"We were struck by the openness of the memoirists--and by their desire to share even more of their lives with perfect strangers. People sent us pictures of the adorable children they'd just admitted, in six words, they regretted having. One woman wrote us a letter detailing the infertility developments that had rendered her hopeful memoir obsolete."
That's the introduction to the six-word memoir collection, Not Quite What I Was Planning, where the editors explore the emotional range that they discovered in the thousands and thousands of submissions they received. The book was edited by Larry Smith (founder of Smith Magazine) and Rachel Fershleiser (senior editor at Smith), and today they both explain how they manage and organize their writing projects. If you want to meet them, watch my video feature about the project. Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions (this week, each of our guests get two-and-a-half easy questions). In the spirit of Jack Nicholson's mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing. Jason Boog: Rachel Fershleiser:
Some days I catch up on emails straight through my day-job lunch break and realize several hours later I’ve forgotten to eat.
One thing that does work out for me is that I absolutely love my day job, at the amazing nonprofit Housing Works Bookstore Café. A lot of my coworkers are writers and very supportive.
Plus, it turns out that running around, carrying boxes, making espresso, and talking to ten staff members, a hundred volunteers, and a thousand customers is the perfect antidote to sitting on your bed alone for hours poking the iBook on your lap.
Larry Smith:
In six words: 'Coffee. Obsession. Insomnia. One great wife.'
» Rachel Fershleiser and Larry Smith Show You How To Balance Writing and a Dayjob from ThePublishingSpot
"We were struck by the openness of the memoirists--and by their desire to share even more of their lives with perfect strangers. People sent us pictures of the adorable children they'd just admitted, in six words, they regretted having. One... [Read More]
Tracked on: February 13, 2008 8:31 AM | Permalink to Trackback