An online literary magazine, "Perigee," to which I submitted an article, published it last week in an April issue. It's, of all things, an Army story, called "I Grew Up With Running Water." If interested, please go to the site of perigee-art.com., then to Non-Fiction. Take a look; I think you'll enjoy the piece.
My novel, "Ten Ways to Your Cat's Happiness," is moving along. I've received really complimentary feedback of a revised manuscript from iUniverse, with, however, the suggestion for line editing. So I've agreed to pay the publisher for that, and it's underway now. That may move the book to classification as Editor's Choice which may or may not be significant.
The cover design is almost done, and illustrations for the book also. I like both very much. The website designer out West didn't work out, so I've started again, with a local designer (which I feel better about). With luck, the site will be done before long and the book out by early summer. This will be my fifth book, and the best I've done. Can't wait to find it between covers.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Springtime here
It's already mid-April, and Manhattan glows with tulips, daffodils, and lots of trees in welcome bloom.
I received the manuscript of my book back from iUniverse with compliments and lots of suggestions, and after some discussion with one of their reps chose to do correcting on my own. Now that version has gone back for another editorial evaluation (this one I pay for). I've worked so much on that book, more than any other, and I'm satisfied with where it is. I hope they are too, and that they don't ask for further editing, at my expense (though that's sort of doubtful).
At the same time, a book cover design is underway, and I should see ideas soon. Likewise designs for a build-up of my website, being done by a designer in Minneapolis. (Strange as it seems, I struck out on finding someone in New York.)
Awhile ago I developed a lot of pain in one leg, result of spinal stenosis. I got a cortisone injection a couple of weeks ago, which had very good results. While the pain was going on, I decided to cancel a trip to the Galapagos, which would have ended just now. I regret missing that amazing part of the world, but I didn't want to undertake walking on rocks and marshy lands if walking wasn't good. Being home these weeks has been productive.
I'm hoping the new (or just updated) website will help me make better use of this blog, its links, and the internet altogether.
Meanwhile, happy springtime.
I received the manuscript of my book back from iUniverse with compliments and lots of suggestions, and after some discussion with one of their reps chose to do correcting on my own. Now that version has gone back for another editorial evaluation (this one I pay for). I've worked so much on that book, more than any other, and I'm satisfied with where it is. I hope they are too, and that they don't ask for further editing, at my expense (though that's sort of doubtful).
At the same time, a book cover design is underway, and I should see ideas soon. Likewise designs for a build-up of my website, being done by a designer in Minneapolis. (Strange as it seems, I struck out on finding someone in New York.)
Awhile ago I developed a lot of pain in one leg, result of spinal stenosis. I got a cortisone injection a couple of weeks ago, which had very good results. While the pain was going on, I decided to cancel a trip to the Galapagos, which would have ended just now. I regret missing that amazing part of the world, but I didn't want to undertake walking on rocks and marshy lands if walking wasn't good. Being home these weeks has been productive.
I'm hoping the new (or just updated) website will help me make better use of this blog, its links, and the internet altogether.
Meanwhile, happy springtime.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
New book
This blog has gone unattended lately--bad business. I've worked feverishly to finish writing a novel and get it to a publisher. The novel is called "Ten Ways to Your Cat's Happiness," and it is a novel, not a cat book (though of course there are a couple sample cats who get star turns).
This will be my fifth book, and finding a publisher remains highly elusive. I'm going back, with no great regret, to iUniverse, the self-publishing company that did the "Living Alone Creatively" book written about in this blog. They've done a good job on putting the book out, and again this time I will furnish the cover design which should make it better.
So now, the manuscript, around three years in the making, is in their hands, and I feel an enormous relief.
The issue of living alone, or not, is still on my mind, as it is on the mind of the protagonist of the new book, Evan McGorkle. Evan totters between being with a partner or not, and the partner is a handsome, successful physician, not a hard guy to imagine being with. But Evan has some fear of losing privacy and independence, so, yes, he totters back and forth. I won't spill the beans about how it turns out, but I will say that the book is the most complex I've written, with some interesting characters, from a beautiful upcoming opera singer to a wise Israeli coffee bar owner to a sight-impaired musician.
The book ought to be out in the next five, six months (I think). And I need to update my website in anticipation.
More later.
Thanks for tuning in.
This will be my fifth book, and finding a publisher remains highly elusive. I'm going back, with no great regret, to iUniverse, the self-publishing company that did the "Living Alone Creatively" book written about in this blog. They've done a good job on putting the book out, and again this time I will furnish the cover design which should make it better.
So now, the manuscript, around three years in the making, is in their hands, and I feel an enormous relief.
The issue of living alone, or not, is still on my mind, as it is on the mind of the protagonist of the new book, Evan McGorkle. Evan totters between being with a partner or not, and the partner is a handsome, successful physician, not a hard guy to imagine being with. But Evan has some fear of losing privacy and independence, so, yes, he totters back and forth. I won't spill the beans about how it turns out, but I will say that the book is the most complex I've written, with some interesting characters, from a beautiful upcoming opera singer to a wise Israeli coffee bar owner to a sight-impaired musician.
The book ought to be out in the next five, six months (I think). And I need to update my website in anticipation.
More later.
Thanks for tuning in.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New decade
We embark on a new year, new decade. Last night I went to the gorgeous production of "Der Rosenkavalier" at the Metropolitan Opera, one of the perks of living in Manhattan (note that the seat cost less than $30). It's an opera with music sublime and the overarching theme of the inevitable passing of time--and the wisdom to accept it. The Marschallin (princess) has an affair with a young count (always a soprano dressed like a boy), and she correctly warns him that sooner or later he will leave her for a younger woman. Which he does quickly. But the princess accepts that this is part of life, and at the end says she loves him for the love he has for the young girl. It's a sad, beautiful moment, filled with acceptance. (Strauss wrote that the affair with the young count was not the princess's first nor her last.)
All this touches on the matter of living with or without partner. A new novel I've written deals with the subject, as it did in "Living Alone Creatively." In the new book the protagonist has an on again, off again romance with a successful, altogether desirable physician who is the pursuer. The protagonist is filled with ambivalence, saying that his two cats provide him with the affection he needs. At least most of the time. I guess that, living alone as I do, it's a theme high in my mind. Ambivalence about partnering is usually hanging around.
My friend Michael Lowenthal, an excellent writer and person, has been in a gay relationship most of his life. He lives in Boston and wrote me recently that he finds the relationship a grounding point that allows greater freedom rather than a cause for restriction. I'm not sure how many people have achieved that--I know several for whom I'm sure it's not true--but Michael is a smart guy and I loved reading what he wrote. He's achieved an admirable goal.
Happy 2010 to those of you nice enough to read these words.
All this touches on the matter of living with or without partner. A new novel I've written deals with the subject, as it did in "Living Alone Creatively." In the new book the protagonist has an on again, off again romance with a successful, altogether desirable physician who is the pursuer. The protagonist is filled with ambivalence, saying that his two cats provide him with the affection he needs. At least most of the time. I guess that, living alone as I do, it's a theme high in my mind. Ambivalence about partnering is usually hanging around.
My friend Michael Lowenthal, an excellent writer and person, has been in a gay relationship most of his life. He lives in Boston and wrote me recently that he finds the relationship a grounding point that allows greater freedom rather than a cause for restriction. I'm not sure how many people have achieved that--I know several for whom I'm sure it's not true--but Michael is a smart guy and I loved reading what he wrote. He's achieved an admirable goal.
Happy 2010 to those of you nice enough to read these words.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Niece's bat mitzvah
My great niece Rebecca Sandvos celebrated her bat mitzvah last Saturday morning, December 19, at the Congregation Shir Tikvah in Winchester, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Rebecca, who likes to be called Becki (and spell it that way), was named for my mother, Rebecca.
Becki is the daughter of my niece Elissa Ely and her husband Jay Sandvos, who live in another piece of Boston suburbia, Belmont. Becki was surrounded by grandparents and friends and relatives from near and far.
With no coercion, Becki chose to undertake the considerable preparation necessary for her bat mitzvah (whch, unlike old days when the ceremony was restricted to boys, includes girls now as well). She recited the week's portion of the Torah, then, for the first time, carried the Torah aloft around the sanctuary and delivered her own brief sermon. After the service, attendees enjoyed a lunch in the synagogue.
In the evening, Elissa and Jay hosted a dinner dance at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Waltham, yet one more Boston suburb, where many out-of-town guests were staying. Becki had invited some 30 girl friends, plus 3 boys, and in all 100 people enjoyed loud music and great food. Using their family connection to the Almighty, a major snowstorm waited until after midnight, when the party had ended.
The next morning some family members gathered at Jay and Elissa's house for a traditional Sunday brunch while Jay undertook snow clearing outside. Finally, out-of-town guests packed up to leave for home, grateful for a wonderful weekend and for being part of an honored Jewish tradition.
The overall topic of this blog is living alone, so how did I feel about being perhaps the only ongoing unattached adult (plus one of the few gay men) there for the weekend? I have of course experienced that before--anyone in my situation past a certain age surely has. But I have been part of my niece Elissa's life since she was born--we are very close--and I was glad to attend, even single. For years I've had "Uncle Stanley" on my name tag as provided long ago by Elissa and her sister Marcia, and I was glad to attend as Uncle.
Becki is the daughter of my niece Elissa Ely and her husband Jay Sandvos, who live in another piece of Boston suburbia, Belmont. Becki was surrounded by grandparents and friends and relatives from near and far.
With no coercion, Becki chose to undertake the considerable preparation necessary for her bat mitzvah (whch, unlike old days when the ceremony was restricted to boys, includes girls now as well). She recited the week's portion of the Torah, then, for the first time, carried the Torah aloft around the sanctuary and delivered her own brief sermon. After the service, attendees enjoyed a lunch in the synagogue.
In the evening, Elissa and Jay hosted a dinner dance at the Doubletree Guest Suites in Waltham, yet one more Boston suburb, where many out-of-town guests were staying. Becki had invited some 30 girl friends, plus 3 boys, and in all 100 people enjoyed loud music and great food. Using their family connection to the Almighty, a major snowstorm waited until after midnight, when the party had ended.
The next morning some family members gathered at Jay and Elissa's house for a traditional Sunday brunch while Jay undertook snow clearing outside. Finally, out-of-town guests packed up to leave for home, grateful for a wonderful weekend and for being part of an honored Jewish tradition.
The overall topic of this blog is living alone, so how did I feel about being perhaps the only ongoing unattached adult (plus one of the few gay men) there for the weekend? I have of course experienced that before--anyone in my situation past a certain age surely has. But I have been part of my niece Elissa's life since she was born--we are very close--and I was glad to attend, even single. For years I've had "Uncle Stanley" on my name tag as provided long ago by Elissa and her sister Marcia, and I was glad to attend as Uncle.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Different Generations
It doesn't require the approaching year end to remind me of the passing, hurrying by, of time, but such moments help. Last night I had dinner with my great nephew Jonathan who is already early 30's and a successful businessman and who lives here in New York. He is from my sister's side of the family.
This weekend I'll go to Boston for the bat mitzvah of my great niece Rebecca, who likes to be called Becki and, yes, spells it that way, and who is from my brother's side. She is almost 13, that great moment in a Jewish kid's life when, if a boy, he becomes (theoretically) a man, and if a girl, a woman. Rebecca--I may be the only one who still likes to call her that--is, in the Jewish tradition, named for a deceased relative, my mother, who would have been her great grandmother. I'm very close to Elissa, Rebecca's mother and my niece, the elder daughter of my brother Jerome who died a sad death years ago just at age 38. Elissa was 6 when her father died, her sister Marcia 4. They lived in Stamford, I in New York City, and I've been a strong presence in their lives from that time on.
This sounds a little complex but boils down to my attachment to the next generation, or even one more down. At my age, and single, I value--cherish--these relationships and hope they last and even provide comfort and support as I get older. That may not happen, it may be a vain wish, but maybe not. If you live alone (overall subject of this blog), such closeness could be a great tonic to old age.
I think I'll tell them that!
It doesn't require the approaching year end to remind me of the passing, hurrying by, of time, but such moments help. Last night I had dinner with my great nephew Jonathan who is already early 30's and a successful businessman and who lives here in New York. He is from my sister's side of the family.
This weekend I'll go to Boston for the bat mitzvah of my great niece Rebecca, who likes to be called Becki and, yes, spells it that way, and who is from my brother's side. She is almost 13, that great moment in a Jewish kid's life when, if a boy, he becomes (theoretically) a man, and if a girl, a woman. Rebecca--I may be the only one who still likes to call her that--is, in the Jewish tradition, named for a deceased relative, my mother, who would have been her great grandmother. I'm very close to Elissa, Rebecca's mother and my niece, the elder daughter of my brother Jerome who died a sad death years ago just at age 38. Elissa was 6 when her father died, her sister Marcia 4. They lived in Stamford, I in New York City, and I've been a strong presence in their lives from that time on.
This sounds a little complex but boils down to my attachment to the next generation, or even one more down. At my age, and single, I value--cherish--these relationships and hope they last and even provide comfort and support as I get older. That may not happen, it may be a vain wish, but maybe not. If you live alone (overall subject of this blog), such closeness could be a great tonic to old age.
I think I'll tell them that!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Radio Time
Sunday night (November 29) I had fun debuting as a voice on radio. I was interviewed on blogtalkradio.com (or maybe three words) with the host Brian Sandell who had invited me on his program on that site.
The program is called "Before Bedtime," the hour being past 10 P.M. here in the East. Brian interviews different people in the arts on Sunday night, and he does a good job of combining questions that he peppers his guests with, allowing them then to speak on their own. I shared the program wih another writer, but for about 20 minutes I talked about my book "Living Alone Creatively," and that was plenty of time to say what I wanted to say.
The next day I played back the interview (anyone can, at that site, under "Before Bedtime,") and decided, yes, I definitely have a future in talk radio--if I can get rid of the Texas twang.
The program is called "Before Bedtime," the hour being past 10 P.M. here in the East. Brian interviews different people in the arts on Sunday night, and he does a good job of combining questions that he peppers his guests with, allowing them then to speak on their own. I shared the program wih another writer, but for about 20 minutes I talked about my book "Living Alone Creatively," and that was plenty of time to say what I wanted to say.
The next day I played back the interview (anyone can, at that site, under "Before Bedtime,") and decided, yes, I definitely have a future in talk radio--if I can get rid of the Texas twang.
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