J. M. Levinton

A Writer’s Roots – Guest Post Arielle Prose

• September 18, 2017
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Author Arielle Prose, a member of The Penheads and published in two anthologies, checks in:

A Writer’s Roots

 

I had the good fortune to be paid a ten-day visit from French relatives, my first cousin and her husband. My cousin and I knew each other in France when we were little, before my family emigrated to the United States. We both share a few memories from that time, and from when I visited her when we were adults with our own families. That was twenty-three years ago, so there was a lot of catching up to do.

I say good fortune not only because we got to renew our ties to each other, but also because, as a writer always on the lookout for new material, it afforded me the opportunity to use the experience for a new story or two.

Communicating with each other in broken French on my part and broken English on theirs was a challenge at first (good thing for translator apps), but with each passing day we became more and more fluent in each other’s language. It was amazing to me to recall French words and phrases I once owned but had forgotten. It was as if a part of my personality had long been dormant and was now waking up again.

Throughout their stay, I was doing everything to make their visit memorable: preparing meals, planning sightseeing trips, or just relaxing at home, conversing and reminiscing. But at the back of my mind, the part that lies in wait for a story inspiration, writing possibilities were humming. What would their visit mean in the overall scheme of things? Would I write about our interactions? How we sized each other up, or quirks of our personalities? What we mean to each other, or the kind of bond we formed?

In the meantime, I should write a detailed journal of the visit, so I can draw on it when the time comes that I have a story, a message I want to relate.

My takeaway from my guests’ visit, a day after their departure, is that it feels good to dig into one’s roots, one’s past, and bring it present again, especially from old friends and relatives. But a visit to your old school, old neighborhood, or simply looking at old photographs, can also do the trick.

 

You can read Arielle’s stories in Hunger: Stories of Desire, Discovery, and Dissatisfaction, and Smoke: Tales Between Dark and Light.

 

My File Cabinet

• August 07, 2017
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Let’s start at the end. The picture above is nice, isn’t it? Bright, cheery folders waiting to be stuffed with story ideas, research articles, snippets of works to be written someday, and more.

I bought my four-drawer file cabinet from a used-office-furniture store and the rods inside the drawers didn’t last long. Fortunately, buying replacements was easy. I headed to Staples and brought home a box of two, to start.

The instructions….Does anyone know if the people who write those things ever try them out? Ever? Apparently I was supposed to measure the drawer and choose one of the notches in the rod to snap off at that point so it would fit. They suggested using pliers to bend it at the notch until it broke off.

Maybe if you bench press 400 pounds.

A friend offered a solution. I drove to her house and she sawed off the pieces. But—oops—not at the notches because my drawers weren’t as deep as the shortest notch. Really, manufacturers, you couldn’t have created more notches to work with? It’s like wearing a sandal where that final notch still leaves it loose and I’d need to poke a hole to make it fit. And metal is much more difficult.

After sawing four rods, I headed home and opened a drawer. Stacked piles of papers greeted me. I dumped them onto a table and added the beautiful folders. Labels will be added as I create categories. Which is a topic for another day.

 

In a Writing Rut? Invite a Tourist

• July 10, 2017
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I live in New York City, a city bustling with five boroughs of different temperaments all merged together to form a ball of energy.

But when someone asked me recently for the name of a good local restaurant, I paused. “I guess when I’m in my neighborhood, I just go home and cook.”

It’s when friends and family from out of town come to visit that I see my city through different eyes. I take them to my favorite spots and we explore places I’d always meant to go to but never did.

Tourist attractions with a guest are a completely different experience. I’m having too much fun looking through my guests’ eyes to pay attention to the fact that it’s, you know, a tourist attraction.

But yes, I know I live in a city where there are hundreds of thousands of places to see. What if I didn’t? I once lived in a small (well, small to me) city, population: 50,000. They had landmark signs tucked along the roads that I loved to follow. The locals no longer paid attention in the same way I no longer pay attention to the Statue of Liberty. And I loved those landmark signs and what they depicted.

So, go on! Invite someone from out of town and let them show you the sights. They’ll show you a place filled with detail and life. And in the process, your writing will light up with rich description and what ifs and—dare I say it? Magic.

 

Writing Again

• June 26, 2017
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I took a hiatus from writing fiction. When Magical Ties was published, I had reached the stage where if I had to proof it one more time—! Not because I didn’t like my story (I did), but because when reading it as a proofreader and copy editor I was too busy looking for technical errors to enjoy it. Probably too afraid to enjoy it, worried I’d miss a mistake. Doing that intensive focus for four or five times in a row was necessary but brutal to my brain.

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The Saga of the Chair, Part Three

• April 24, 2017
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I bought a chair. And I confess, I’ve never paid so much for one. But it’s exactly what I asked for, a workhorse that I can sit in for 17 hours a day without the seat cushion flattening and putting the back curve out of alignment. These things matter, people.

There were also chairs designed for 24/7 sitting, industrial-strength chairs built for professions like police dispatch, but I decided I didn’t need to go to that extreme.

And there were other chairs I tried out, perfectly acceptable chairs that fit my criteria that simply didn’t feel comfortable. I can’t imagine buying one without sitting in it first.

While the chair above is the one I bought, this will be the fabric and color:

It should be ready in about three weeks. And my advice is, get a good chair. The cost doesn’t matter. The fit and longevity matters. Your job as a writer matters. Treat yourself accordingly.

The Saga of the Chair, Part Two

• April 10, 2017
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Almost two years ago, I wrote about my search for a replacement desk chair. I thought the search was over but the replacement…sucks. It looked like my old chair but the seat cushion flattened and the back doesn’t let me settle into it like the old one did. I lived in that chair. So I’m off to search once again. Here’s my requirements:

1. The chair must be synthetic. I prefer fabric but fake leather would be acceptable.
2. The chair must be a mid to low back. High backs annoy me.
3. It must cost less than my rent.

How hard could that be, right? Apparently high backs are in style with leather and some price tags have made me gasp.

Any suggestions?

Why Do We Write?

• March 13, 2017
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If there are a zillion writers, I’m sure there are a zillion answers to the question. I write because I get to play with the Universe. Create a universe. And it’s based on things I’ve experienced and seen and read and watched in other people. Because as far as I write against the grain, there are still inherent moments that come from the place of me.

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Some Days in the Village

• March 06, 2017
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Greenwich Village, that is. Over the week, I had to be in the East Village one day and the West Village on another. Not a hardship! I love the energy pulsing through those areas.

On the East side, two of my favorite bookstores:

And on the West side, a rubber stamp store (yes, I have a collection, although it’s been a while since I used them):

And a good place to eat at 46 Greenwich Ave.:

The day I took the pics of the West Side, it was freezing out. But the sharp slap of cold across my face made this place even more of a comfort. For the record, they sell a fantastic root beer.

 

5 Steps to Deal with the Winter Blues

• January 30, 2017
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They’re the barest hint of shadow dogging your footsteps. They’re sneaky. Every year I’m warned about the winter blues and think they’re not near me and then suddenly, around mid to late January, realize they’ve been sticking to my side.

They’re a feeling of blah. Of no motivation. And it sucks.

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Character Traits and Real Life

• January 16, 2017
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Author Dorothy L. Sayers couldn’t stand brandy—but her main character, Lord Peter Wimsey, liked it, and people kept offering it to her, assuming that she liked it as well. It was a compliment of sorts (although probably a bit exasperating for her) that people assumed such a fine detail must be true for the author as well.

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