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Disclosures
I oftentimes, but not always, receive complimentary press tickets to performances, and complimentary books, for purposes of review. These complimentary items in no way affect my reviews. Also, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.-
Category Archives: Literature / Books
BUNHEADS
When I first saw the poster for this new ABC Family show a couple weeks ago I got so excited for Sophie Flack, thinking her young adult novel of the same name had been made into a TV series. But … Continue reading
Posted in Dance on Television, Literature / Books
Tagged ABC Family, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Bunheads, Sophie Flack
4 Comments
SHIRLEY YOU JEST!
I am very honored to have been asked to help judge the inaugural Shirley You Jest! book awards. It’s open to traditionally and self-published authors alike. So if you’re the author of a comical novel or humorous work of non-fiction, … Continue reading
How to Find the Studs in the Wall, How Do Valets Not Lose Keys, and Other Settling into LA Conundrums
Aye, still trying to figure out how to live here… The other weekend I was perusing the antique shops on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank and this piece of furniture stood out to me. I’ve needed a bookcase since I moved … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books, Los Angeles, New York Versus Los Angeles, Restaurants / food
Tagged Book Soup, bookcase, earthquake proofing, Elegant Variation, Housing Works, Jackie Collins, Ladies' Guilty Pleasures Book Club, Liz Donatelli, Panzanella, the Strand, valet parking, wall studs
5 Comments
“The Suspect” Now in the Kindle Store
Hey Everyone — Just to let you know, my new short story, “The Suspect,” is available now in the Kindle store for 99 cents. I plan to put it up, in ebook form, in other online bookstores shortly. It’s my … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books, Personal
Tagged 99 cents, Black Swan, crime fiction, e-book, Kindle, The Suspect
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James Wolcott on Deborah Jowitt in the Seventies
I’ve been reading James Wolcott’s memoir, Lucking Out: My Life Getting Down and Semi-Dirty in Seventies New York (photo above taken at the ArcLight Hollywood Cafe). It’s about his life as a writer in New York and his years working … Continue reading
“You Are a New Yorker When What Was There Before is More Real and Solid Than What is Here Now”
It’s time for me to post a link to the Colson Whitehead essay that I link to every day this year, from the 11/11/01 “Rebuilding New York” issue of the New York Times Magazine. I can’t resist. It will always … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books, New York
Tagged 11/11/01, Colson Whitehead, New York Times magazine, Rebuilding New York
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Self-Published Success Turned Amazon Poster Girl, Maria Murnane
For you writers and fiction-lovers out there who read this blog, I wrote a profile for the Huffington Post on author Maria Murnane, who originally self-published her novel, Perfect on Paper: the (Mis)adventures of Waverly Bryson (a sweet romantic comedy). … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books
Tagged Amazon, AmazonEncore, film rights, It's a Waverly Life, Maria Murnane, novel, Perfect on Paper, self-published author
4 Comments
My Own “Goodbye to All That”
I copied this post from my lit blog, Literary Aperitif (hence the mention of the Sweet Melissa ). I decided to copy it here to explain (kind of) my decision to leave New York this fall. More on that later. … Continue reading
DOVE SEASON by Johnny Shaw & Cadillac Margarita
Still trying to figure out Tumblr… and Google+. Don’t know why they are so hard, especially when I have a ridiculous amount of blogging experience! Anyway, here is my latest post on my Tumblr blog, Literary Aperitif. If you’re a … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books, New York, Restaurants / food, The Blogging Life / The Writing Life
Tagged Cadillac Margarita, Dove Season, Google, Johnny Shaw, Literary Aperitif, tumblr
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Literary Aperitif
Hi guys – I’ve just begun a new Tumblr blog, called Literary Aperitif, pairing two of my loves (other than dance of course): books and booze. I wanted to call the blog something along those lines but didn’t realize there … Continue reading
Posted in Ballroom / Latin, Literature / Books, Personal
Tagged ABT, Ballet in Cinema, Bolshoi, Children of Paradise, Emerging Pictures, Lincoln Center Festival, Literary Aperitif, Manhattan Dancesport Championship, Mariinsky, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, So You Think You Can Dance, Swan Lake, tumblr
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I Am Reading at POETRY UNLEASHED
I know it’s short notice, but tonight (Friday, June 3rd), I’ll be reading at Art for Change’s Poetry Unleashed, a spoken word event focused on literature about the displaced or economically disadvantaged, accompanying the gallery’s current Voices of the Economy … Continue reading
Posted in Art / Architecture, Literature / Books, Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events
Tagged Art For Change, displaced, East Harlem, economically disadvantaged, Poetry Unleashed, spoken word, Swallow, Voices of the Economy
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Former NYCB Dancer Sophie Flack Signs Her Debut Novel, BUNHEADS, at BEA
My apologies for my lack of blog posts this week. I spent Monday through Thursday at Book Expo America, the largest book industry trade fair in North America, held every year in NY at the Javits Center. (Nevertheless, I did … Continue reading
Posted in Ballroom / Latin, Dance News, Dancers, Literature / Books
Tagged ABT, Ballet, balletomanes, BEA, Becoming Ginger Rogers, Black Swan, Book Expo America, Bunheads, Colson Whitehead, Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine, Javits Center, Latin / Ballroom, Michael Northrop, NYCB, Patrice Tanaka, Sophie Flack, the Winger, zombies
1 Comment
LEAP by Jodi Lundgren
I recently finished this sweet, very honestly written young adult novel by Canadian author Jodi Lundgren. Leap is a coming of age story about a teenage girl, Natalie, living in British Columbia with her mother and younger sister. Natalie deals … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books
Tagged Ballet, Burn the Floor, Canadian author, Coming of Age, Fosse, Gaga, jazz, Jodi Lundgren, Leap, Modern Dance, Petra Murgatroyd, young adult novel
2 Comments
Maira Kalman at the Jewish Museum
Last week my friend, Alyssa, who’s an independent art curator, invited me to an art / law celebration at the Jewish Museum. The Jewish Museum really knows how to put on a party! They had the most splendid array of … Continue reading
Posted in Art / Architecture, Dancers, Literature / Books, Music and Opera, New York, Restaurants / food, Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events
Tagged art law party, Glenmorangie, independent art curator, Maira Kalman, Marc Chagall, mini Tuscan pizzettes, Nico Muhly, Pina Bausch, Swallow, The Jewish Museum, the New Yorker
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Sexy Kindle Party Reading
Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV So, my reading Thursday evening is now archived on the Reading is Sexy Kindle Party ustream; I embedded it here. I’m the sixth reader on the list – out of eight. The readings were so diverse. … Continue reading
Posted in Ballroom / Latin, Dance Competitions, Film / DVD / YouTube / Livestreams, Law, Literature / Books, Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events, The Blogging Life / The Writing Life
Tagged Albany, Atlanta, AWP, carded, Cathy Wiley, D.A. Spruzen, federal clerkship, Hoboken, Hurricane, Jennifer Crawford, Karen Cantwell, Kindleboards, L.B. Gschwandtner, Laverne Thompson, lawyers, Lisa Leibow, metro, Misha Crews, Pizzeria Uno, Reading is Sexy Kindle party, rum, the Soundry, Union Station, Vienna Virgninia, Washington DC
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Reading is Sexy Kindle Party!
This Thursday night I’ll be participating in the first ever (that I know of anyway) Kindle party. There will be a total of eight e-book authors, including acclaimed women’s lit writers Karen Cantwell and L.B. Gschwandtner. Audience members are encouraged … Continue reading
Sample Sunday: Poison Ivy
For this week’s #SampleSunday, here is a passage from chapter four of Swallow, entitled “Poison Ivy.” (For a synopsis of the novel, go here). Four Poison Ivy I met her the following Friday night. Stephen had an alumni cocktail party … Continue reading
Imagine Edward Gorey in Fur Coat and Sneakers, Nightly, at NYCB
I met this writer, A.N. Devers, at a party last week, and when she enthused about a piece she wrote recently for the Paris Review about a favorite writer of hers, the late Edward Gorey (in photo above, from Squidoo) … Continue reading
Swan Lake Samba Girl Wordle
I found this website on Galley Cat and of course had to try it out using my own blog’s RSS feed. Because it’s only the middle of the night and I really don’t need to be sleeping or anything… Sometimes … Continue reading
I’m on the Lit Chick Show!
I’m very psyched to be this week’s guest on the Lit Chick Show, a wonderful Australian-based literary website, which stands for literary chicks, not chick lit , and which has hosted interviews with people like Smashwords founder Mark Coker and … Continue reading
Writers Cake!
How sweet is this cake! Last night was the annual Writers Room party, where all the books published by Writers Room members throughout the past year are honored. The Writers Room of NYC, by the way, is the oldest and … Continue reading
Posted in Literature / Books, New York, Restaurants / food, Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events, The Blogging Life / The Writing Life
Tagged Books / Literature, cake, New York City, readings, Swallow, writers colony, Writers Room
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Amanda Hocking Interview
I have an interview up today on the Huffington Post with mega bestselling indie novelist / wunderkind Amanda Hocking (pictured above). If anyone likes to read paranormal romance or urban fantasy, you should seriously check her out. She’s only 26 … Continue reading
Sample Sunday: Sophie’s First Day in Court
Hey everyone, So for this week’s Sample Sunday, I’m putting up the first part of Swallow‘s Chapter 3. This is where Sophie (a lawyer suffering from Globus Hystericus, the feeling of an imaginary ball lodged in your throat) has her … Continue reading
Posted in Law, Literature / Books, Swallow reviews / awards / mentions / events, The Blogging Life / The Writing Life
Tagged book sales, commercial, conviction, Court, defendant, drug sale, first novel, Globus Hystericus, indie books, literary, PEN American Center, public defender, Sample Sunday, self-published, Swallow, writing class
1 Comment
Page 99 Test for This Week’s Sample Sunday
I hope everyone had a good Christmas. I did. Went to a friend’s to make mulled wine and roasted chestnuts but somehow neither happened. My friend ended up taking me out for a massage, which I seriously needed (especially after … Continue reading
