Book review: The Bitch Is Back

Great title, right?

Perfect for on A Day Without a Woman, when women around the country are marching, striking, and celebrating women's work and accomplishments (by showing what happens if we step away, Lysistrata-style).

I'm home with a sick kid today, so I'm celebrating women by wearing red (and my 1 Billion Rising t-shirt) and writing about women's writing. Unpaid labor? Maybe so. But a joy to create and support women creators.

Sequel to The Bitch in the House, which I haven't read yet, this collection of personal essays is the literary equivalent to eavesdropping on 26 juicy conversations, getting the dirt (albeit well-composed and edited) on a variety of women in midlife:

• The university president who hobbles in heels for six months after breaking her foot but before seeing a doctor, scared to admit she's getting older
• A trans woman who comes out after 12 years of "supposedly heterosexual marriage"--and whose wife chooses to stay after her transition
• Two different stories from the "other women" who blew up their lives for a lover...and the sometimes messy, sometimes beautiful aftermath
• A Muslim woman, married at 14, who earned a Ph.D. while raising 8 kids and her thoughts on leaning in...and out

A diverse selection of writers, yet with several common threads: Most are professional authors, editors, or professors, not surprising for a memoir collection. A large contingent are able to jet off to Paris and Hawaii, own second homes, and write $12,000 checks. This lends an odd homogeneous quality to the voices that I can't relate to, though I connect to the emotional core of their stories.

One essay, however, sticks out like a sore thumb. "Dirty Work" is the story of a woman who owns a housecleaning company "as told to" the editor. Her story of surviving abuse and homelessness is authentic and important, yet the essay's structural differences, as well as the narrator's class and age, ostracize her story as if it were something outside the norm. I wish there had been a wider socioeconomic range in this collection to represent a truer range of experiences.

Overall, I was engaged and engrossed in these well-written stories from women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. In our youth-obsessed culture, it's refreshing to know what midlife women think about where they've been and where they're going.

I recommend this book for any woman with a story to tell. C'mon, you know you do.

Live in Hypertext Magazine!

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Hypertext Magazine offers its Love Bites issue.

And my roundabout love story Renovations is part of the fun!

This essay is actually many years old. I wrote its first incarnation as part of my creative nonfiction workshop in the University of New Orleans's MFA program back in 2004. 

As a poetry student, I remember being so nervous to have the creative nonfiction specialists read and critique my essay, especially after reading their amazing work. Was I ever gratified when they offered their enthusiastic support! 

Yet it took me a long time to try putting it into wider circulation. Part of it was my insecurity about my nonfiction; part of it was nervousness about exposing so much about myself (and possibly embarrassing the people in the story). I don't know how memoirists do it! Years ago, I received a very nice rejection and then let it sit...and sit.  

Finally, with the passage of time, I felt enough distance to consider it purely from a technical standpoint. I dug it out, dusted it off, and realized it offered a perspective you don't hear too often: a grown, partnered woman with a crush. Uncomfortable, sure, but ultimately relatable. 

Luckily, Hypertext's editors agreed!

Kidlit review: The Little Linebacker

As part of Multicultural Children's Book Day I received the uplifting softcover picture book The Little Linebacker: A Story of Determination by Stephen Tulloch and Maria Dismondy, illustrated by Heather Heyworth.

Sure to appeal to young football (or other sport) fans, The Little Linebacker is the story of young Stephen Tulloch, who grows up to be a real-life linebacker for the Titans and the Lions.

Every few pages in The Little Linebacker represents a challenge in Stephen's lifelong goal to become a pro football player. As a young child, he's impatient with Little League practices; as he gets older, he struggles with his math grades; as a teen, he is chosen last for the team. (Challenges are gentle and relatable to most children; this book does not tackle larger societal issues.)

Each setback is met with realistic disappointment on Stephen's face until he finds sources of inspiration: his mom, a mentor, a friend, even an inspirational poster ("You can. You will. End of story.").

In each case, Stephen sets his mind to his goal and works to do better, whether it's channeling his energy into studying math or supporting his teammates in whatever capacity he can. These solutions are also easy for kids to understand and apply to themselves.

By the end, Stephen's success is achieved through his willingness to work hard, keep trying, and to work collaboratively, goals that are emphasized in the reading tips at the beginning of the book as well as "Tully's Tips for Kids" at the end of the book.

With text featuring longer sentences and multisyllabic words, this picture book is designed to be read aloud or by moderately comfortable self-readers. The illustrations are bright, cheery, and cartoony, with easy-to-recognize character expressions against familiar backdrops (kitchen, playground, classroom). The multicultural cast reflects the book's themes of cooperation and mutual support.

The Little Linebacker is part of several educational programs by the authors: The Stephen Tulloch Foundation, Operation 55, and Maria Dismondy's books, blog, and public speaking programs.

For families and teachers seeking uplifting, sports-themed stories that emphasize determination and teamwork, The Little Linebacker lines up!

Click here for more multicultural children's books as well as a FREE Classroom Kindness Kit! #ReadYourWorld

One door closes...

...and another pops right open.

After my first rejection of the year, I received my first acceptance! Hypertext Magazine accepted my essay "Renovations" for publication in (I think) a Valentine's-themed issue. Not sure if it's an online issue or print. Either way, YAY!

More info as I know it. And a reminder: Keep writing, keep submitting!


via GIPHY

Short review: Shirley Jackson biography

I just finished Ruth Franklin's marvelous biography Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, which would make a great gift for writer-mamas.

Best known for her short story "The Lottery," Jackson wrote six novels--one of which was nominated for a National Book Award and another made into a movie--five story collections, four children's books, and two hugely popular comic memoirs about her family. She managed all of that while raising four children in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s with little support from her husband--in fact, her writing income supported the family for many years. (Her advice? Do less housework.)

Franklin engagingly weaves aspects of Jackson's personal life with summaries of her work and its critical reception. I particularly enjoyed the head-scratching from critics who didn't understand how the same writer could publish funny stories about her kids and literary fiction that explores the human capacity for evil.

Fascinating and inspiring, Franklin's book ought to reinvigorate interest in Jackson's work; her titles are on my wish list! (I'm already obsessed with We Have Always Lived in the Castle... just look at that cover!)

Birth Writes cover reveal

Hollering from the rooftops:

My Katrina birth experience essay is in here, along with birth stories from a bunch of talented writers. It's going to be great!

The anthology is being finalized, and last I heard it would be ready to buy sometime in December...I will DEFINITELY let you know!

Anthology ahoy!

So excited! An essay I submitted some time ago will be published in an anthology!



via GIPHY

The anthology is a collection of birth stories, and mine is about giving birth five days after evacuating from Hurricane Katrina. The editor said the book should be available sometime before December. I will definitely share the word when it is!

YAYYAYYAYAYAYAYAYAY!