When I walked into the apartment of memoirist Alan Kaufman in Lower Nob Hill around 2011, I noticed paintings covering his walls. I’d already read his nearly 500-page memoir, Drunken Angel. The book chronicles how he became a writer and drunk (and how he recovered from alcoholism). There was nothing about him being a painter. How could he […]
Spelunking
I FALL DEEP INTO OBLIVION – into something that’s too big to hold me. The history is too big, my color is all wrong and even while I hold the sides I can’t see my hands. Somewhere, there’s a rope. I know it’s there because it’s around my waste. I start to climb. The rocks […]
Why Comedy Tweets Are Good For Writers
HADN’T REALIZED I’D TWEETED forty or so times about talking to my novel. Sure it’s a far cry from the 935 tweets that make up Small Places (Twitter novel I tweeted between 2008-2010. Read some on The Nervous Breakdown). Me: You like being a second draft? Novel: I don’t feel as crazy-eyed. Now what? Me: […]
An Account Of The Invisible Memoirs Reading
“IT WAS GREAT TO see students stepping up and helping out,” writer Jane Hawley said of Kimberly Navarro, the host for “Reading the Invisible Memoirs,” a fundraiser and event for Random Writers Workshop and the release of the anthology, “Invisible Memoirs: Lionhearted.” What would I have done without Kimberly as emcee on Friday the 13th? […]
Storytellers To Recount Experiences At Memoir Event
FOR THE SECOND TIME, Invisible Memoirs has selected a Bakersfield author’s story as its centerpiece, even naming the California-wide anthology after a local memoir. Why I am I excited about this? As the workshop instructor and initial editor of everyone’s submissions, I’m just so happy all of my students’ hard work paid off. Twelve local […]