annsepstein@att.net

Need a GreatHoliday Gift Book?

Books are timeless gifts. Consider these titles to give others and/or to treat yourself, and support the independent presses that publish them:

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “Elevated trains clanked and spewed foul air, but also the promise of riding out to the city’s unseen edges.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “She knew where to find me, if she wanted to.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “At Huntsman and Son, which specialized in sportswear, he’d been offered a job modeling knit coats for hunting dogs.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic film The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

What I’m Reading: Apeirogon by Colum McCann

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Apeirogon: A Novel by Colum McCann (Rating 4) – As Exhaustive and Exhausting as the Search for Peace in the Mideast. Colum McCann’s Apeirogon, about a pair of grieving fathers — one Palestinian and one Israeli — who have each lost a young daughter, moves like the Middle East peace process itself. The novel stumbles forward, stalls, retreats, goes off on tangents that alternately fascinate and bore to the point that you want to ignore and push past them. Mixing rat-a-tat revelation with lengthy exposition, the book inflames your brain, wrenches your gut, and ricochets your emotions from despair to hope. The last of these, hope, remains alive because of the unexpected bond between the men, friends and brothers who cross boundaries in the pursuit of peace. As a writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I admired the inventiveness of this hybrid form of storytelling, a complex weave of straightforward narration, backwards loops, and intricate, superimposed embroidery. In truth, reading the book is as exhaustive and exhausting as the search for peace in the Mideast. Don’t give up.

An unlikely friendship between two grieving fathers

Why writers read: “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” – Ernest Hemingway

The Blue Nib Publishes Creative Nonfiction “Bear Watch”

I’m delighted to announce that The Blue Nib has published my creative nonfiction piece “Bear Watch,” which describes how my first encounter with antisemitism, on a cross-country camping trip to Yellowstone at age fourteen, taught me the true meaning of adventure. Here’s the link. Read more in MEMOIR. On an added note (see photo below), I have a quill pen tattooed on my right hand but the nib is black, not blue.

The Blue Nib, a wide-ranging print and online literary magazine

Why writers write: “We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.” – Anaïs Nin)

Creativity and Ego

“Creativity and ego cannot go together” (Jeong Kwan, Buddhist monk and chef, profiled on Chef’s Table, February 17, 2017). Kwan is an inspiring figure. Being in her presence instills peace and trust. To the extent that she sees ego as synonymous with competition, as trying to win or “be the best in the world,” I agree with her. Yet ego can also be a desire to improve without comparison to others. Ego is the self-satisfaction one gets from doing something well. My ego is tied to my creative writing. When I labor over a sentence until I find just the right word or phrase, I’m pleased with my accomplishment. I don’t linger or gloat; I move onto the next sentence. But I don’t negate that momentary charge to my self-esteem. I consider that healthy ego. Unlike Kwan, however, I’m not a Buddhist. I haven’t shed my unhealthy ego. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

Jeong Kwan, Buddhist monk and chef, cooks from her soul

Why writers write: “Don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” – Franz Kafka

Any Color Any Day Gift

If you’re in search of a holiday gift not limited to “Black Friday,” take a look at these books:

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “Stubbornness comes from a weak will and a strong won’t.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “Skin colors varied from the freckled paleness of the Irish to the strong tea hue of the Italians.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “I wish I hadn’t been so caught up in myself and paid more attention to what was going on in her life.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Books on Your Gift or Wish List?

If you’re looking for the perfect book for someone, including yourself, peruse these:

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “Maybe you’re trying to find your daddy when you should be looking for your mama.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “It took guts to play ugly and court hatred.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “Shame made my father envious, envy made him feel guilty, guilt made him angry.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Earn the Ending

“If you’re a storyteller, you face that notorious bugbear called an ending. Maybe you’ll write your way into it, or maybe you’ll plan it out in advance. Whatever your process, your ending needs to ring true. No tricks. No clichés” (“The Last Chapter” by Jack Smith, The Writer, December 2020). I begin with a general idea of how a story will end, but I write my way to the specifics. As I get to know characters and eavesdrop on scenes, the ending takes shape and changes. Whatever emerges, the ending must be earned to satisfy the writer and reader alike. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “Cheat your landlord, but do not shortchange the Muse. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” – William S. Burroughs

Books are Forever Holiday Gifts

Looking for a gift whose joy will outlast the holiday? Check out these books:

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “Let’s have sholem bayess, peace in the house.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “After being persecuted as degenerates in Germany, his peers went overboard flaunting their freedom in America.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “I just wish I knew what it is about my father she’s protecting me from.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Giving the Gift of Reading?

If books are on your holiday list, whether for others or yourself, here are three to keep anyone company on a stay-at-home winter night:

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “She was a poor young woman, alone in this country, and wanted something to call her own.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “I was sorry I’d told Mama about my dream to be a scientist, and hoped she hadn’t spilled the beans to Papa.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “Normal-size women would automatically reject him; a short woman might take him because she couldn’t do better.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

What I’m Reading: Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare (Rating 5) –As Stark and Breathtaking as the Australian Outback. Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare is a journey of self-discovery as stark and breathtaking as the Australian Outback. Lilly, in her mid-forties, having led an unexceptional and unsatisfactory life in California and New York, learns a secret about her birth that upends her world. In search of a past she never knew was hers, she heads to that other end of the world to meet her unknown father, half-brother, and niece. The surprises continue to come but Lilly, no longer a passive recipient, is now complicit in generating them. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate Clare’s masterful pacing in introducing each shock. Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, Lilly, the pampered city girl, crosses the rugged Outback to find out what kind of person her father is and instead learns who she is. The answer is not what she, or readers, expect. Nor is her basic nature easily accepted by Lilly, or us. Yet each revelation rings true. After all, if we’re honest with ourselves, we too never cease to ask “Who am I?” “How did I get here?” And most important, “Where am I going?”