C a r o l y n D a u g h t e r s

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the writer’s identity, specifically the public persona and the private, the (wo)man and the wordsmith.

Back in November I heard an NPR interview with author Joan Didion. At the time, I was surprised by how little she had to say, by the faltering way in which she spoke, by the excruciating seconds of dead air that followed her terse responses to open-ended questions. Is this clunky Q&A a subtle form of authorial rebellion, I wondered? Is this most uncomfortable of interviews Didion’s way of telling an overzealous booking agent “screw you”?

Yesterday I read an … Continue Reading

Last Sunday I returned from a Literary Writers Conference in Manhattan, where I read from my work and received critiques from literary agents, gong show style (“I’m bored — stop reading now!”). I also learned about how to get published (“you have better odds at winning the lottery — throw in the towel!”). It was a tough love boot camp, no question. And it rocked. Seriously.

And **famous person alert** I actually had the chance to chat one on one with Mary Gannon, Editorial Director of Poets & Writers Magazine. I know, right? Mary Gannon!

If you’re all like, “um, who’s Mary … Continue Reading