tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69358308895177700862012-01-26T10:01:35.753-08:00paper - pencil - penMusings on the Writing LifeNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.comBlogger1471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-38789855691015605692012-01-23T05:00:00.000-08:002012-01-25T23:42:00.986-08:00Characterization and Conflict: Elements of Fictional StorytellingI just started a new (and final!) semester of my MFA in Writing program at USF, with a seminar in Teaching Creative Writing with academic director Catherine Brady and a writing workshop in Short Fiction with Karl Soehnlein, who writes in his syllabus:
This fiction workshop begins with the assumption that creative writing, like all the creative arts, is a process—a series of choices and actions Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-51829447232387735822012-01-18T14:22:00.000-08:002012-01-18T15:38:44.840-08:00Maud Hart Lovelace: A Besty-Tacy TributeLast week I learned about the recent death of my first childhood friend, Amy Dahl.
Amy and Nicole in front of Moraga public library, 1979-80
I've been wanting to write a post on my rekindled love for the Betsy-Tacy (and Tib) books, and since it was Amy who introduced me to them it seems now is the time to pay tribute. Though I knew Amy through high school, we were best friends from age two Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-62818308177173393802012-01-02T08:29:00.000-08:002012-01-18T14:41:13.293-08:00Freelance Writing for Magazines: The Query Letter
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mso-font-signature:Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-24775163237834696422011-12-29T15:39:00.000-08:002012-01-18T14:52:09.580-08:00Paper, Pencils, Pens & Other Supplies Needed for Creative Arts Charter School Destroyed in S.F. FireWhile celebrating Hanukkah with my stepsister and her family in San Francisco last week, I learned about the five-alarm fire whose smoke (and water) damaged 6 of 14 classrooms at Creative Arts Charter School the day before--including all of the teaching materials and books my brother-in-law has collected for his K/1 classroom over the past 14 years. Though the classrooms can be relocated, it willNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-86048184787465155282011-12-25T11:07:00.000-08:002011-12-25T11:08:33.940-08:00Creative Writing Club: How to Inspire TeenagersA couple of months ago I started a creative writing club at the high school where I work. I wanted to gain some experience "teaching" writing to young adults, and to provide a space where they could explore writing on topics of importance and relevance to their lives. Even though the English teacher was able to offer extra credit, I mentally prepared myself in case no one came during their lunch Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-12678985847338229702011-12-17T15:34:00.000-08:002011-12-24T14:06:20.118-08:00Big Brother Mouse in Laos: "Reading should be an adventure of discovery and delight, not a chore."
Stay Another Day in Laos
When my partner and I traveled for three weeks to Thailand and Laos in 2007, we spent about five days in the lovely city of Luang Prabang along the Mekong River. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the town is replete with 32 Buddhist temples, numerous day spas and delicious food. My only regret was that we didn't get to visit Big Brother Mouse, a local literacy Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-5101072517117652952011-12-05T08:03:00.000-08:002011-12-05T08:03:55.561-08:00Taking Stock: 12,000 page views and 12 months of publication at Petaluma PatchIt's that time of year again--taking stock of achievements and all that is left undone for a new year. While I haven't reached this year's goals--to get published in a magazine and to write for a living at least half time, I've just surpassed 12,000 page views on my blog, and I've now reported and published 22 articles for Patch.com for 12 months. Writing for my MFA program has taken most of Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-27539861256097007462011-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:002011-11-28T07:36:27.275-08:00Get Published: Contests & Calls for SubmissionsI'm always surprised when I hear from students in my MFA cohort that they never submit their work for publication. Then again, until several years ago, neither did I.
Trolling through contests and calls for submissions is now a favorite pastime of mine. Sometimes the specific topics remind me of a story idea or unfinished essay lurking in a file drawer. Proposed deadlines give me something Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-79998606163212642272011-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:002011-11-24T12:07:37.854-08:00Poetry Walk: Morning Haiku with Pictures
Penngrove, California
Bovine reverie
Horse, humanlike silhouette
Sevenish sunrise
Crimson berries blur
pumpkin and pomegranate
Eucalypt branches
Cow-like communion
Everything depends on it
barnyard red cliche
Wooly friends frolic
Skunk, unmistakable scent
Geese honking homeward
Lichen splash, collapseQuince, fig, apple, persimmonNostalgic Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-6754571390984293862011-11-21T14:35:00.000-08:002011-11-21T16:09:33.048-08:00Rachael Herron On Knitting, Writing and Revision
photo credit: Khalil Robinson
"I hate writing, but revisions are magic," said Rachael Herron, the featured speaker at last week's Writers Forum. Author of a trilogy of novels, which she cleverly coins "knit lit" after her favorite pastime, she recently published A Life in Stitches: Knitting my Way through Love, Loss and Laughter--a memoir collection of heartwarming stories that spin around the Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-85782555200155269022011-11-16T11:23:00.000-08:002011-11-18T06:53:07.829-08:00"Shasta in Stanzas" accepted by Telling Our Stories Press UltraShort Memoir Project
Her tent was a silhouette, wrapped in the shadow of twilight.
Sunrise on Mt. Shasta (Wikipedia commons)
That's an excerpted line from "Shasta in Stanzas," a recently accepted submission to an UltraShort Memoir anthology put out by Telling Our Stories Press. It "seeks raw, close to the bone writing about meaningful personal experiences" under 300 words. No pay, but I'll receive two print & two Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-31853725530167533912011-11-07T07:06:00.000-08:002011-11-07T07:06:08.016-08:00Too busy for words. Let the pictures tell the story.
Trying to hit three birds with one stone: a writing exercise, a 25-page revision, & an AWP intro journals project contest submission. All due too soon. Where did the weekend go?
When my eyes begin to blur from scrolling and scrawling, sometimes I take a break...
Young buck at dawn under the oaks
Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-30839861205024797882011-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:002011-10-31T07:16:38.767-07:00El Dia de los Muertos/Day of the DeadAll weekend long I wrote an essay about my grandparents and their deaths--the different lives they lived, how my relationships with each were filtered through their children, and how our families honored their passing in vastly different ways. And in my reflection, I learned some things:
"The rules of death don't obey those of the living, for death does not wait. It can't be scheduled between Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-11681446468624198322011-10-27T05:00:00.001-07:002011-10-27T05:00:03.338-07:00Are all MFA in Writing Programs the Same? Catherine Brady Sells the Finer Points at USFChoosing the right M.F.A. in writing program depends on a variety of criteria--location, cost, even prestige. But there's probably nothing more important than the program structure and quality of instruction. My program at University of San Francisco has, according to "The Little Program That Could" article in the school's newspaper, "emerged as a top destination":
Over the last 10 years, Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-60001694008300522422011-10-24T12:04:00.000-07:002011-10-24T12:04:42.391-07:00Saving Public Libraries in Pictures: Photographer Robert Dawson's Library Road Trip Across USA
Mark Twain branch, Detroit, MI--CLOSED
I wrote in my recent post on bookstores closing that at least libraries, though suffering, still remain. Apparently, not all. Photographer Robert Dawson has been documenting hundreds of the 17,000 public libraries across the United States since 1994, some open, some shut down, some endangered. It's a journey he chronicles in pictures and words on his Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-57116233851725936362011-10-20T15:35:00.000-07:002011-10-20T15:35:53.333-07:00The Sketchbook Project 2012 World TourMy friend, visual artist and taiko drummer Yurika Chiba, wrote on her blog I Make Things Out of Paper about a worldwide project she's participating in--The Sketchbook Project.
"Mari" by Yurika Chiba
The Art House Co-op writes:
Thousands of sketchbooks will be exhibited at galleries and museums as they make their way on tour across the world. To receive a sketchbook and participate in the Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-44758304528140152722011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-17T07:56:16.482-07:00Bookstores Closing: a Li Miao Lovett PerspectiveRecently I left a book on an airplane. A thin book, which slipped down, unseen, hiding with the safety instructions in that seat pocket in front of me. I didn't know it until the following day, a Saturday morning, when I searched my luggage like a blind woman and found nothing.
I had to replace the rare book immediately, since I was to write a critical essay on it for class that week. But my Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-61962182423349762912011-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-13T06:00:03.979-07:00Writer's Inspiration: Collage Your DreamsFor some time, at the suggestion of a counselor or two, I've wanted to create a collage to inspire my writing dreams. Armed with a pile of lifestyle mags, I began cutting out pictures and words that might represent my road to success.
But images solely of writing or writers, such as this lovely escritoire, were hard to come by.
So it was suggested that I identify the tools that help my heart Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-25693894989438971492011-10-10T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-20T15:36:59.947-07:00Author Feature: Michelle Tea Speaks at USFMichelle Tea, editor of several anthologies and author of 5 novels, a collection of poetry and a few memoirs--including The Chelsea Whistle, which I recently read in my narrating nonfiction class--was the featured speaker at the USF MFA author series last week. Tea's tiny stature belies her enormous (as in boisterous & generous) personality. Bringing a theatrical presence to the stage, she's Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-50827615689954456702011-10-05T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-05T06:00:06.894-07:00Learn how to create a blog and build readershipDo you wonder how to create a blog, but don't quite know where to start? Or do you want to learn more about social media, blogging and websites, and how to generate a wider readership? I do! That's why I joined B.A.B.S.-- Bay Area Bloggers Society. Even by uploading your profile with a short bio and blog link you could potentially generate more traffic to your site. But it isn't just another Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-10859073086765501362011-10-03T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-03T07:57:15.130-07:00Literary News: HOOT launches mag on a postcardHOOT: a postcard review of {mini} poetry and prose, is a new monthly literary mag (not to be confused with Hoot, a student-run fashion/lifestyle magazine). Each issue of flash fiction, nonfiction, poetry or indie/small press book review is fewer than 150 words. A corresponding "online only" issue will publish somewhere between 1 and 3 works. Annual subscriptions are $14, but those sending in Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-43443839433766223522011-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:002011-10-20T15:37:56.710-07:00SoCo Book Festival Favorites: from Letterpress to Literacy, from Book Publishers to Book Mobiles
Teresa LeYung Ryan
I spent Saturday at the 12th Annual Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa's Courthouse Square. Book lovers young and old wandered along 4th Street from 10-4. Booths showcased local book sellers, self-published authors, indie publishers and small presses, as well as a public library sale. Several stages held professional panels, author talks and poetry readings.
Struck Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-24413253541570349582011-09-26T06:00:00.000-07:002011-09-26T06:00:11.352-07:00Banned Books Week: September 24--October 1What do Of Mice and Men, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird all have in common? (Besides the animals.) These books are all on the American Library Association (ALA) list of banned and challenged classics. According to their website, "each year, the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom records hundreds of attempts by individuals and groups to have books removed from libraryNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-62218035153115118422011-09-19T20:55:00.000-07:002011-09-23T21:35:50.915-07:005 Bay Area Book Festivals for FallSomething about a new school year and the change of seasons makes me want to curl up with a bunch of books. Well, okay, when don't I? Here's what's waiting on my bedside table: The Chelsea Whistle (MFA requirement); The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010 (recent plane purchase--fabulous!); Betsy Was a Junior (nighttime read-aloud classic YA by Maud Hart Lovelace); Postcards (Annie Proulx Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-67963468884836726702011-09-05T12:19:00.000-07:002011-09-05T12:19:14.194-07:00untitled poem
In Memoriam, Jack Zimmerman, my champion, 7/29/15-9/3/11
for Grandpa Zim
In the garden I dream
the seeds of all
longing
have taken flight,
waiting
to germinate
with the perennial
blooms,
ripening fruits, stems
of greens pushing through
ceilings of soft earth,
the evening light
a halo
around the heads of sunflowers
where possibility sleeps
and the jays in the apple tree
announce
Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-52469812702050804122011-08-26T18:27:00.000-07:002011-08-27T13:01:19.221-07:00What is Your Watermark?: The Narratives that Hold our Lives in PlaceThe subject of narrative--particularly how stories are written or told, and remembered--is one that keeps coming up lately. And not just in the obvious places like my MFA program. During a Jewish women's retreat several weeks ago in Mendocino, our Rabbi Margaret Holub said stories are one of the ways humans imprint how we see and act upon the world--what Vladimir Nabokov described in Speak, Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-72893758871274557962011-08-19T08:12:00.000-07:002011-08-26T06:51:04.974-07:00The Blank Page"Each time I write a book, every time I face that yellow pad, the challenge is so great. I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'Uh, oh, they're going to find out now. I've run a game on everybody and they're going to find me out." -- Maya Angelou
I've been mentally gearing up for my second and final school year in my MFA program at USF--preparing to complete the first drafts Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-18387127106075463352011-08-10T13:48:00.000-07:002011-08-10T13:48:58.449-07:00Andrew McCarthy to speak at 20th annual Travel and Food Writing & Photography ConferenceTomorrow marks the 20th annual Travel and Food Writing and Photography Conference at Book Passage in northern California, which runs Aug. 11-14. This extraordinary gathering was started in 1991 by independent bookstore owner Elaine Petrocelli and conference chair Don George. The former travel editor of the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle, the Wanderlust section of Salon.com, and Lonely Planet Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-87715918702009365732011-08-03T06:00:00.000-07:002011-08-03T06:00:03.537-07:00Writing in medias res: Stefanie Freele's sprinting exercise, part 3Here's the last writing exercise and sample from Stefanie Freele's workshop:
a) Begin with "she always/he typically/it usually" to sneak in the back story first:
He typically prayed in the middle of the night while the children were sleeping. Above the din of their snores in the next bedroom, he would sit, head rested in hands, body rocking on hard wood floor.b) Write a few sentences, starting Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-29899941081186102322011-08-01T06:00:00.000-07:002011-08-01T06:00:10.938-07:00Writing in medias res: Stefanie Freele's sprinting exercise, part 2
In last week's post on Stefanie Freele's workshop, starting fiction in medias res, I described a writing exercise, followed by my free write sample. Here's another "sprint," as she called them--
a) Choose an active verb (cries, slams, grinds, stutters, teases). Combine it with a character or pronoun, followed by several sentences. Stay in present tense for the action:
She slams the door. Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-27070516851629276052011-07-28T16:32:00.000-07:002011-08-02T14:47:21.010-07:00Writer's Forum: Stefanie Freele grabs readers in medias resStefanie Freele, fiction editor of the Los Angeles Review and a 2010-11 Healdsburg Literary Laureate, led a dynamic workshop at our Writer's Forum on beginning a story "in medias res"--in the middle of things. Think of a mystery novel, she said, which rarely starts with a description of place. Rather, it begins in the middle of the action, the madness, the hunt for something.
"It's a technique Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-8416916485372749692011-07-20T14:49:00.000-07:002011-07-20T14:50:11.092-07:00Procrastinating with Pristine Pictures
Monument Valley, Navajo Nation
I'm supposed to be working on my last summer thesis submission for my MFA, with 20-30 pages due ten days from now. But after three glorious weeks in the eastern Sierras and the Southwest (including 8 national parks & monuments) with my partner in crime, Kristen, I'm experiencing wilderness withdrawal & a serious case of writer's block.
The transition from Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-56305269542768218882011-07-11T06:00:00.000-07:002011-07-11T06:00:01.238-07:00VIDA: Women in Literary ArtsI recently applied for a position as a research assistant with VIDA, Women in Literary Arts, to support the board of directors chaired by USF Associate Professor of English, Susan Steinberg, a 2010 United States Artists Ziporyn Fellow in Literature.
This vital nonprofit was founded in 2009 "to address the need for female writers of literature to engage in conversations regarding the critical Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-16174327836987065552011-07-04T06:00:00.000-07:002011-07-04T06:00:06.625-07:00826 National: internship opportunity and winter poetryAs we celebrate summer (I'm ghost posting this ahead of time before I head to the eastern Sierras, part of which is still buried in snowfall), here's a beautiful remembrance of those cold days of winter left behind.
This video was produced by the 826michigan's "Secret Life of Winter" workshop in February. Trekking through a snow shower in Ann Arbor's Nichols Arboretum, students "wrote poetry toNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-17664411266245228992011-06-27T09:00:00.000-07:002011-07-19T08:58:07.613-07:00Writers Forum: Victoria Zackheim on Turning Life into FictionWriters Forum, a local group that meets monthly to hear guest speakers present on the craft and business of writing, celebrated it's 5th anniversary this month. Founder and facilitator Marlene Cullen introduced the featured speaker, Victoria Zackheim, author of the novel The Bone Weaver and editor of five anthologies including the upcoming Exit Laughing: How We Use Humor to Take the Sting Out of Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-85418054517570921372011-06-15T13:57:00.000-07:002011-06-15T13:58:35.056-07:00Go the F--k to Sleep: Children's Illustrated Book Tops the Charts with TabooA new picture book, Go the F--k to Sleep, written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés, was released by Akashic Books yesterday. But this one isn't really for the kids. Sure, the beautifully illustrated pages and lyrical rhymes should be enough to lull any wee one to sleep. But it's the weary parents who are its primary target, given the urgent, albeit subversive subtext: that Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-59043369597796445042011-06-06T06:00:00.000-07:002011-06-15T13:59:53.972-07:00Author Feature: Lisa Catherine Harper
credit: Lisa Johnson Photography
Lisa Catherine Harper began writing A Double Life: Discovering Motherhood, winner of the 2010 River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize, when she was pregnant with her first child, her daughter Ella. Chronicling from conception to her baby's first word, she writes "how motherhood transforms the female body, hijacks a woman’s mind, and splits her life in two," Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-33666584187689883282011-06-02T10:29:00.000-07:002011-06-02T10:29:56.423-07:00Right Now I am: A Writing Exercise
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font-size:12.0pt;Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-42064440131453161912011-05-24T08:18:00.000-07:002011-06-15T14:01:18.299-07:00Show, Don't Tell: Writing Dynamic Scenes with Effective DialogueThe men shook hands. The owner seemed pleased. It appeared he might be renting to someone who could pay the rent on time. “Well, let me show you the place,” he said, nodding toward the archway that spelled out Greenbrae Boardwalk in block letters. “You’re lucky it’s so close to the entrance. Most people have a little further to walk to get their mail or to their car for a drive into Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-62950054596147652362011-05-16T07:57:00.000-07:002011-05-16T07:57:22.971-07:00Children's Book Writers Conferences, Coast to CoastAre you a children's book author or illustrator, or wanting to break into the field? Here are two events you can attend this summer on either coast:
Oregon Coast / photo credit: Nicole R. Zimmerman
Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop: Oceanside, OR
date: July 11-15, 2011
cost: $799
The conference: There are guest lecturers, evening presentations, morning Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-386485086616310902011-05-08T13:21:00.000-07:002011-05-08T13:21:50.950-07:00Writing Exercise IV: Babies and Beer
“At night I feed him another bottle of milk and a jar of baby food. Maybe I should just feed him when he’s hungry," she says, sipping from her Corona while her blue-eyed baby boy sucks at a bottle from her lap. “You can play again with your little friend,” she says in a baby voice, gesturing across the café table. “Maybe she’ll let you use her Jumparoo again!”
“Yes, she’s a little dancer,”Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-45646670294632700392011-05-02T06:00:00.000-07:002011-06-15T14:02:19.286-07:00Nice Notes of Rejection: Tiny LightsRecently I got a SASE in the mail from Tiny Lights: A Journal of Personal Narrative. I knew what it was: a rejection slip and return of my submission to a local flash prose contest I'd entered in February. But instead of the disappointment and dread that can accompany such self-addressed envelopes penned in my own handwriting (always a bit odd, as if I'm the one delivering the bad news to myself)Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-45630956386730186262011-04-29T18:42:00.000-07:002011-04-29T18:42:11.566-07:00Friday Author Feature: Tamim AnsaryTamim Ansary's bio indicates that he "grew up in Afghanistan and grew old in America." Author of the bestselling memoir West of Kabul, East of New York, chosen as San Francisco’s One City One Book pick for 2008, Ansary writes on the experiences of "being caught between two existences."
"What western planners call democracy was an extraneous apparatus..." he read from his nonfiction book, DestinyNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-45005323130325250002011-04-23T22:28:00.000-07:002011-04-29T18:45:10.542-07:00The Greg Mortenson Fact vs. Fiction Fiasco: Investigation or Sensationalism?Have you heard all of the hullabaloo over the Greg Mortenson fact vs. fiction fiasco about his memoir Three Cups of Tea? If you haven't, check out last Sunday's "60 Minutes" expose and weigh in on the debate.
"Some of the most touching and harrowing tales [such as being kidnapped by the Taliban for 8 days] in Mortenson's books appear to have been greatly exaggerated or made up out of whole Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-33283566362525426582011-04-22T17:44:00.000-07:002011-04-22T17:45:04.862-07:00Friday Author Feature: Matt Stewart on tweeting his debut novelBefore Matt Stewart landed a book deal for his literary novel, The French Revolution, he'd already received numerous rejections. First, it took 8-9 months and more than 150 pitches to find an agent. After some promising critical feedback from one, and 3 months of revising and resubmitting the book--voila! Then his agent only had to find a publisher. Over 30 rejections later, Stewart came up withNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-61945298522908809042011-04-17T08:02:00.000-07:002011-04-22T17:44:42.287-07:00Books and Bucaneers: authors Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida discuss the writing lifeAuthors and philanthropists Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida describe their '826 Valencia' writing and tutoring center's pirate supply shop, located in San Francisco, as "for the working buccaneer." At first, people were puzzled by the storefront and its purpose. But, given time, both volunteers and the children they were to serve, came streaming in.
photo courtesy of sfcityguides.org
Ten years Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-88594607348555745902011-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:002011-04-12T07:16:14.611-07:00A Writer's Words: Jane SmileyJane Smiley, author of Private Life, her most recent book and 13th novel, which she calls "a short book covering a long life-span," writes 1-2 hours each day and aims for 1200 words.
In a recent author reading sponsored by my MFA program at USF, Smiley told us, "Our writing is never as good or as bad as we think." She urged us to do it anyway and come back to it later with some distance.
"The Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-52234720409442321872011-04-08T18:34:00.000-07:002011-12-25T10:31:27.744-08:00Lynda Barry and National Poetry MonthApril is National Poetry Month! Designated by the The Academy of American Poets, it is a time "when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture."
In the spirit of celebrating the vitality of poetic language, I offer you cartoonist Lynda Barry, creator of Ernie Pook's Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-30808069523268101892011-03-31T08:07:00.000-07:002011-04-17T08:03:52.960-07:00Crazyhorse Cross-off ContestThe literary journal Crazyhorse, founded in 1960 to publish "the entire spectrum of today’s fiction, essays, and poetry—from the mainstream to the avant-garde, from the established to the undiscovered writer," has an interesting contest! E-mail your entry of no more than 40 words to crazyhorse@cofc.edu by next Thursday, April 7, by 5 p.m. The ten winning entries will receive a free one-yearNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-39075717170187115832011-03-23T16:15:00.000-07:002011-04-17T08:04:30.838-07:00What's Hot and What's Not: Predicting Trends in the Publishing Industry
literary agent Gordon Warnock
If people could truly predict what sells well, there would only be about 200 books accepted for publication per year, according to senior literary agent Gordon Warnock, the featured speaker at a recent Writer's Forum. But with 2 million titles published annually, (200,000 by the New York "big six" alone), how can you tell what the industry will seek next? Start Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-77430148468333157932011-03-16T14:31:00.000-07:002011-04-17T08:04:57.560-07:00Writer's Website of the Week: Literacy RootsI'm inspired by a new blog called Literacy Roots, in which a fellow friend and graduate student of education posts reflections on language study and teaching writing:
The week before last, I had the pleasure of spending two days in a high school English class as a guest teacher/ substitute. I observed a variety of student achievement artifacts to include poetry, artwork, and copies of collegeNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-71504352887247064892011-03-14T21:00:00.000-07:002011-03-14T21:01:07.709-07:00Amsterdam Press: Good, Simple Stuff
Women and Other Hostages
Poems by Laura McCullough
Part of the Gob Pile Chapbook Series at Amsterdam Press.
Released 2010.
36 pages, saddle-stitched.
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Out my office window the little lambs are frolicking over spring green hills this dewy morning. (That's February in California.) I've got a full day of writing ahead, so I thought I'd first share some quotes of inspiration to get motivated.
"I would rather be tortured by writing than be tortured by guilt... One of the things that makes me keep writing is the fear that one day I won't be a Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-62890960042537818302011-02-18T06:44:00.000-08:002011-02-18T06:51:19.959-08:00Infinite City of San Francisco: Which 'Prose Universe' Belongs to You?
Map from Infinite City, by Rebecca Solnit
Four months ago, I read a blog post at curbside treasure, about the joy of picking up a complimentary map, pictured above, at an independent San Francisco bookstore. I was intrigued by the map and the overall Infinite City atlas project--a collaboration of writers, artists and cartographers, conceived by Rebecca Solnit to commemorate SF MOMA's 75th Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-21477279361259088972011-02-14T13:02:00.000-08:002011-02-14T13:02:21.844-08:00Writers in Animation: 'The Day of the Writer' & 'So You Want to Write a Novel'Dee Garretson, author of Wildfire Run, created this hilarious animated video called "The Day of the Writer." Especially if you're a parent struggling to make time to write, you'll enjoy this exchange between a mother writer and her young daughter who only wants her to make cupcakes and costumes:
This other animated video, "So You Want to Write a Novel," written by David Kazzie, is a Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-49447187138583761552011-02-08T16:34:00.000-08:002011-02-18T06:56:03.317-08:00Lewis Buzbee: The (Young Adult) NovelOn Saturday, in the midst of my weekend writing frenzy for the first submission of the semester, I attended a local workshop. Lewis Buzbee, author of Steinbeck's Ghost, The Haunting of Charles Dickens and the upcoming Mark Twain and the Mysterious Stranger, was a bookseller for 20 years and is my current professor of literature at USF. With usual wisdom and wit, Buzbee enlightened our group of Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-85863581582592049982011-02-04T08:02:00.000-08:002011-02-08T16:37:34.504-08:00Gung Hey Fat Choy: Wishing You Prosperity & Wealth in the Chinese New Year!If you’re a teacher or parent who wants to share the magic of Chinese New Year through literature, consider reading these delightful illustrated books. Click on any selection below for further description or purchase.
Sam and the Lucky Money by Karen Chinn
A fictional book that follows Sam through urban Chinatown during Chinese New Year. Illustrated with vibrant watercolors.
Chinese Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-67146194056703319832011-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-28T06:00:01.688-08:00Beyond the Joy Luck Club: Renditions JournalAs reported by the Modern Language Association, Maxine Hong Kingston's book, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Beyond Ghosts, is the most commonly taught text in modern university education. The book, which juxtaposes the 'talk-story' tales of the narrator's mother in China against her own upbringing in 20th century America, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for best work of Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-13487841327023489772011-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-25T06:00:13.612-08:00Supporting the Writing Life, Part 6It's the final installment of advice on supporting the writing life!
NETWORK:
As Tanya Egan Gibson says: "You don't have to be a good networker. You just have to bring yourself to the table." Whether you network in person or online, be yourself. Just like writing a job or school application, think of what you have to offer rather than what the other person can give to you (even if that's your Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-31338744920178990512011-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-23T17:46:44.882-08:00Supporting the Writing Life, Part 5A couple more things on supporting the writing life... with two more to come!
INTERN AT A LITERARY AGENCY, MAGAZINE OR PUBLISHING HOUSE:
Getting an internship within the industry can be a great way to build your writing career and strengthen your writing. It's one thing to read about how agents choose their books or how to follow writing guidelines at a magazine. It's quite another to Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-43418792329109187382011-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-18T06:00:12.657-08:00Supporting the Writing Life: Part 4
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A couple more things on supporting the writing life... with more to come!
SUBSCRIBE TO MAGAZINES: Writing magazines are Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-34218011658557598322011-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-14T06:00:18.087-08:00Supporting the Writing Life: Part 3
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A couple more things to support the writing life. More installments coming...
ENTER A WRITING CONTEST:Here's a repeat Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-68411846753800001022011-01-11T06:00:00.000-08:002011-01-11T06:00:11.583-08:00Supporting the Writing Life: Part 2JOIN A WRITING GROUP/ASSOCIATION:
As a reader commented on my last post: "Hearing how someone else is crafting a piece, what thoughts they had when they introduced this or that, helps us all gain perspective." I couldn't agree more. Writing groups vary, from the formal workshop structure of a creative writing program, to informal arrangements where participants read their work aloud or Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-72405470600377119872011-01-07T08:14:00.000-08:002011-01-09T10:32:56.366-08:00Supporting the Writing Life: Part 1
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I've been thinking about all the ways we writers can strengthen our commitment to the work. So I've compiled a list of Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-39558651619058451762011-01-04T08:10:00.000-08:002011-01-09T15:39:51.797-08:00Celebrating Success & Outlining New Goals: Tribute to a New Year II
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I approach this New Year with a mix of excited anticipation and anxious trepidation about the writing process and all that I wish to accomplish.
I love new beginnings--taking stock and looking forward--and I have many writing goals for developing the craft and my writing life. But I've also noticed each day my mind loops through the same self-defeating cycle with something like this:
1. an Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-250635981910317902010-12-28T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-28T06:00:07.222-08:00UC Berkeley's Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Writing
I recently spoke with someone who didn't get accepted to the MFA program she applied to, and she isn't sure how to move forward with her literary life. Instead of re-apply for the following year, with possibly the same results, I suggested the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Writing through UC Berkeley Extension. Sure, one can always take individual classes through a university or Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-15103184224916887772010-12-24T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-24T06:00:08.151-08:00San Francisco Writers Conference 2011If you live in the Bay Area, you won't want to miss the 2011 San Francisco Writers Conference on President's Day Weekend, Feb. 18-20. The conference will feature nearly 100 agents, authors, editors and book industry professionals: a 'Celebration of Craft, Commerce and Community' for writers.
The $595 fee (if you register through Dec. 31) includes:
Gala Welcome Party for attendees and Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-77102062790778994852010-12-21T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-21T06:00:07.428-08:00Polite, Professional, Hand-Picked & Platform: How to Query an AgentI continue to be amazed at the amount of odd and unprofessional queries I sort through during my internship as a 'first reader' for a literary agency. Topping last week's reads: someone apologized for not following the professional guidelines but admitted to being "frankly" quite frustrated with and angered by each agency's specific requests. That tone, my friends, will get you nowhere.
At theNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-17284532345011894392010-12-17T06:01:00.000-08:002010-12-17T06:01:00.261-08:00Playing with Polaroid (slide, print and emulsion transfers)I decided to scan some art I made years ago in a Polaroid print transfer and emulsion class with Kathleen Carr. The following two pieces are from a slide I took of a ride (and riders spinning) at the county fair. It was my first (and, regrettably, only) time experimenting with a manual camera (f stop and all), and I love the image. (Go to about the blog for another example.)
Here's how this Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-43930887368832845942010-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-30T12:10:02.078-08:00Writer's Website of the Week: Annie Yu's curbside treasureAnnie Yu, a young and talented collage artist, poet, and aspiring graphic designer, keeps a beautiful blog called curbside treasure. She's the type of person who lives and breathes 'creative' every day. She wrote zines before blogs and keeps enviable visual diaries - moleskine collage pages filled with ephemera. Here's one example, which you can also purchase from her etsy shop online:
Annie Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-58187867982324183272010-12-10T08:05:00.000-08:002011-02-18T05:45:05.052-08:00Celebrate the Haul-idays with Chronicle Books: COMMENT and WIN!
Ok, I'm really late on the take here, but today is the LAST DAY to post a list of Chronicle Books, valued up to $500, to be automatically entered into a drawing to WIN the list of books! And, if I'm chosen, one of my readers who comments on the post will win the list too! COMMENT BELOW BY MIDNIGHT! Here's my list: from world travel to art & photography & literature to work and gardening! CheckNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-85113908726153708892010-12-06T07:56:00.000-08:002010-12-06T07:56:14.398-08:00Redwood Writers Conference: Pamela Pizzimenti and YA novelsPamela Pizzimenti, author of the award-winning, self-published novel The River Whispers, said in her Redwood Writers Conference workshop that to write for young adults (YA) you have to travel back to that age you once were and revisit those feelings that were difficult at that time. But, she warned, you can't strictly rely on your experiences either. You must get to know the teenage population ofNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-51128960081008139922010-12-03T13:53:00.000-08:002010-12-03T13:53:52.912-08:00First Friday Author Feature: Elizabeth Partridge
"For the second year in a row, no rain fell on Jo Lee’s village. The rice ponds dried up and cracked wide open. The sweet-potato vines shriveled and died. Only the orange trees clung to life."
As a lover of children's illustrated books, I'm posting a link to my kid lit review (written for the aha!Chinese blog) for this month's feature on Elizabeth Partridge. The Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-29190759053934959142010-12-02T10:08:00.000-08:002010-12-03T11:55:08.893-08:00Nominated to National Literary CompetitionMy nonfiction piece, What It's Like, was nominated by University of San Francisco for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) 2011 national contest! The AWP's Intro Journals Project is "a literary competition for the discovery & publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in the programs of AWP."
I wrote and revised the story in my MFA program's Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-11476160734856196622010-12-01T11:44:00.000-08:002010-12-03T11:56:44.019-08:00Freelancing with Petaluma PatchI was recently hired as a freelance writer/photographer with the local online news source, Petaluma Patch. You can read any of my articles online here or click on the links below.
Former Professor Teaches Next Generation of Farmers: On Green String Farm, what you invest in the land, you reap in harvest.
From Petaluma With Love: Ten easy gift ideas from local merchants.Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-33273972164896668792010-11-26T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-03T11:57:56.503-08:00First Friday Author Feature: Sheldon Siegel
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Sheldon Siegel, a practicing attorney turned novelist who grew up in Chicago, was the keynote speaker at the Redwood Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-85001654510869630782010-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:002010-11-26T09:37:16.544-08:00Tanya Egan Gibson: On Networking
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Leading a Redwood Writers Conference workshop on networking, Tanya Egan Gibson insisted you don't have to be a good networker; youNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-82051555371629253392010-11-19T06:00:00.000-08:002010-11-26T09:38:03.249-08:00Terry Ehret's workshop Outside the Box: Memoir, the Prose Poem & Flash Fiction
photo credit: M. A. Rasmussen
When Terry Ehret, a former Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, wondered years ago if she could ever write a novel, "the prospect was like crossing the Sahara without water." Then, like me, she read Sandra Cisneros's House on Mango Street, and expanded her notions of what is possible in writing.
At last month's Redwood Writers conference, Ehret led a workshop Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-50756602375961830982010-11-17T10:36:00.000-08:002010-11-17T10:36:46.931-08:00How To Stand Out from the Slush Pile: a First Reader's PerspectiveWe writers often bemoan the challenges of traditional publishing -- from landing an agent to promoting a book. But it's interesting to look from the other side. What does it take to capture an editor's eye? As a first reader intern with a literary agency that receives 200-300 submissions each week, I anticipated the daunting task of separating the wheat from the chaff. But it's actually quite Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-61362703246757936022010-11-10T06:00:00.000-08:002010-12-30T12:03:06.770-08:00First Friday Author Feature: Pam Houston
photo credit: Russell Kaye
At USF's Lone Mountain Reading series last month, Pam Houston read from her upcoming book Contents May Have Shifted (a title which may change)--a collection of 144 short stories in thematic sets of twelve. Deft with humor and insight, Houston was refreshingly frank about how her writing blurs the line between fiction and nonfiction--something that "still confuses" Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-10369232868560653892010-11-04T08:00:00.000-07:002010-11-04T08:00:02.886-07:00Redwood Writers Conference Part 2: Teresa LeYung RyanTeresa LeYung Ryan wears many hats: novelist, manuscript consultant, writing career coach and publisher. The premise of her workshop 'Build My Name, Beat the Game' was to help us develop a platform. Asking people from the audience to stand with placards, she visually demonstrated the complex web of players on the path to publication, from author to agent to acquisition editor; from publisher Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-16349641217090908752010-11-02T07:11:00.000-07:002010-11-02T07:11:37.632-07:00National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
November is National Novel Writing Month ((NaNoWriMo)! The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. According to the website:
National Novel Writing Month is a nonprofit event that encourages kids and adults to tackle the challenge of writing a novel in November. Launched in 1999, NaNoWriMo inspires its 180,000 participants with email pep talks, a huge and Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-2783920556548532032010-11-01T06:00:00.000-07:002010-11-04T07:37:50.460-07:00Redwood Writers Conference Part 1: Keynote Elisa SouthardThe dining room was full at Saturday's Redwood Writers Conference, which I attended at the historic Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, CA. Our morning keynote was Elisa Southard, whose motto is "Don't kill your writing. Execute it."
Author of the book, Break Through the Noise: 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message, Southard led us through an exercise to shift our attitude from "I am [a creative Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-6375357381216751972010-10-29T21:48:00.000-07:002010-12-14T18:57:23.467-08:00Girl Reporter
In one week I landed my first five freelance assignments and started my internship at a literary agency, all the while continuing my day job at the children's center and going to graduate school "full time." Yikes. Tomorrow I attend a daylong writer's conference. So that leaves tonight and Sunday to finish all my school work (i.e. lots of research/writing), two freelance projects and blogging Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-43412370902957704922010-10-24T16:36:00.000-07:002010-10-24T16:36:21.403-07:00Ann Patchett incites a riotI recently read an article in the travel section of the Wall Street Journal by novelist and travel journalist Ann Patchett. Her piece, Did I Kill Gourmet Magazine?, bemoans the loss of a decade of opulence when Patchett was sent to report on worldwide destinations on the now defunct magazine's expense account. With tongue in cheek, she doesn't hesitate to implicate herself in having taken full Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-30692729432354879782010-10-22T08:01:00.000-07:002011-11-02T11:43:11.405-07:00Writer's Forum: Mark Burstein (an editor's point of view)At last night's Writer's Forum we heard from Mark Burstein, whose credits as a copyeditor and project editor include books from The Complete Quincy Jones to The Reggae Scrapbook. Burstein, who took classes on editing from editcetera and UC Berkeley, got his first big break with the book All Things Alice. All of the pre-1927 images in the book are from his private collection: a tower holding 1900 Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-79096598913489444662010-10-19T07:29:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:28:28.536-07:00Pitching to a Literary Agent
Do you have a great book idea you'd like to pitch but don't know where to start? Does approaching an agent feel daunting? Consider practicing at a pitch slam. Kind of like speed dating for writers. This January 21-23 in NYC, the Writer’s Digest Writing Conference will make available more than 50 professional literary agents over a two-hour period. You can pitch to as many as you can in 3-minute Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-59043619737461899712010-10-16T19:25:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:29:36.945-07:00Writers Associations (& Video Blogging)Today I attended my first gathering of the professional organization, Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW), on the waterfront in Sausalito, Ca. A more welcoming group would be hard to come by. After the laughter-infused 'business meeting' in which I introduced myself, numerous people greeted me and exchanged business cards. (I designed mine from a template and ordered 250 cards for about $20 from Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-58496083719141608262010-10-12T07:21:00.000-07:002010-10-12T07:22:19.738-07:00Website of the Week: Write Around Portland
If you're a literary minded individual who happens to live in Portland and you're looking for a great way to contribute to your community, volunteer opportunities abound! Be a workshop facilitator, anthology production assistant or event planner for Write Around Portland.
Or, if you or someone you know is "unable to participate in traditional writing workshops because of income, isolation or Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-19994516177441984362010-10-08T08:15:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:29:14.544-07:00The Dutchman was drunk"The Dutchman was drunk." It was an unconscious error, my ear attuned to the alliteration rather than the facts. Only after the Carnival article was published did I remember: He was Belgian.
The mistake was minor. It held no 'weight,' as they say in the biz, to the unfolding of the story. Maybe I noticed it when I realized that the sentence was changed to: "The Dutchman was tipsy." Now, toNicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-5080329301875635172010-10-04T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:30:17.690-07:00Litquake: San Francisco's Literary Festival
Don't miss Litquake 2010, from October 1-9, the largest independent literary festival on the West Coast! This week 600 authors read in 100 venues, including bookstores, bars, coffee shops and galleries in and around the city by the bay.
"Whether it’s poets reciting in a cathedral, authors discussing science versus religion in a library, or novelists reading in a beekeeping supply store, the Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-76359084963650565942010-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:30:39.848-07:00First Friday Author Feature: Lowell Cohn
Lowell Cohn, author and sports columnist for over three decades, broke into journalism while he was still in his twenties. The son of a lawyer and a teacher, he remembers sitting in his parents' kitchen to write about playing punch ball ("like a tennis ball without the fuzz") at Avenue L -- "one of x number of Brooklyn playgrounds that looked alike: a cyclone fence, wading pool and three to Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-20822229294725412012010-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:002010-10-22T17:31:04.001-07:00Ye Olde Printing PressFor a recent issue of Granta, one of my favorite literary journals, artistic director Michael Salu created "a typographic cover comprised of pieces of metal type used on old printing presses" to illustrate the issue's theme: Going Back. If you're as fascinated as I am with these "antiquated" processes, watch the slide show on the making of the Granta cover. About the process he writes,
‘Going Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-7902240371601128122010-09-24T06:00:00.000-07:002010-09-24T06:00:04.197-07:00Contests and Calls for Submissions: poets, memoirists, children's writers, humorists, novelists & feminists
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}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }a:link, Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-90673912876861701632010-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:002010-09-21T06:00:12.012-07:00MFA Critique: What Makes a Good StoryWriting with any literary merit demands that you grab your readers from the start and lead them on a journey with an impact. Usually this is accomplished through a story arc with a character facing some conflict culminating in a transformation. As my instructor said, "A story should build and accumulate from scene to scene, and break your heart at the end."
Judging by the feedback from last Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6935830889517770086.post-38610178387817242832010-09-18T10:55:00.000-07:002010-09-18T10:59:53.449-07:00Writer's Website of the Week: Petals and BonesIf you happen to live in northern California (or more specifically Sonoma County), check out Petals and Bones Writing Workshops, started by writers Leilani Clark and Dani Burlison. According to their website: "Clever, fun, supportive—and sometimes brash—our classes will help you to discover your own brilliant and unique voice." They've also got a great blog, filled with inspiring musings on such Nicole R. Zimmermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08086585405281371322noreply@blogger.com1