you will).

Let me know if it's successful. Let me know if it's a disaster. Whatever, I think it will be fun.

I haven't reported much writing news lately, but you know how nothing happens for a while, then bam! There it all is? Well, something like that is going down, so I'll post updates soon. Work is forthcoming in Superstition Review, Sleet Magazine, Room Magazine, and there may be a fiction collection in the near future. Stay tuned...

xo Jen

Short Story America

I was planning to write a lengthy post about some genius thought I was having last week (I can't for the life of me remember what it was), but I was robbed on Tuesday. I was gone an hour, came back and all electronics were gone, along with my wedding ring (which I had left off because I had been exercising... my students gave me a hard time about that one) and my grandmother's jade ring, which wouldn't earn ten bucks at a pawn shop but meant quite a bit to me.

What's right up there with the jade ring loss is the fact that I lost my computer, and any notes of genius are now in a pawn shop somewhere being stripped down and disposed of. Who knows, maybe my computer will turn up?

What's funny about life is the strange ways it balances out. Writing-wise, things are looking up. I got a confirmation that my piece in Narrative Magazine will be appearing in the fall. A short piece of fiction I wrote a while back, which appears in TO BEGIN AGAIN, "Disengaged", is being featured in an anthology by Short Story America, which is now available here. http://shortstoryamerica.com/

(It's my first hardcover, and I'm pretty excited about it.)

Also, To Begin Again, my new collection of short stories, recieved a lovely review from Feathered Quill Book Reviewers: http://www.featheredquill.com/shortstory.shtml

As Chris and I robber-proof our apartment over the next week and I attempt to catch up on writing, I will also attempt to rewrite the post I began for this weekend's blog. In the meantime, if you're like me and you live in an apartment complex where yout think no one would be stupid enough to rob you, think again. Renter's insurance is cheap, and I sure wish I would've had it on Tuesday.