November 2024
This has been a truly great month for my writing! My story “Paradise” was nominated by Literary Namjooning for the Pushcart Prize. This is such an honor and completely unexpected. You can read all their nominated stories here. I work very hard at writing and get a lot of rejections. The acceptances are such a thrill. And a nomination like this feels like a dream!
The very exciting news is that I am the Grand Prize winner of the Does It Have Pockets creative nonfiction competition. I’ve been working on this story, about strandbeests and my mother, monsters and dementia, for a really long time. I’ve been struggling to get the story right but I think I finally figured it out. It was so nice to get the email notice of my award. Nice isn’t the right word really: it was exhilarating! I work on writing so much, practice it every day, feel like I get better and then worse. It’s just how it goes. But this award feels like a recognition that my efforts are worth it.
Life. What to say about it? The past few years have been a lesson in the aging body, dying parents, sick friends. And my own expanding middle. I struggle to appreciate the softness of my middle-age form. So, of course, to come to terms with it…I write! My story Not Cool came out in one of my favorite literary magazines Pithead Chapel. I sometime worry about exposing so much of myself in writing that people actually seem to read but after years of academic writing, it’s really freeing to be able to express with clarity my feelings about the wonderful and weird world that I find myself in.
In July, I attended a reading where I heard a story read in the future tense. I loved the effect so decided to use it and the second person point of view to describe the reading. My story A Summer Reading came out in Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine edited by Jeff Harvey, a fabulous writer whose choice of stories for his lit mag are always excellent. I’ve been trying to get into the magazine for a while - it’s where the cool kids publish - and I finally did! This story was fun to write and even more fun to see in print!
September 2024
I’ve enjoyed writing fiction, trying my hand at creating different worlds. I say I’m not good at “world building” but I do try to inhabit other characters in my writing. My story Separating Two Threads came out in Jewish Fiction. The editor was lovely to work with; she made excellent suggestions for changes that made the story better. As much as I love writing (and teaching) flash, it’s gratifying seeing my longer stories out in the world.
My story “Paradise” came out in the wonderful new literary magazine Literary Namjooning, devoted to stories that convey “acts of living” that include “slowing down, community with nature, a love for the old, second-hand bookstores, appreciating art and music, and feeding your mind and should doing the things you love.” I could find no better place for this story, about what Greece means to me. In the author’s note, the editors gave me a chance to talk about other places that bring us comfort: I was able to write about New York City and my lovely Seward Park where I spend a part of most days.
I am going to be in Greece for a few months in winter 2025, working on my Modern Greek and writing more stories, that I can add to my (slowly growing) collection about that magical country.
Many of my publications are shorter, “flash” pieces. I’ve been writing longer stories too. One of my favorites, “Lovely Rutland,” came out in The Milk House. This magazine is a rural writing collective edited by Ryan Dennis who is a great writer and stellar editor. Instead of rejecting my story, he gave me a chance to revise and resubmit it (this is a rarity in the lit mag submission world). His suggestion made this story stronger. I’ve been wanting to get into the magazine for a while, it seems like a good home for my Vermont stories. I’m so pleased with the image he included too. I hope you like the story!
August 2024
My story “Dissection” came out in Trampset. I have admired this magazine for a while and am thrilled that this piece found a home there. The editors were so lovely and I’m really thankful they liked this piece. It’s part of a new series I’m working on, tackling some of the gendered dimensions of caregiving a parent with dementia. I absolutely love the image they used for the piece.
“Dissection” was included as a “Friday Five: Labor Day Weekend Reads” on writer Andrew Careaga’s blog.
Someone asked me the other day why I submit my stories to literary magazines. My number one reason is: the community. I have a whole network of writers in my life now, many of whom I haven’t met in person, who I have connected with because our stories are out in the world and we’re moved by them. Everyday, I read something that inspires me. And I am thankful that sometimes, my stories resonate with others.
July 2024
My story “Flat White” about the last week of my mother’s life came out in JMWW. Creative writing comes with a lot of rejections so the acceptances are very sweet, especially when an editor says they “love” your story. They made no changes to this and let me use a photo I took after I gave my mother a manicure (she insisted I paint my nails too). This story isn’t all doom and gloom; there’s usually some unintentional hilarity at a memory care center.
I was invited to participate in the 712 Lafayette Reading Series in Brooklyn. It was an amazing night and the weather was perfect. Six of us read in a very lush backyard. I read my story “There is No Ordinary” (coming out soon in LEON Literary Review). One of the writers, Brian Pester, read an excellent story written in the future tense. I was so inspired to try this out, that I wrote a story the next day about the reading. It will be coming out in September in Gooseberry Pie Lit (one of my favorite magazines for micro stories that pack a punch).
Another exciting bit of news is that I was accepted into the NES Artists Residency in Iceland. I will be spending April 2025 in Skagaströnd, a small fishing village by the sea in northwest Iceland.
June 2024
I had four stories come out this month!
I wrote this 100-word piece “Penn Station,” which was published as part of National Flash Fiction Day.
The wonderful new literary mag Scaffold Lit published my story “the spanakopita was soggy”. Scaffold’s editor Steve Gergley is amazing. He’s such a supportive editor and really makes sure people read the stories he publishes.
“A Piece of Cake” came out in Every Day Fiction, a magazine that publishes lovely stories and has an engaged readership. The editors are really excellent and gave me great feedback. I’ve been working on this story for a while and learned a lot about point of view while revising it.
“Do You Believe in Magic,” is another story that I worked on quite a bit. I switched it from non-fiction to fiction and that move freed me up to get the distance I needed to place this story in a specific time, with a particular vibe. Flash Fiction Magazine is a lovely mag with kind readers who comment on stories. I love that interaction!
I spent a glorious week in Chorefto, Greece, staying at a wonderful hotel a few blocks from the Aegean Sea. I wrote a lot, hopefully some things that that will find their way to the Greece section of my stories page.
May 2024
I spent an incredible week at Vermont Studio Center in a fully-funded residency for Vermont-based artists. The weather was beautiful and the company was perfect. A story I wrote there, inspired by my conversations with a sculptor, will be coming out soon in LEON Literary Review. I highly suggest applying to this residency. You are fed well, get an amazing space to work and are supported in just the right ways to make your art.
We had a very Vermont evening: a bonfire, music and local beer. The incredible sculptor Joe Chirchirillo played guitar. The rest of us “sang”…
April 2024
Diane Gottlieb is the most wonderful champion of other writers. She wrote a lovely review of my story “Zaftig,”. In “A Short, Very Satisfying Meal,” published with one of my favorite literary mags Tiny Molecules (the first one to publish my creative work!), she unpacks the layers of my story. I got new insights about my writing reading her review of it! She is a gifted writer; I encourage you to check her website out and read her stories. I worked on”Zaftig” at Manhattanville’s Summer Writers Program in a creative non-fiction workshop taught by Davon Loeb, a stunning writer and stellar teacher.
March 2024
My story “Where’s Charlie” was a finalist for the WOW Women on Writing Creative Non-Fiction Essay contest. They published an interview with me where I talk about my move between sociology and creative non-fiction and the kinds of observations for which both allow. It was fun doing this interview; it’s nice to have a chance to think and communicate about what I’m up to with my creative work.
