“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means.” -Joan Didion
What’s Doing For Winter?
Hello, my writer friends!
I hope you all had a wonderful, nourishing and peaceful Thanksgiving. My family gathered in Pennsylvania to eat roasted duck and pumpkin pie, celebrate my brother-in-law Mark’s 50th, watch the World Cup, and play Quiplash and Pickleball, two games that probably didn’t exist 10 years ago. The first was introduced to us by our kids. (The “kids” are no longer kids at all but kind of our instructors in all things amusing these days.) The second by our parents who are frighteningly excellent at the game.
Our winter schedule is now open for enrollment! Below are the classes indicating which have spaces available.
Monday afternoons 12:30-2:30: Submitting and Publishing* starting January 9, 2023 (one spot left)
Tuesday Weeding & Pruning: 12:30-2:30pm starting January 10, 2023 (Full)
Tuesday Teen Writing 6:30-8pm starting January 10, 2023
Wednesday afternoons: 12:30-2:30pm starting January 11, 2023 (mixed genres) (one spot left)
Wednesday evenings: 7-9pm starting January 11, 2023 (Songwriting, Poetry, Prose) (one spot left)
Thursday Fiction: 12:30-2:30pm starting January 12, 2023 (Fiction or Fiction-adjacent, to sign up go here.) (two spots)
Thursday afternoons 3:30-5:30pm starting January 12, 2023 (Generative, by application only.) (one spot left)
Friday Weeding & Pruning: 12:30-2:30pm starting January 13, 2022 (led by Elaine Apthorp, by application only. To apply, go here.) (Three spots available)
Yes, you read correctly! The great Elaine Apthorp has recently joined my vasto corporation (read: um, me) to run her very own Weeding & Pruning group which will meet on Fridays from 12:30-2:30! She will also be taking on private clients for editing and/or coaching.
*Sub&Pub will be at least 50% generative writing for Winter ‘23. All previous speakers and/or their handouts will be available to new participants.
And don’t forget about Morning Seeding & Tending, a wonderful and affordable opportunity to do your daily writing with a prompt. No sharing, just friendly smiles. Think of it as your daily Vitamin W.
What I Recommend For Your Stocking
Carry It On, a fantastic documentary by my all-time fave Buffy Sainte-Marie. This indigenous singer/songwriter/artist/activist just turned 80, and she is as optimistic and inspiring as ever. If you want to be cheered up about the world, watch this. And/or listen to this song from Coincidences and Likely Stories, her 1992 release.
Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane. I just finished this book, a family saga in the tradition of Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant or The Most Fun We Ever Had. Two NYC cops move to the Westchester suburbs and live uneasily side by side while their wives decide that they hate each other, and their kids become best friends and then more than that. Then one day the unimaginable happens….
All the great TV shows on Hulu, especially Reservation Dogs and The Bear. And The Great, but I probably endorsed that already. Becky Rice of our Wednesday group told me about Derry Girls, and Tom and I just watched the first episode last night. HOOKED!!!!!
Tom and I also went to see She Said at Amherst Cinema. Fantastic. Go for the acting, the writing, the suspense. You kind of know how the story ends, but it’s shocking anyway.
Nerissa Wants to Know
What is your favorite letter? And why?
What Romance language has the fewest letters? (I know the answer to this. Do you?)
Tom and I wanted to improve our memories. So he tried to memorize the order of the presidents, and I am memorizing the Greek alphabet. But the Greek alphabet needs a tune. Doesn’t work with Mozart’s “Twinkle” as ours does. Any suggestions? My bro-in-law Mark knows one. I will learn it and sing it to you.
Finally, if you are watching The World Cup, who are you for? We want Argentina or Brazil, but I also like Germany, solely because I like their national anthem. What is your favorite National Anthem?
Blog
Here are my recent blog posts, which are either about poetry or actual poems. Yes, I am doing 30 Poems in November, and you can still support me here. So far, I got two new songs out of the dealio!
Happy writing,
Love, Nerissa