Kudos to M!

M. wins a prize! Here's a query that knocked 'em out of the park, and got a nod on the Interwebs for being an outstanding query. Which, indeed, it is.

Calling all agents who are interested in urban fantasy... here's M's query .

The last 2 donuts, fashion tips, & Walk for Choice

Just so you know, M. and I made it over to the aptly named Sublime Donuts with my pipin' fresh ecoupon on my phone. We two and about thirty other people. Damn it, I say, I'm here to have a discount hipster donut. And we waited in line. And we got... two of the last THREE donuts in the place. And they were damn good.

I find that I am inspired by the fashion column that's more of a sidebar in the Sunday Times. The one where a semi-celeb takes copious notes about what they wore to what all week, then spills the news to some aspiring writer? Parody is almost hitting below the belt (aha, a fashion pun) but mine would start with...

Sunday. In order to be comfortable for an arduous morning of feeding the cats and possibly cleaning up after the oldest cat's poor judgement, I made sure to wear a pair of my husband's comfortably worn-out Target brand pajama pants in graphite-gray with chartreuse cross hatching. I topped it with a white t-shirt obtained cleverly some years ago at the Stax Museum in Memphis. Subsequent reading of the Times Book Section, after thoroughly washing my hands and helping myself to coffee in my Rumpus "Write Like a Motherfucker" cup necessitated using one of those claw hair clips.

Ahem. And so forth.

Am relieved and fired up to see that there will indeed be a Walk for Choice on Saturday Feb 26 in Piedmont Park. We can fund NASCAR, but we can't fund women's health?

Fashion notes forthcoming. Doc Martens and a whole lot of anger will probably be involved.

Check it, I'm a textbook!

Check it, I'm a textbook !

Study up, y'all.



(Despite the image from SAT.org, there will be no bubble-in requirements.)

Welcome Erika Dreifus, author of "Quiet Americans"

Erika Dreifus and I have crossed paths many times before we actually met, which is kind of the way of mishpocheh. I've been a subscriber to her terrific newsletter The Practicing Writer, and I regularly read her blog, My Machberet. Erika's a mover and shaker, lemme tell you. The girl knows a lot, and then on top that, she's an outstanding writer. Her short story collection, "Quiet Americans" is just out, surrounded by well-deserved praise.

I'm handing Swimming in the Trees over to Erika today. She and I have talked a lot on line and IRL about what makes Jewish writing Jewish, and we're both often asked that question. Over to you, Erika! (by the way, you can learn more about Quiet Americans, order the book, and connect with The Practicing Writer and My Machberet at her website.
On "Jewish Books" and the 5-Legged Table

Guest Post by Erika Dreifus

One of the bonds between the esteemed proprietress of Swimming in the Trees and me is our shared interest in Jewish writing—and our shared interest in defining what, exactly, makes a "Jewish book" Jewish. I'm grateful to Jessica for inviting me to share my thoughts on this subject in this guest post.

Some of my ruminations stem from my own writing, especially my newly released short-story collection, Quiet Americans, which is inspired largely by the experiences of my paternal grandparents, German Jews who immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s. But I've also considered the subject more broadly, particularly in preparation for a panel presentation on Jewish-American fiction at a recent conference of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).

Helping me shape my thoughts is a new website I discovered thanks to one of the innumerable "Jewish newsletterss" I subscribe to. At , The 5 Legged Table educator Avraham Infeld's teachings frame a discussion of the question: What is being Jewish all about? The underlying principles impress me as applicable to a related question: What is a Jewish book all about?

Briefly, the 5 Legged Table comprises the following elements:

• Memory: "While history is about what happened in the past, memory is about how that past drives our present and our future."
• Family
• Covenant: Grounded in the idea that, at Sinai, Jews committed "to recognize one God; to make the world a better place for all people; and to use certain rituals to define and shape Jewish time and space. So, for Jews who observe any or all of the mitzvot, and those who are committed to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), and those who serve the Jewish community, or move to Israel, the covenant established at Mount Sinai is still a tie that binds."
• Hebrew
• Israel

My hypothesis: To the extent that these are the "legs" on which a particular book stands, that book is "a Jewish book." A book need not necessarily include all five legs. After all, tables normally stand on four. But I take pride in realizing that, to varying degrees, all five are woven into Quiet Americans,

Memory: The book itself stems from the transmitted histories of my grandparents and their families, and how all of that accumulated history is remembered and continues to influence me. Which leads to Family: Family relationships are at the core of virtually every story in my book.

What about Covenant? Here, I think especially of one story in my collection, "Lebensraum," and the role that Jewish ritual plays there. Moreoever, in a small gesture of tikkun olam, I am donating portions of the proceeds from book sales to The Blue Card, a nonprofit organization that aids U.S.-based Holocaust survivors.

Hebrew words—albeit transliterated—are sprinkled throughout Quiet Americans. And Israel is very much on the minds of many of my Jewish-American characters, whether they are watching Golda Meir speak on television after the massacre of Israeli athletes at Munich in 1972, or anguishing over the Second Lebanon War (and international condemnation of Israel for it) nearly 35 years later.

From now on, then, when people ask me what I think defines a "Jewish book," I am likely to respond with a reference to the 5-Legged Table. What about you?

In which my writing group holds me to a high standard & ebooks are discussed elsewhere

My writing group holds me to a very high standard. This is a good thing.

I recommend it.

And over on Jane Friedman's Writer's Digest blog "There Are No Rules," Susan Cushman guest posts and asks writers and a literary agent what's the deal with this fancy new technology? I weigh in , along with Neil White, Jeff Kleinman, Sonny Brewer, and others.

When the Mice are Away

When the mice are away, the cats will stick their faces into their petsitter's video camera.

AWP really stands for A Writer (is) Pooped! Three days, eleventy hundred people, a big bookfair with mostly independent (!! hooray!!) and university presses and lit mags (also hooray) and readings by heavy hitters like Junot Diaz, Amy Hempel, Jhumpa Lahiri, Gary Shteyngart (you know you can say it, MK) and panels, panels, panels.

I got to speak a little bit about MFA programs and the value of a good alumni program, in the company of friend and mentor Fred Leebron, and friend Jeff Hess, and others. I went to a particularly fascinating panel by Gallaudet Professors about bilingualism (yes, it truly is) between spoken English and Deaf English. I also went to a tremendous panel discussion of Jewish American writers, with Margot Singer, Erika Dreifus , and others (stay tuned to this space for a guest blog by Erika Dreifus on February 14th)... oh, the list goes on.



drawing of AWP conference atmosphere by the talented Mickey Dubrow .