Publication Day, Safe as Houses
Today I think of my grandfather, who was an ornamental woodworker and fisherman. Out of a hulk of wood, he could make something useful and beautiful like a chest of drawers, a desk, or a hutch. He loved the sea and all of its inhabitants, from the mighty barracuda he boasted to have caught (jury pending), to the tiny shore birds who every year would stop by and refuel in front of the house he built on the Delaware Bay.
I cannot build a house. I cannot build a chest of drawers. I cannot haul a swordfish out of the sea. The best I can do is write. I worked on the stories of Safe as Houses for nine years every night at my table. Every early morning before my “real" job. On lunch breaks, on the subway. On minimized screens at my day job. I used paid vacations to camp at friends’ houses, to write while they were at work.
I spent hours sanding. The mast. The stern. The rudder. I failed. I tried again. I failed. Years went by.
Every night and every morning, I went back to the table. I went back to the table. Through every sadness and happiness.
Slowly, the hull revealed itself to me, and eight strong sails. Free Ham, Sometimes you Break Their Hearts, Sometimes They Break Yours, The Idea of Marcel, North Of, This is Your Will to Live, Great, Wondrous, Safe as Houses, and Carry Me Home, Sisters of Saint Joseph. They carried me through.
My grandfather didn’t go beyond the 8th grade, but every time he and my grandmother traveled, he wrote me letters. Dear Cookie, he wrote, we are in California, I heard you got snow. Dear Cookie, you will be a great artist. However much of the page was left he filled with xs and os. Every afternoon the sun set into the Delaware Bay in front of his house, I sat on his lap and counted until its entire body slipped below the water line.
I believe that writing is a craft. Maybe this is why I write by hand. I believe that what rewards close reading requires vigorous revision. Maybe this is why I blanche when I hear of someone "composing" their “works" on an iPhone. I believe that the best way to learn a craft is to apprentice, like my grandfather did, by the side of a veteran woodworker.
Today, I launch my little ship. No one will know its flaws better than me. I wish it safe passage, but I have no scores to settle. It is enough to have spent ten years making it. It connects me to my past, to my ancestors who made things with their hands, and my future, whatever shape it may take.
Today, one of my dreams comes true.
I think of my grandfather, who taught me to love the sea.
Alice Munro on happy endings
“That’s something I think is growing on me as I get older: happy endings.” - Alice Munro
Safe as Houses Book trailer by Ted Dodson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A37BMm5zrfsWowie zowie—The limitlessly talented Ted Dodson made a book trailer for Safe as Houses! It is light and weird and fun and dance-y and dark and whimsical and vintage and nutty and French-ish, that is to say, it is a lot like SAFE AS HOUSES. I just watched the part with Vet Stadium 100 times.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Interview with Jesse Hassenger for Fiction Writer's Review
Interview with Jesse Hassenger for Fiction Writer's Review
My dear friend, the seriously talented fiction writer and movie critic Jesse Hassenger, came over for pizza and this is what happened…
SAFE AS HOUSES Launch Party at The Center for Fiction, NYC
SAFE AS HOUSES Launch Party at The Center for Fiction, NYC
One week! My new favorite panic dream is that no one shows up and I spend the night reading someone else’s book quietly to myself, until the night cleaners ask me to leave.
My book is a book with other books
Look how pretty she is! "I’m not going to pretend seeing my books with other books isn’t the coolest thing on the planet," I said to the bookseller as I snapped away like a proud parent.
Canteen Magazine
The gentlemen of Canteen Magazine (Lee Bob Black and Stephen Pierson) and I at their Outwrite Launch Party last night at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn. The crowd knew less about Woody Allen than I anticipated, but it was a lovely event, all the same! I learned that Canteen authors teach creative writing workshops for middle school kids in Harlem—now THAT is a cool magazine! Learn more here—http://www.canteenmag.com/volunteer
New York in the Fall
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"Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." - Joe Fox
Available for book clubs, children's parties, bat mitzvahs...
Speaking of wine, I mean, book clubs…If you have a book club in the New York City or Philadelphia area that is reading my collection Safe as Houses, I’d be happy to drop by your meeting and drink some wine, I mean, discuss the book. Message me and say hello— it could be the start of a beautiful wineship, I mean, friendship!
Bob Dylan comes home
[gallery]"There are American flags on school windows, on cars, on porch swings: it is the year I bring Bob Dylan home for Thanksgiving." North Of