Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re celebrating. I’ll be making my first tofurkey and, over the long weekend, trying very hard to finish reading Water for Elephants (at page 150, I still don’t know why everyone loves it so much). Dead Fish Museum and Harry Potter 6 are also on my list of catch-ups. Why don’t we have more time to read?
Most important, I need to finish writing the first chapter of my novel to submit for critique on December 5th. Fingers crossed.
- In honor of the holiday, I’m linking to a wild mushroom risotto recipe by chef-author Anthony Bourdain. For anyone who enjoys fancy-restaurant-kitchen politics, pick up a copy of Kitchen Confidential, a non-fictional account of his rise to culinary stardom (and in my opinion, his best book). Some people are turned off by his crustiness, but I think it’s part of his charm.
- Catherine O’Flynn, former postwoman and Web manager, penned her novel What Was Lost while she was obsessed with a shopping mall. After being rejected by 15 publishers, the novel is now shortlisted for the Costa Award and longlisted for the Booker. Inspiring, but as one friend put it, also scary that publishers and judging panels for awards have such disparate visions.
- Vote for your favorite book cover of 2007. I wonder how much Kolker made for One Red Paperclip.
- The new UCLA Extension catalog is online and includes a Saturday class taught by Susan Taylor Chehak, called Learning from the Best: Cloud Atlas. If you’re in the area and have been wanting to read/discuss this unique novel, sign up. (Type ”Cloud Atlas” into the search bar.)
From the UNEX Web site: “Find out what it really means to “read as a writer” as together we engage in an in-depth analysis of character, plot, and point-of-view, taking a close look at the narrative ingenuity of what has been described by the Independent as “a singular achievement, from an author of extraordinary ambition and skill, setting himself challenges that would drive most authors to madness.”
- Finally, Chris Baty, founder of NaNoWriMo is coming to Lulu’s Beehive in Studio City on Saturday morning, November 24th. There will be a write-in from 9am to 11am. Details: 13203 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA 91604-1835. 818 986 2233.
