Poetica Magazine

As writers seeking fame or fortune, most of us picture ourselves taking a solo journey to our book signings and book tours. We imagine doing these things alone, reaping the awards alone. We don’t imagine working with partners or collaborators. That’s why it was such a surprise to me when a year ago, I began working with my writing partner/collaborator, Nancy Naigle. I knew from the moment I met Nancy Naigle that she was going to be a great friend. Optimistic and encouraging, she is a great support and a good motivator, something that comes into play in her job as a senior VP for the Bank of America.

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Over time, I got to know her better and we’ve been roommates on several occasions for a conference and a writing retreat. We became co-writers when she decided that a novel I’d written was too good to be shelved while I pursued other writing projects. Pushing me to work on Inkblot further, she put her strengths into our co-writing after suggesting that we try a joint venture.

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While my experience and abilities as a photojournalist deal with grammar and writing tightly, Nancy is strong on dialogue and discipline. She’s great at sending out manuscripts to contests where our work has been reviewed and given scores by agents and editors. Comments from judges have helped us fine-tune the novel to send out again. The name of the game in writing is to never give up. When you write with someone else, they can help you pick yourself up and dust yourself off when you get discouraged. There is a lot of contact between us in anything writing craft related. When I see interesting websites for writers or come across great networking twitter members, I pass them on to Nancy and she does the same. She is big on goal setting and having written for the newspaper for years, I am used to deadlines. We meet to plot and plan and Nancy makes timeline charts and moves sticky notes around to help us decide the order of action. Dividing up chapters to write initially, we lay down the bare bones for each section. Over time, we add to these chapters and fine tune them. There is always room for improvement in this process.

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If one writer has too much work to do in other areas, a partner can jump in and offer to work on the manuscript an extra amount of time. We have shared the writing of this novel, each of us bringing different abilities to the table. I think it’s a great blend of skills and a union that I feel was destined to happen. I am grateful for having met Nancy and feel fortunate to work with her.

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The last contest our co-written YA suspense novel, Inkblot, was entered in, our book came in 5th in competition against 26 novels. Four novels ranked as finalists and ours fell right beneath it in the number five slot. Taking the comments that judges made, we are tweaking it to submit again.

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It’s a win/win situation working with a writer whose dedication and drive matches your own. There’s a certain magic in it. In a way we feel like parents, sending our “baby” out into the world when queries or contest entries go out. I can’t wait to get started on book two in our Headline Hunters series - and neither can she.

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Thank you for reading JWorld Café, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Phyllis Johnson, Guest Blogger

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Phyllis Johnson writes a weekly column for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Her work has also appeared in Tidewater Teacher magazine, The Sun, Woman's World, and Contempo magazine. She is the author of three books: Hot and Bothered by It, a book of midlife humor, Being Frank with Anne, a poetic interpretation of the Diary of Anne Frank, and Twelve is for More Than Doughnuts, a spiritual book of poems and essays. She is currently marketing Inkblot, a YA suspense novel co-written with Nancy Naigle. The mother of two daughters, she lives in Virginia with her husband and black lab, Maggie. Please visit her website: www.phyllisjohnson.net  - Linda Pressman, Blog Editor

I spent several days worrying about this piece, unsure of what to write. I must admit to being a chronic procrastinator-and occasional ostrich. That is, if I can ignore a problem, it does not exist. This is probably why ostriches are not known for their productivity.

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So there I was, flagrantly avoiding my responsibilities, absently watching movies; choosing a book, reading a couple of pages then exchanging it for another, and surfing the web simply to bide time, bored yet unfocused.

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Then it occurred to me that this is what I should be writing about. After all, what writer hasn’t had writer’s block? Who, writer or otherwise, hasn’t procrastinated about something?

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So what is procrastination, really?

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My edition of Webster’s defines it as a verb meaning, “To delay, defer, prolong or postpone an action”. But dig deeper. Is it possible that procrastination is really the result of fear?

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As creative people, we possess groundbreaking thoughts, plans, ideas. And there is a great historical precedent of non-creative people scoffing at the things they can’t see the potential in. So when we procrastinate, when we do just about anything but what we’re supposed to even though we know if we don’t do it now we will miss the opportunity; is it because we are afraid of that precedent?

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After all, what if people carelessly berate this thing you’ve worked so hard on, that you’re so proud of, which you had such high hopes for? What if they tell you that you have no talent, it was silly to think you could do this, you aren’t creative or even interesting?

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Yes, it stings. Yes, you hate the person who called you that. Yes, you want to run out of the room to someplace safe and you can’t figure out any way to avoid embarrassment…

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The fear of rejection, of the letter listing the names of the contest winners you eagerly scan for your name even when you know that if you had won, they would have emailed you or sent a letter with only your name on it.

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Of the endless issues of literary magazines in the mail which didn’t accept your work but want you to subscribe to them anyway; which you read to see what sort of work they did print so maybe you can write something more like it for them to publish next time; all the while resenting the hell out of the chosen writers for their success.

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But we don’t stop, because we can’t. We have ink, not blood, in our veins. “I almost can’t help myself”, says Elizabeth Wurtzel in More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction. “It is always such a struggle to sit down and focus…I will mop the floors with a sponge, on my hands and knees, if it means I can avoid writing. But I would surely have ended up writing about it…That’s the nightmare of my life: I hate writing, but I can’t help myself. It’s just what I do; it is what I love to do.”

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Sound familiar?

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I don’t possess a handy-dandy list of ways to stop you (or me) from procrastinating. Every artist has his own routine, his own schedule, his own insecurities to deal with, and no single system will work for everybody.

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But I do recommend the author SARK’s method of micromovements: Decide what the very first, smallest step is in completing your goal. In this case, it would be 1. Boot up computer. Good. Done. Keep going: 2.Open Word document.

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It may seem silly to think of “Take pen out of pencil cup” as a task, but crossing off even the littlest things on a list makes a person feel accomplished.

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Procrastinating at the eleventh hour is not a great idea. But procrastination doesn’t have to be The Enemy. It may just be a different state of mind, a hibernation, and just as necessary to the creative process.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Cafe, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Jessica Goody, Guest Blogger

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Jessica Goody’s work has appeared in New York newspapers, anthologies such as Timepieces, Moonlight Café’s Poetry By Moonlight, and The Sun Magazine. She was a Featured Poetess of SpiralMuse.com. Her work ranges from poetry and song lyrics to short stories and children’s books. A dedicated environmentalist, she is interested in publishing a volume of poetry and a mystery novella. - Linda Pressman, Blog Editor

I think receiving a toy typewriter as a child and reading Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl may have had a lot to do with my becoming a writer. Like millions of others, Anne’s diary left a real mark on my life. For Anne, writing was a way to reach beyond the secret walls that enclosed her. Wise beyond her years, she left behind a legacy of hope and encouragement in the face of danger.

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Upon reading her book, I tried to emulate her positive attitude and have only come to realize in recent days that she may have had more of an impact on me that I had acknowledged. As a young girl, what had me enthused was the fact that my middle name was Ann and I attended Holland Elementary school. Here was an Anne in another Holland. Visions of windmills, wooden shoes and tulips came to mind. Then, the visions of the atrocities and injustice rang loud. It haunted me and made me realize that I wanted her determination, compassion and courage.

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Like Anne, I had the same love of words and rhythm, something that developed when my dad read to me and my siblings every night, often from a poetry book. I still have the Child Craft book he read from.

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Anne loved celebrities, cutting and gluing their pictures to a wall. I came to appreciate acting and became an actress for the Discovery Channel, getting parts in FBI Files, New Detectives, Diagnosis Unknown and Psychic Investigator. It was another way I found myself in kinship with Anne’s mindset.

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When various forms of injustice bother me, I often think about Anne and her desire for world peace and equality. During the year of my book’s release, I contacted the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. I wanted my book to be posted at the Anne Frank Center in New York. I came in contact with Buddy Elias, Anne’s first cousin, who told me to send it to the Anne Frank Fonds in Switzerland. (Of which he is a CEO). After having it approved at both locations, I sent it to the center in New York where it is posted at the website bookstore. It is also archived at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. When I was in contact with Buddy, I had no idea he was Anne’s first cousin. He told me that Anne would have loved the book.

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Six months ago, I emailed Miep Gies and to my surprise, she emailed back. She requested copies of the book and CD, Being Frank with Anne. I excitedly sent them and heard from her. She expressed her gratitude for my having written the book. I was humbled beyond words. Now, at her recent passing, I am in awe of the fact that I had contact with a woman who risked her life to try and preserve the lives of others. That was truly admirable. God works in mysterious ways, somehow connecting me to Anne Frank, and allowing me to help continue her legacy.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Café, the Poetica Magazine Blog.

Phyllis Johnson, Guest Blogger

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Phyllis Johnson writes a weekly column for The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Her work has also appeared in Tidewater Teacher magazine, The Sun, Woman's World, and Contempo magazine. She is the author of three books: Hot and Bothered by It, a book of midlife humor, Being Frank with Anne, a poetic interpretation of the Diary of Anne Frank, and Twelve is for More Than Doughnuts, a spiritual book of poems and essays. She is currently marketing Inkblot, a YA suspense novel co-written with Nancy Naigle. The mother of two daughters, she lives in Virginia with her husband and black lab, Maggie. Please visit her website: www.phyllisjohnson.net. - Linda Pressman, Blog Editor

When I was six years old and confined to bed with the flu, I decided to write a novel. After writing a few pages and realizing I had to define the characters and construct a story line, I became totally exhausted. That was the end of my life as a fiction writer.

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I didn’t think of writing professionally until I attended the University of Pennsylvania where we had to write loads of term papers. While other students were taking no-doze drugs the night before their papers were due, I slept peacefully because my research papers were happily completed before the deadline. Turns out I loved to do the research and writing. Now I write reference and instructional books, most notably my book, Weddings, Dating, and Love Customs of Cultures Worldwide, Including Royalty a book that has itself been used as a reference for countless student papers and is located in libraries in many countries.

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Most people think writers who work at home alone have plenty of time, that writers are always secretly watching television and "eating bonbons." I always do my writing at home because to avoid distractions. However, as soon at sit down to write, I get calls from friends, from companies that should be on my no-call list, and from doctors office assistants wanting me to confirm my appointments. I spend too much time looking for things.

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It shouldn’t be hard to find things; my writer’s study is essentially white - white walls with white furniture. Color therapists say white carries a full color light spectrum that resonates, energizes, and strengthens all organs of the body. I feel a sense of inspiration there that encourages me to write as the sun’s rays shine brightly through the long windows on both sides of my desk. On the walls are huge decorative acrylic paintings that display visible colors of the rainbow that always inspire hope to succeed in future writing endeavors.

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I research a lot because of the type of writing I do, but then I pile one research paper on top of another, ultimately unable to find the needed paper that's underneath. While working on the computer, I suddenly need technical computer support. Because it often comes from another country, the tech support person and I may have difficulty communicating with each other and that becomes another problem to be solved; another problem that keeps me from my writing.

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There are days when the mess is more compelling than the work, when I have to bless my mess in order to give myself permission to write. Conclusion: I don't have time to write. Yet I do.

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And when I’m done at the end of the day, I walk away from that white room, now dark, leaving my lonely Mac Pro, visions of its glowingly lit keyboard inspiring me to write.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Café, the Poetica Magazine Blog.

Carolyn Mordecai, Guest Blogger

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Carolyn Mordecai is the author of the books Weddings, Dating, and Love Customs of Cultures Worldwide, Including Royalty (winner of the Glyph Best Multicultural Award), Gourd Craft: Growing, Designing, and Decorating Ornamental and Hardshelled Gourds (Crown Publishers) and others. Her work has appeared in national women’s magazines, including Cosmopolitan. She has taught freelance writing courses at Allegheny Community College and at Pennsylvania State University. Visit her Amazon page. - Linda Pressman, Blog Editor

When I teach creative writing, I stress the significance of writing by hand. I make a little speech about how the smoothness of a pen between one's fingers, the scent of crisp, white paper, is a sensory pleasure that is lost with technology. Then, I explain how the writing hand is connected to the creative part of the brain and touches the unconscious in a way the click clack of computer keys cannot possibly.

All true (I think), and in fact, writing by hand has in the past given me some of my most surprising work. I mentionl this because I was asked the other day about my "writing habits." And I then realized, it had been too long since I had written by hand, since I'd returned to what Natalie Goldberg terms "Beginner's Mind," a kind of writing that asks for nothing other than for words (or a mish-mosh of letters) to be released on paper.

One of the reasons I've bypassed this early (and often glorious) step is that I've become glued to what I want to write. I sit down with an agenda and an insistence that I stick to it. I tap tap tap away (90 wpm), revising this, rewording that, reworking the same old essays, no surprises. A large part of what drives this, is my desire to publish stuff, so close to being ready, but not quite.  Publishing stuff is great, but at the same time, I'm losing the sheer delight of surprise by what landed on the page, sans agenda.

The other night I was an hour early for my yoga class. So, I sat in this most peaceful place and asked the yogi at the front desk if I could borrow a pen and a scrap of paper.  I lighted up inside, felt new to writing, to this gift so readily available, and I scribbled like crazy. By the time class started I had two pages, and I wasn't done. And, the thing is, I doubt if typing would have helped me discover these characters who seemed to reside in my spleen, my belly, so deep, I felt an ache in releasing them. A good ache.

There's little I need to do today; days like this sometimes scare me. Too many hours to call up negativity, guilt, feelings that need little coaxing. And so, I'll go to yoga. I'll get there early.  Maybe I'll get a little more familiar with these characters in me, or I might let my words wander. Today, I'll put pen to paper, begin, and try to not care where it ends up. Today I'll be my own student.          

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Thanks for reading JWorld Cafe, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Sandra Hurtes, Guest Blogger

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Sandra Hurtes is the author of the essay collection, On My Way To Someplace Else (Poetica Publishing 2009). She's written essays and articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, Poets & Writers and many other publications. Visit her website: http://www.sandrahurtes.com/.

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Linda Pressman, Blog Editor

I’m back with more adventures to report from the Jewish Book Council tour of Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Position.

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In Houston, Texas, everything is big – breakfast, hair, the state itself. I arrived on a Monday night at 6 pm, but by the time I schlepped my bags to the fancy schmancy limousine waiting for me, (the benefits of celebrity!) it was close to 7 pm. The room at the Marriott is pleasant enough (with an excellent view of Starbucks) and I sleep like a baby, looking forward to a hot cup of strong coffee.

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I am invited to speak to the Beth Yeshurun’s Sisterhood’s Annual Luncheon at the local synagogue. Sandy, my escort, grabs my hand and with a mild drawl, says, "tell me about the rock" (my engagement ring). And so it goes. She tells me she is married to a “jubba” – a Jewish Bubba, who happens to be a doctor, a Dr. Jubba. Later, over delicious raspberry sorbet, as I was signing books, I find out that in Yiddish, jubba means frog in Yiddish!

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The Texan ladies are charming. One woman, though, sticks in my mind. She said, “darlin’, you were fabulous this mornin’! I really enjoyed your reading, But you read so much from your charmin’ book, that I don’t feel compelled to buy it now. Good luck, sweetie pie!”

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Oy vey. I sold quite a few books, and signed a few gals up for my Yiddish Yoga Cruise to Aruba and Curacao (March, 2010!) and headed to Indianapolis where I was treated to the most delicious Greek food I’ve ever had by my lovely hostess. I also reunited with an old friend from the University of Chicago Divinity School. My poor mother thought I’d be a rabbi, and I ended up studying Protestants and Capitalism. I’m happy to report there is a vibrant Jewish community in Indianapolis.

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P.S. If you are interested in joining Ruthie and Lisa for the First Annual Yoga Cruise on Holland America Line please call 1-800-695-5253. Lisa will teach yoga classes and a writing class called Facing the Blank Page, Facing the Yoga Mat. Hope to see you at sea kvetching and stretching, twisting and schvtizing!

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You can read more about Ruthie’s adventures and memories as she kvetches and stretches her way through yoga poses and braids the yoga tradition with her Jewish tradition, like a braided challah bread in the book Yiddish Yoga: Ruthy’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Position.

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Thank you for reading JWorld Cafe, The Poetica Magazine Blog

Lisa Grunberger, Guest Blogger

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Lisa Grunberger was raised in Long Island, NY, by an Israeli mother and a Viennese Father. She holds a doctorate in Comparative Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, is a Yoga teacher, a college professor and a published writer. Her chapbook of poems, Root Canal: Love Poems is forthcoming from Poets Wear Prada Press (Roxeanne Hoffman, editor, Hoboken, NJ). She has been published in such journals as The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, Nimrod, The Drunken Boat, and Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal. She has taught at universities including Hofstra, the Bronx Community College, SUNY at Old Westbury and Parsons, and the School of Design at The New School. She is currently an Assistant Professor in English at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her illustrated gift book, Yiddish Yoga: Ruthy’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Pose was published by New Market Press in September, 2009.

Like many authors, I get e-mails through my website from aspiring writers requesting advice on how to get published. The question, “What advice would you give aspiring children’s writers?” is also frequently asked in media interviews. What is my answer? In the past, I have offered the following responses. Read! Read! Read! A strong knowledge of literature and the market is important. Find a critique group. Revise! Revise! Revise! Don’t give up! Persistence is key.

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But recently, I read a book that I would like to add to my list of advice to aspiring authors. It is How I Came To Be a Writer, an autobiography by the Newbery award-winning author Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I read this book because it is part of the gifted curriculum at the elementary school where I teach. But the entire time I read it, I kept saying to myself, “This book should be recommended to all writers.” Naylor is the author of over 80 books for young people. While she did have enviable success from an early age at her efforts to publish, she also devoted the hours necessary to earn her success. In How I Came to be a Writer, Naylor explains that she wrote as a young child--not just the occasional story or poem most children produce, but hundreds of stories. She says she enjoyed rainy or snowy nights as a teenager because she knew she could write undisturbed.

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Last August, I posted a Poetica guest blog about another book I would recommend to writers--Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers provides a convincing argument for the “ten thousand hour rule,” saying it takes about ten thousand hours of practice to excel at something. In How I Came to Be a Writer, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor clearly explains how she followed the “ten thousand hour rule.” She didn’t (and still doesn’t) write just when inspiration hits. She writes everyday for a considerable number of hours. Naylor discusses how she struggled with plot and character development in many of her books. She even admits she had to re-write one of her books EIGHTEEN times. A particularly helpful chapter discusses why an author must be able to look at his or her work through the eyes of an editor. Naylor gives many examples of what she learned from editors and how this knowledge helped her grow as a writer. But most important, How I Came to Be a Writer describes how much work and dedication it takes to become a prolific author. One needs to be willing to spend hour upon hour learning the craft, marketing work, and revising with an editor. The next e-mail I answer with “Request for Advice” subject heading will contain a book recommendation: How I Came to Be a Writer by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

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Thank you for reading JWorld Café, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Jacqueline Jules, Guest Blogger

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Jacqueline Jules is the author of fifteen children's books including Sarah Laughs, a 2009 Sydney Taylor Honor Award book and Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation, a New York Public Library Recommended Reading List book. Please visit her at www.jacquelinejules.com/

I will let Ruthie, the recently widowed Jewish grandmother, who is the narrator of my book, Yiddish Yoga, tell you her story about books, reading and Chanukah, the festival of light. (Ruthie sometime turns her personal stories into folk tales).

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It is said that the Jewish people are “people of the Book.” To my Harry I owe an understanding of what this means, because of his gift to me of one book, The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. This is a humorous collection of popular Yiddish words each illustrated by a joke.

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One Chanukah early in our marriage, we visited my parents, who spoke Yiddish at home. Momma put out a plate of golden potato pancakes with apple sauce and sour cream and a plate of hot suvganiyot, fried doughnuts dusted with confectioner’s sugar filled with apricot preserves.

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“Harry, why don’t you read to us from The Joys of Yiddish?”

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I wanted Momma and Poppa to see how funny Harry was. How heimish, which means homey, like family. Harry picks up the book, and I could tell he was nervous, for he was perspiring. It was hot in my parents’ NYC apartment. where you couldn’t adjust the heat. He turns to a random page.

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“Chozzerai: pronounced kho-zair-eye to rhyme with “roz her eye.” A Yiddish derivation from the Hebrew “khazir,” pig.

Food that is awful. “Who can eat such chozzerai?”

Junk, trash.

Anything disgusting.

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“In modern terms, chozzerai means crap. This may be a gross libel on the innocent pig since the pig, contrary to popular belief, is a quite tidy creature; he wallows in mud because he likes to stay cool.”

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“So Harry, you think I serve you chozzerai? You eat pig? You feed my daughter meat that is not kosher? You don’t like my baking? You think we’re not fancy enough?”

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Harry composed himself. “Mrs. Greenberg, Jewish tradition tells us that Elijah, the perpetually journeying prophet, appears in many unexpected guises in order to help people recover the spark of their lives. Books that we love are our lights, that help us dedicate and re-dedicate ourselves, which is the meaning of Chanukah, for the temple was rededicated. I am a lawyer, and I love words and books and New York, and culture and Yiddish and Hebrew. . . and your daughter, Ruthie. She is my light, my book, my miracle. I have dedicated my life to hers, we are building a Jewish life, a Jewish home together. And by the way, these are the most delicious suvganiyot I’ve ever tasted. A real mekhaye, a real joy.”

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My mother looked at the table full of food, the Chanukah candles burning in the living room, my father half asleep in the leather armchair, the Jewish Forward in his lap. Tears poured from her eyes, and she gave him many kisses and hugs. “You speak Yiddish, a learned man, a modern man, a mensch with golden words, words he makes dance. My son, my son, may you be happy together, with pigs, without pigs, with books, with children, with each other’s light.”

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Each Chanukah we made a tradition of remembering Momma’s blessing and reading from The Joys of Yiddish. And it’s such a funny book, we kept a box of Kleenex beside us because we all laughed so hard we’d cry.

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Now I bring in The Joys of Yiddish to my yoga classes and read to my students some of the strange sounding words and phrases. It makes them laugh, and Harry and Momma agreed this is the most pleasing sound to God. I have often said that I dedicate my yoga practice to my Harry. It’s like lighting a yahrzeit candle for him daily. My body is the dancing flame that continues to burn for him.

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You can read more about Ruthie’s adventures and memories as she kvetches and stretches her way through yoga poses and braids the yoga tradition with her Jewish tradition, like a braided challah bread, in the book Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Position.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Cafe, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Lisa Grunberger, Guest Blogger

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Lisa Grunberger was raised in Long Island, NY, by an Israeli mother and a Viennese Father. With a doctorate in Comparative Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, as a Yoga teacher, a college professor and published writer, Lisa Grunberger is an entertaining and passionate public speaker. Her chapbook of poems, Root Canal: Love Poems is forthcoming from Poets Wear Prada Press (Roxeanne Hoffman, editor, Hoboken, NJ). She has been published in such journals as The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, Nimrod, The Drunken Boat, and Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal. She has taught at universities including Hofstra, the Bronx Community College, SUNY at Old Westbury and Parsons, and the The New School School of Design. She is currently an Assistant Professor in English at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her illustrated gift book, Yiddish Yoga: Ruthie’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Pose was published by New Market Press in September, 2009.

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www.yiddishyoga.com

lisa@yiddishyoga.com

There is no getting around it – a writer’s backbone is not a natural physiological trait. Definitely not. The ability to sit by yourself and put on paper an imagined world, people it with imaginary characters, then launch it to its final fate, is an acquired attribute. The long and weary passage leading to a writer’s maturity is marked by two guideposts: revision and rejection. Note I did not say publication. Beware - seeing your work in print can delude you into thinking that the next story or book, whatever comes after your debut, will receive automatic acceptance. Absolutely not – publishing is a business beset by all the vagaries of the market, as unpredictable as the credit crunch, e-books, and the fusing of conglomerates. That is why these few words are about the development of a writer and not a contract.

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When a writer can admit that the words on the page need to be tossed out, polished, shortened, lengthened or demand more thought, then the writer is truly grappling with craft and not ego. Eventually, the revision process is over. Finally all the elements of plot, character, and theme are in place. The writer is satisfied and the finished manuscript goes out on its own or is shepherded by an agent. Either way the writer must be prepared to confront rejection. The reasons given (if stated) very often have nothing to do with craft, but more with editorial taste or market timing. Once more the writer is tested, the passage must be crossed – to the other side where there’s a new idea, another book, an untold story.

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If the writer can persist, can make that crossing, can continue to create despite being overlooked, tossed aside, or receiving only occasional mild praise, then that writer can truly view himself as a professional. The journey can be long. On this passage we take as writers, we carry very little, only the basics, words and imagination. Like anything basic, there are endless variations.

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Thanks for reading JWorld Cafe, the Poetica Magazine Blog

Pnina Moed Kass, Guest Blogger

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Pnina Moed Kass is the author of REAL TIME (Clarion/Houghton Mifflin, National Jewish Book Award, Sydney Taylor), BERALE series (Keter, Israel), eight Hebrew picture books, short stories and television series.

Yiddish Yoga Author Lisa Grunberger’s Adventures in St. Louis, Missouri for the Jewish Book Festival, November, 2009

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In my presentation of my book at JCCs and Borders I move between my voice and my character, Ruthie’s voice. Ruthie is a recently widowed 72 year old Jewish Bubby (not Bubba, like they had in Houston, Texas, where I just was the speaker at the annual Sisterhood luncheon, a fabulous event) whose granddaughter Stephanie, gives her the gift of yoga to help her grieve. Ruthie kvetches: “ Who other than meshuguneh artists and the unemployed can afford to do yoga in the afternoon?” I’ll turn it over to Ruthie now.

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I just returned from a book tour that the mensch-lich folks of the Jewish Book Council sent me on. I was in St. Louis, Missouri where I was wined and dined by two terrific women (and bubbe’s like me!) – Nancy and Barbara. I would write their last names, but who knows what the privacy policies are on these meshugeneh virtual airwaves.

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I was given a marvelous tour of the newly renovated JCC by Marcia Levy, the maven organizer who runs a tight, but fun ship. These folks are proud of their JCC and their vibrant Jewish community. I wish I had taken a picture of the swimming pool area Marcia showed me. Before my presentation of Yiddish Yoga, I witnessed toddlers from the local Jewish day-care center splashing in this spectacular pool and right next to them, separated by buoys, were seniors citizens swimming laps. The young and the old side by side mid-morning, a moving sight. And I thought to myself, this is lovely, but what happens in between –the people who need to splash and play the most – all the over-worked Americans in mid-life – should be immersed in these waters. But enough kvetching.

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After hanging out with the photographer and the staff in the “green room” kibitzing and having coffee, I was escorted into the grand space. The audience could not have been more receptive – it was like a live laugh track! I was kvelling. And it’s true, that a performer (if I may call myself this) does indeed get energy from the audience. We did chair yoga, we did tree pose, and seated twists. Oy, it was so much fun. Even their technical sound system was impressive,. These folks on St. Louis know how to throw a Jewish Book Festival! Would you believe they are the largest Jewish Book Festival in the United States? And I, Ruthie, was up on the stage, kvetching and stretching, schvitzing and twisting. I’m kvelling for myself.

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After the show and the book signing where I met countless mensch-lich people (and if you don’t know the Yiddish, my book, Yiddish Yoga, has a Yiddish and a Sanskrit glossary), we went for lunch at a beautiful park on a lake. The best part was the old-fashioned custard at Ted Drewes after. This is an historically important foodie spot on Route 66 as it should be for ice-cream, after all, is one of life’s great blessings. Sometimes my memory isn’t so good, but it’s improving with all the yoga I’ve been doing. I think Barbara had strawberries and bananas on her custard, and Barbara had a brownie sundae. I had the brownies with pistacho nuts – delicious is not the word for it. I wish they could place it in dry ice and ship me some to NYC right now.

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Stay tuned for accounts of my travels to Houston and Indiana.

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I’ll leave you with one of my Twitters (you can follow me on this at Yiddish Yoga; I’m getting hip to all this technology at my age):

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I was at Loehmann’s and tried on a one-size-fits-all. It was too small; good thing I’m flexible or I’d still be stuck!

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Ok, here’s one more, and then I’m saying Om Shalom.

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It’s raining, it’s pouring, a yente on the mat is snoring!

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OM SHALOM,

Guest Bloggers LISA AND RUTHIE

Thanks for reading JWorld Cafe, the Poetica Magazine Blog

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- www.yiddishyoga.com 

- lisa@yiddishyoga.com 

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Lisa Grunberger was raised in Long Island, NY, by an Israeli mother and a Viennese Father. With a doctorate in Comparative Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School, as a Yoga teacher, a college professor and published writer, Lisa Grunberger is an entertaining and passionate public speaker. Her chapbook of poems, Root Canal: Love Poems is forthcoming from Poets Wear Prada Press (Roxeanne Hoffman, editor, Hoboken, NJ). She has been published in such journals as The Paterson Literary Review, Mudfish, Nimrod, The Drunken Boat, and Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal. She has taught at universities including Hofstra, the Bronx Community College, SUNY at Old Westbury and Parsons, and The New School School of Design. She is currently an Assistant Professor in English at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her illustrated gift book, Yiddish Yoga: Ruthy’s Adventures in Love, Loss and the Lotus Pose was published by New Market Press in September, 2009.