"A darned good time to be a writer" - really?

Welcome to Spark, the new home of my old newsletter

“I hope your days are filled with inspiration- these are trying times, but they are fantastic, too, in that they shake us out of our slumber, no?  Force us to be more awake to the world?  A darned good time to be a writer.” - Parnaz Foroutan

Hello Friends,

When fellow writer Parnaz Foroutan emailed me these words to me the other day I stopped and took my pulse. I’m not sure if I’m filled with inspiration lately but I’ve definitely been shaken out of any kind of regular slumber. I’ve been awake many nights and maybe you have too. Or not. Maybe you find sleep a great comfort, a place where, for a while, things are normal. I’m guessing that each day, our new reality sinks in a bit deeper for all of us. The familiar is fragmenting with each cautious trip to the supermarket, each call to a parent or a child living far away, each passing conversation with a neighbor who is standing six or more feet away as if there is an invisible moat around her.

Maybe this seems like a strange time to refocus on my newsletter but right now the need for connection feels stronger than ever. Like many of you, I feel better if I can do something to help. With the pandemic shuttering bars, theaters, bookstores, auditoriums and putting book clubs on pause or online, I’ve decided to use this place to do what I can to help the story tellers in our world keep going. I’m not the only one, a growing number of folks are coming up with new ways to nurture the writers and readers among us and I’m excited to share some of these with you beginning today.

So, welcome to the new home of my newsletter which I’ve christened, “Spark.” To my loyal friends and subscribers, thank you for hanging in there all these years. If you’re new, welcome! If you haven’t already, check out the About section to get an idea of what to expect.

Meanwhile, how are you faring? How has your life changed, if it has at all? I hope you are healthy and your loved ones safe. Write me and tell me. Nothing has changed on that score, just hit the reply to your email and I’ll get your message and write back. But here, you can also do a couple of things you couldn’t do so easily before: share my newsletter with a single click (see share button at end), or click the headline and come straight to my website where you can leave a comment and start a discussion. If you see something you like — a book, an essay, a photo, a laugh, an idea - please pass it on. Sometimes all it takes is a single line to spark a connection. Like this one, for me, from a very short essay by John Freeman that a friend shared with me last week:

“Tomorrow we’ll get up and work, or teach our kids at home, or go check on our parents. That it will just be a new day. Showing each other—and ourselves—how when bravery comes with tenderness, even the most terrible fears can be held at bay.” - John Freeman, Keeping the Fear At Bay, Paris Review

Then there was this meme that my dog, Rina, totally wanted me to share:

A new book I’ve just added to my TBR list:

Home is a Stranger by Parnaz Foroutan, author of The Girl From the Garden (some of you may remember that from a book giveaway in 2016) and writer of an essay that I read, spellbound, this week because it took me out of my head and into a place of wonder. Home is a Stranger is nonfiction, the story of Foroutan’s return to Iran, her birthplace at a critical time in her life. Nothing is as she expected. The concept of home haunts me — it comes with so much freight and yet beckons with a persistence that never goes away. Sometimes it is simply an idea that refuses to disappear no matter how long it has been since we’ve been in the place that was once home, or how ardently we try to create it where we are.

A not-new book that I recently finished:

Earthly Possessions by Ann Tyler. Earthly Possessions opens in a bank where a mother and wife who wants to escape her life is caught up in an armed robbery by a man who’s not very good at it. I picked this up used because it’s been out of print a while (still available on Kindle though) and I wanted an English version to go with my Italian version. I’m learning Italian and will tell you all about that sometime soon. I am a die-hard reader and student of Ann Tyler. She is drawn to the same terrain that also draws me: the life of the everyday, the ordinary, the family. In her hands, though, all these ordinary people become extraordinary. She can make us know her characters without really telling us much at all about them. Finally, I will forever treasure the two notes she wrote me, the first a kind rejection of my request for a blurb, the second a note to tell me what she liked about Casualties once it was published.

New Books, Readings, Author Interviews, and More in the time of Covid-19

In theory, I love readings and author talks. I loved giving them when I was doing them and I love going when I go. In practice, I don’t make it to anywhere near as many as I probably could and I know I’m not alone. If there is a silver lining in this whole Covid-19 era, it is the ability to attend readings live without leaving my house. If I miss one, well I can easily check it out at my convenience. These are great for book clubs who’ve read or are thinking about reading a book.

Here are two new online sources for new books, readings, and author interviews:

A Mighty Blaze

This is a rapidly growing joint effort led by novelists Caroline Leavitt and Jennifer Blum dedicated to making sure authors with new books can still reach readers. You can read more about it here. Right now, all of the events are hosted on Facebook, with links also Instagram , and Twitter. A website is coming soon. Every Tuesday, “launch day” in the publishing industry,” AMB will host events to support authors and their new books with readings, posts, and videos. Weekly events like “Quarantini” will be held weekly so readers and writers can gather informally online to talk. Regular features include: Reading With Robin with Robin Kall. Here are the first two from Tuesday, March 24, with Andrea Bartz (The Herd, Ballantine), and Laura Zigman (Separation Anxiety, Ecco).

Readings By Writers

Pam Houston, founder of Writing by Writers and bestselling author most recently of Deep Creek, Finding Hope in the High Country has launched a Friday evening reading series Reading by Writers that she will host on Zoom. Recordings will be kept and made available on their website as well. I tuned in on Friday to hear the first one, by Pam herself, as she read from Deep Creek and answered questions. It was amazing — over 240 of us were together online hearing about her wonderful memoir and getting the chance to ask her about the spark for this book and the work it took to make it real. Upcoming authors include Rebecca Solnit, Ginger Gaffney, and Lydia Yuknavich. Click here for more information and to RSVP.

More to come. In the meantime, write me. Tell me the last book you read, the one you want to read next. How is your book club navigating the days of Covid-19? How are YOU navigating these days? What’s helping?

I’ll just leave you with one last thought — if you, like many of us, are confronting economic uncertainties thanks to the quarantines and shut-downs, here are three things you can do to help lift an author up and enjoying a new book:

1) Ask your local library to order it or, if it is in, check it out

2) Review it on Amazon and Goodreads - all it takes is a few lines and stars

3) Spread the word with your friends and book club - or plan to sit in on some readings together and talk about them afterwards

Let’s do this.

Gratefully yours,

Betsy

P.S. And now, your moment of Zen. May you never be without.