Elizabeth Benedict's Blog - Posts Tagged "what-my-mother-gave-me"
The 12 Steps & Beyond
1. We admitted we were powerless over literature-that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than our humdrum lives could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our book shelves and e-readers over to the care of Book Lust as we understood it.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our bookshelves, our closets, and our e-readers.
5. Admitted to Goodreads, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our obsession.
6-12. And so on.
Speaking of obsessions, it's wonderful to be here among those with similar/identical obsessions - those searching for What to Read Next, What to Recommend, maybe even What to Write.
These days, I'm bouncing between projects, or is it "among" projects, since there are more than two?
1. Working on a novel I started 3 or 4 times over the years, kept putting aside in frustration, and looked at a few months ago and saw something I thought I could work with. (Lesson here: never throw anything out!)
2. Gearing up to promote my new anthology, What My Mother Gave Me: 31 Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most, pub date April 2. It's been a joy to work on this book with so many fabulous writers, so many fabulous essays, and a subject that touches all of us: an emblematic gift from our mothers that opens up into the entire relationship. I'll be doing readings, panels, and brunches in the period leading up to Mother's Day, at venues near and far. Check back in for details.
In the next few weeks, I'll post links here to several of the essays that have already been published early in magazines, so you get a flavor of what's to come.
3. On Sat. March 9, I'm chairing a panel at the AWP in Boston called "Art vs. Commerce: Writing for Love and Money," from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. My fellow panelists are 3 men named Steve and Maud Newton: Steve Almond, Stephen Elliott, and Stephen McCauley. My first question to them will be: Do you write for love or money?
Hope to see you there, or here.
~~ Liz
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than our humdrum lives could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our book shelves and e-readers over to the care of Book Lust as we understood it.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our bookshelves, our closets, and our e-readers.
5. Admitted to Goodreads, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our obsession.
6-12. And so on.
Speaking of obsessions, it's wonderful to be here among those with similar/identical obsessions - those searching for What to Read Next, What to Recommend, maybe even What to Write.
These days, I'm bouncing between projects, or is it "among" projects, since there are more than two?
1. Working on a novel I started 3 or 4 times over the years, kept putting aside in frustration, and looked at a few months ago and saw something I thought I could work with. (Lesson here: never throw anything out!)
2. Gearing up to promote my new anthology, What My Mother Gave Me: 31 Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most, pub date April 2. It's been a joy to work on this book with so many fabulous writers, so many fabulous essays, and a subject that touches all of us: an emblematic gift from our mothers that opens up into the entire relationship. I'll be doing readings, panels, and brunches in the period leading up to Mother's Day, at venues near and far. Check back in for details.
In the next few weeks, I'll post links here to several of the essays that have already been published early in magazines, so you get a flavor of what's to come.
3. On Sat. March 9, I'm chairing a panel at the AWP in Boston called "Art vs. Commerce: Writing for Love and Money," from 3:00 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. My fellow panelists are 3 men named Steve and Maud Newton: Steve Almond, Stephen Elliott, and Stephen McCauley. My first question to them will be: Do you write for love or money?
Hope to see you there, or here.
~~ Liz
My First Time ...
Thanks to FOBBIT author David Abrams, who curates the blog Quivering Pen, for inviting me to tell him about My First Time ... getting my picture taken, by legendary photographer, Tom Victor (RIP). http://www.davidabramsbooks.blogspot....
Sunday 4/21 in Westport
Join me this Sunday April 21 at 2pm at the Westport Public Library, talking about mothers, gifts, and what they gave us. My new anthology, WHAT MY MOTHER GAVE ME, with essays by Joyce Carol Oates, Caroline Leavitt, Rita Dove, Elinor Lipman, Emma Straub, Elissa Schappell and many more women, is on the Extended Indie Bestseller List! The event is co-sponsored by the Barnard Alumnae Club of CT!
Does Your Grandmother Read Your Novels?
My grandmother never used to phone me, so when I heard her voice on the phone that night in 1985, I was startled.
"I just read your book," she said sharply, "and I don't like it." She meant my first novel, Slow Dancing, which had recently been published by Knopf and greeted with far more attention than I had expected, "When are you going to write a book your grandmother will like?"
I knew what she meant: the book was filled with sex -- the pre-marital kind -- and references to it, beginning with the opening line. READ THE REST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabe...Elizabeth Benedict
"I just read your book," she said sharply, "and I don't like it." She meant my first novel, Slow Dancing, which had recently been published by Knopf and greeted with far more attention than I had expected, "When are you going to write a book your grandmother will like?"
I knew what she meant: the book was filled with sex -- the pre-marital kind -- and references to it, beginning with the opening line. READ THE REST http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabe...Elizabeth Benedict
It's a New York Times Bestseller!
I just learned that our anthology, What My Mother Gave Me: 31 Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most, found its way to #16 on the upcoming NY Times Bestseller list, for paperback nonfiction. We were all a little taken aback, and completely thrilled.
Thanks to everyone here for noticing, for reviewing the book, and for your eloquent and generous comments. This is my favorite one-line review from - of all places - Family Circle magazine: “The complexity and soul-deep connection of the mother-daughter bond is vividly explored in this emotionally eloquent collection of essays.”
Thanks to everyone here for noticing, for reviewing the book, and for your eloquent and generous comments. This is my favorite one-line review from - of all places - Family Circle magazine: “The complexity and soul-deep connection of the mother-daughter bond is vividly explored in this emotionally eloquent collection of essays.”
Is it Real or is it Memorex?
Click here to watch our evening at the NY Society Library, talking with editor Elizabeth Benedict, and contributors to WHAT MY MOTHER GAVE ME, Margo Jefferson, Martha McPhee, Roxana Robinson on May 9, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQUa0...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaQUa0...
