UPCOMING CLASSES
Close out 2023 on a strong note! I’m offering two more classes on Zoom this year:
Prose Writing Workshop
For fiction and nonfiction writers of all backgrounds who want to generate new writing and/or revise existing work.
✏️ Learn more and sign up here.
Revision for Submission Workshop
For more experienced writers who have work they're ready to revise.
✏️ Learn more and sign up here.
As always, paid newsletter subscribers get 10% off all classes. Hope to see you around the Zoom room!
September was one of those hustle-and-bustle months that reminded me to thank my lucky stars for audiobooks. If I hadn’t been able to listen to books this month, I wouldn’t have read much of anything!
AUDIOBOOKS I LISTENED TO AND LOVED
This month, I was apparently quite drawn to books with women’s heads on their covers.
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue
A top contender for Best Novel of 2023! I fell hard for this hilarious and frantic narrator and probably gasped every 50 pages. It’s a juicy story with a whole lot of heart.
Old Enough by Haley Jakobson
One of the best college novels I’ve read. It’s an excellent depiction of longterm friendship and what happens when childhood friends grow apart in adulthood.
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
What a wonderfully weird story of a sex therapy transcriptionist who becomes overly enthralled with a patient: a concept that felt gimmicky to me at first but quickly proved its worth on the page.
THINGS AROUND THE INTERNET I READ AND LOVED
Like I said, not a lot of time for non-audiobook reading this month, but here are three things that stood out to me online:
A gorgeous essay about listening to Taylor Swift in prison, which is easily the best piece of music writing I’ve ever read.
This description of September from a 1942 issue of The New York Times, which I came across on Twitter:
“Dog days are over, and here comes September. Not Autumn, yet; simply September, which can be as sweltering as mid-July and as chill as late October, and usually manages to be both. Flowers still bloom in September, but sumac and swampland maples give them the lie by turning a gorgeous Autumn scarlet.”
And finally, this wonderful quote via Austin Kleon’s newsletter for paid subscribers, which is worth every penny, by the way:
“Great art is clear thinking about mixed feelings.” —John Baldessari
Around the Newsletter
After a summer break, the newsletter was back in full swing this month! 🤸
Book Club for Writers
On Sunday, October 29 at 1PM EST, my Book Club for Writers will meet on Zoom to discuss Refuse to Be Done, Matt Bell’s incredible book on drafting and revision. I’d recommend this one to anyone who’s curious about writing a book-length work!
How do I join the book club?
Become a paid newsletter subscriber to join. Subscribe for the month for just $5, or save 27% and subscribe for the whole year.