Orchestrating capital C Christmas for two kids takes a lot of labor and attention, but throughout the wrapping, unwrapping, cooking, and cleaning, I’ve been distracted by the story “Adrian Brody” and by the reactions it’s provoked. Won’t you join me in my obsession? You can read the story here, at Muumuu House. I recommend you [...]
Archive for the ‘writing process’ Category
Christmas with Marie Calloway
Posted in fiction, memoir, writing process, tagged Alexander Maksik, Kate Zambreno, Marie Calloway, Memoir, Muumuu House, Roxane Gay, sex on December 27, 2011 | 33 Comments »
CURRENY is Traveling. I’m Staying Home.
Posted in backpacking, CURRENCY, Facebook, memory lane, solo women traveling, Thailand, travel, travel writing, writing process, tagged CURRENCY, Facebook, Isla Mujeres, memory lane, solo women traveling, Thailand, travel, writing process on July 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This spring, we went back to Isla Mujeres for our second time as a family and my third time overall. I left a copy of Currency at PocNa, the hostel where I stayed when I visited the island as a backpacker round about 1995. In the book, I pasted the same note that I have [...]
My Dad: Veteran, Author, All-Round Great Guy
Posted in fiction, Uncategorized, writing process, tagged fiction, Korean War, Paul Zolbrod on August 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
It’s hard for me to write about my dad, Paul Zolbrod, in anything other than sentimental clichés: He’s been my life-long inspiration as a parent, a person, a thinker, a writer. A Native-American scholar for over forty years, he was made fun of, at first, for attempting a poetics of the oral tradition, but the [...]
Haven’t I Seen You Here Before?
Posted in backpacking, CURRENCY, fiction, memory lane, solo women traveling, Thailand, writing process, tagged backpacking, fiction Currency, memory lane, solo women traveling, Thailand, writing process on June 26, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
(I posted this missive last week on The Nervous Breakdown last week, so if you read it there, skip this. If you haven’t heard of The Nervous Breakdown and you like to read short nonfiction on screen, you should totally check out the site. ) Getting ready for my recent trip to L.A., I told [...]
Review Round-Up
Posted in CURRENCY, fiction, travel writing, writing process, tagged CURRENCY, fiction, reviews, travel writing, writing process on June 21, 2010 | 9 Comments »
Well, Currency‘s been officially out for a little over six weeks now. I’ve read from it maybe a dozen times in a half-dozen different towns. I’ve gotten some reviews and done some interviews. I’ve been absolutely drunk on the kindness and enthusiasm of friends and acquaintances, and, despite attempts to keep my focus on my [...]
My Great Editor, Interviewed
Posted in CURRENCY, fiction, writing process, tagged CURRENCY, fiction, writing process on May 8, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Now that CURRENCY has been published, a number of people are asking me tactful versions of the question How come this took so long? and Why with a small press? In this excerpt from an interview with Leah Tallen, Other Voices editor Gina Frangello explains better than I ever could. You can see the full [...]
Smoking: A Dream Come True
Posted in CURRENCY, fiction, memory lane, Parenting, writing process, tagged CURRENCY, memory lane, Parenting, The Hideout on March 30, 2010 | 4 Comments »
It’s settled: The release party for CURRENCY is going to be at The Hideout on May 16, from 5:00-7:00. A string of exclamation marks cannot express how unduly happy I am. During the last few months, it’s seemed that the securing of this particular venue has had about as many ups and downs as my [...]
Kind Words for CURRENCY
Posted in CURRENCY, fiction, Thailand, writing process, tagged CURRENCY, fiction, Thailand, writing process on December 8, 2009 | 2 Comments »
“From skins to skin to golden Buddhas, CURRENCY is a moving and lucid look at how beauty can fall prey to our very love of it.” —Alex Shakar, author of The Savage Girl “From the first page to the last, Zoe Zolbrod’s CURRENCY had me hooked. I loved the boldness of voice, the visceral and [...]
Acknowledging
Posted in backpacking, CURRENCY, fiction, memory lane, Thailand, travel, writing process, tagged backpacking, CURRENCY, fiction, journals, memory lane, Thailand, travel on October 18, 2009 | 8 Comments »
I just sent the copyedited manuscript of CURRENCY to Gina, my editor. The next time I see the novel, it will be in galleys, manuscript no more. It’s been twelve years since I workshopped the experiment in voice that became the first chapter of the novel. I was 28 years old then, and I smoked [...]
