Author Jhumpa Lahiri reading in the Roman Forum

Last week, I went to see an author whose work I admire read in the Roman Forum. The American author Jhumpa Lahiri is in Rome as the 2013 Writer in Residence at John Cabot University. I saw her introduce the reading with Italian author Francesca Marciano, where she she spoke about her love of Rome and the…

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A conversation with writer Francesca Marciano

An English-language university here in Rome hosts author nights, open to the public. Last year, I wrote about the fabulous Conversation with Joyce Carol Oates I attended. This year, I decided to attend a conversation and reading with the Italian author, Francesca Marciano. Ms Marciano was introduced by John Cabot University’s Writer in Residence, Jhumpa…

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Which author do you write like?

My fantastic critique buddy, Nicola Layouni, posted a wonderful method of procrastination for writers tearing their hair out with revisions tool for writers. Using the “I write like analyzer” and pasting some pages of her text in the text box, Nicola discovered that she wrote like James Joyce. Pretty nice compliment, right? Since I’m right…

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Gender-bias in book covers? Coverflip.

I’m proud to write women’s fiction, but I know this genre label can raise hackles far and wide. The argument goes that, when men and women write about similar, (often domestic) topics, the men’s work is seen as serious fiction (a.k.a. The Great American Novel), while the women’s work is written off as light, beach-reading…

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Favorite web resources for writers

I’m not always a fan of tecnology, and I often lament the fact that it takes us away from the daydreaming and writing that we writers should set aside more of our time in pursuing. But I’m also the first to admit that a writer’s job – particularly a writer just starting out – is…

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Working art into literature

As an undergraduate in a school that didn’t have minors, I unwittingly almost triple majored in art history. I’d accumulated so many classes in it that by senior year I was just shy a couple. In the end, living in Italy, I (only half jokingly) claim it’s the most important subject I ever studied. After all, here in Italy…

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I finally joined the Twitter bandwagon

It took me  a while, but I’ve finally joined over 200 million users of Twitter. I’ve been using Twitter for my work, and find it quite useful for reaching specialized audiences. Unlike Facebook – which I hate, loathe, despise, makes me break out in hives – I find Twitter to be a great way to…

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Brainstorming at the spa 2013

I’m typing this with my tears in my eyes because I’d been hoping to go myself, but March is shaping up to be more hectic than I thought and I won’t be able to get away this year. But for you lucky writers in Europe – or those of you who just need a thinly…

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