Ice Ferns by 8 Degrees

When it's this cold out, I can duck my head behind a steam radiator or enjoy the morning's etchings on the window panes.  Here are a few snaps of Ice Ferns. Looking closely at these frozen designs reminds me how seemingly disparate things connect and align. Is there some hidden logic going on? Yes. I think so.

Enter 2014

May you begin 2014 with a sense of renewal and hope; and the energy to tend to something meaningful in your life, whether it's a relationship, a project or a desire.

Joseph Anton Opens the Universe

Salman Rushdie’s memoir, Joseph Anton, is an operatic 650 pages, an embrace of continents and countries, India, Europe, America; a roll in the dirt and shine of humanity, literature, art, love, children, freedom, courage and vulnerability, ugliness and beauty.  

It took me two months to wander across these pages. I paused often to consider and reconsider the sentences,words, people, sensibility and many-sided truths revealed therein. I underlined and bracketed and dotted margins with asterisks. There  is so much in this story to cherish, question and love. 

“Literature tried to open the universe, to increase, even if only slightly, the sum total of what it was possible for human beings to perceive, understand, and so, finally, to be. Great literature went to the edges of the known and pushed against the boundaries of language, form, and possibility, to make the world feel larger, wider, than before.” (from Joseph Anton)

Thank you, Mr. Rushdie, for taking me into your world, for opening up your universe so that I might see differently.

SHAPE magazine picks Women In Bed

Another surprise: Women In Bed is one of ten new books recommended to "add to your winter reading list" by Shape magazine.  Click link below.  This picture was taken in Southern California, where I am staying for a short while.

  http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/10-books-add-your-winter-reading-list/slide/2

Thanks to Beth Kephart, Books On the Night Stand, BettyConfidential.com

It's a special privilege when a writer whose work I admire reads my books and raves about them. Such was the case when author extraordinaire, Beth Kephart, recently read my story collection, Women In Bed. Beth is the author of seventeen books. She's up for several awards this year, and has been a National Book Award finalist in the past. Her newest novel--Small Damages--slayed me with its gorgeous language and story set in southern Spain. Next for me is her book, Handling The Truth, which is about writing memoirs as well as the relevance and beauty of memoirs and what they offer us as readers. Here's what Beth said about Women In Bed.  http://beth-kephart.blogspot.com/2013/11/women-in-bedjessica-keener-reflections.html

More thanks are due to the wonderful Books on the Nightstand and Ann Kingman's expressed love for the stories in Women In Bed.  (She "devoured them.") She invited me to write a guest essay, so I wrote about fairy tales because they sparked my passion for short stories. You can read what  Ann says (and my essay) here.http://booksonthenightstand.com/2013/11/once-upon-a-time.html

Finally, special thanks to BettyConfidential.com editors for naming Women In Bed one of 12 must-reads this fall. I was in good company. (Others chosen include Jhumpa Lahiri, Elizabeth Gilbert.) Here's the link: http://bettyconfidential.com/2013-11-6-design-home-fall-back-into-bed-with-these-fall-reads-12-new-books-you-wont-be-able-to-put-down/4/

Salman Rushdie, Boston Book Fest, Cranberry Bogs

Quite a week.

First up: Salman Rushdie talking to 800 or so people who filled the lower and upper pews in Boston's Old South Church. He was introduced by Homi Bhabha and a discussion between the two old friends followed. Salman said a few things that stuck with me. Paraphrasing, he said: books have no boundaries. That truth exploded inside me. It's still exploding inside me. He also cautioned against buying into a "security" point of view (my quotes for emphasis). This is basically a view that anticipates any and all disasters and catastrophes at all times. He said if you buy into that viewpoint you will give up your language of freedom. Again, this sung the truth to me. Basically, a security point of view is one of fear. If we live in fear, we imprison ourselves. Naturally, we have to be cautious and wise, but excessive fear leads to all kinds of shut downs: spiritual and emotional, physical, social. Finally, he read  a gorgeous passage from his memoir, Joseph Anton, and finished by answering a few audience questions.

Salman Rushdie

Next up: all day Saturday in Copley Square celebrating books, readers, the power of story. Lots of book vendors, publishers, writer organizations, food, music & 200 authors, including too many author buddies to name here. Boston is a literary gold mine.I wonder if we have the highest author per square block concentration in the country? Someone needs to do a survey.

Day Crowds

John Hancock building, sky and clouds mingling

Weather was perfecto

Late afternoon, closing time

I shared a panel with novelists Amity Gaige and Miriam Karmel, moderated by Ann Kingman (far r) of Books On the Nightstand.

This describes our panel

Our panel took place inside the Boston Public Library, a truly gorgeous architectural creation.

Copley Sq. entrance to Library

Library's inner courtyard. 

My week wrapped up with a day visit to Cape Cod and the Dennis Memorial Library where I read from Women In Bed and talked with a wonderful group of local folks. Special thanks to my host, Jane McGinnis, Gordon McGinnis, and also Titcomb Bookshop (Sandwich, MA).

Cape Cod Bay at high tide

Cranberry au natural. Cranberries grow low to the ground.

Here, with my lovely host: Jane McGinnis

We talked about the difference between short stories & novels, the writing process, publishing, and more.

Newtonville Books, reading Oct. 9, 2013

Reading at Newtonville Books is a special thrill and one I had the pleasure of sharing with novelist Amy Grace Loyd who may be one of the most energetic, upbeat writers I’ve met in a while. She has a head-turning resume, too, that includes former literary editor at Playboy magazine and current executive editor for Byliner. 

This bookstore is beautifully designed with warm woods and a delightful front desk made of real, stacked books (see pic below). The store recently celebrated its fifteen-year anniversary.

Our books: Women In Bed, Night Swim & The Affairs of Others

See the desk made of books (left corner)