In which I filled my bedroom with tiny kittens
Just as the summer was drawing to a close, and I was looking forward to quietly gliding into fall, I pulled a typical Cari move and upped the degree of daily difficulty. Not a tremendous amount—just enough to add some bumps to that sleepy sweet end to August that I’d hoped for. See, I had the brilliant idea to foster a litter of kittens, and to keep said litter confined to our bedroom, and so... Let’s just say that the circus begins around five in the morning. Lots of galloping and rumbling and tumbling and clawful climbing. It’s all very cute. They are delightful. They are delicious. I am so glad that they’re here, and that we were able to help when the shelter put out an urgent call for foster homes. But, friends, I am a bit sleep-deprived.
(I’d say that it reminds me of when my kids were little, but I wasn’t actually sleep-deprived back then. We co-slept with the babies, and everyone slept well.)
This past Sunday was my birthday, and my husband gave me a set of linen sheets. This morning, one of the kittens peed on those new sheets, which is how I found out that our waterproof mattress cover is no longer waterproof. Those beasts hit me right where it would hurt the most—in the luxury bedding. Though, yes, snuggling a wee ball of fluff and teeth does ease the sting.
Okay, okay...but the shelters are overflowing and the kittens needed a safe place to stay and be socialized for a couple of weeks before they’re old enough to be put up for adoption, and what’s a little bit of cat pee in terms of the greater good? Just a puddle, easily dealt with. It’s fine.
So here we are, somehow, at the very end of summer. (*Insert the usual complaints about the swift passage of time.*) My kids go back to school next week, and my own teaching starts up again in mid-September. I have some returning students in each class, as well as writers who are new to me. It’s an honor when someone wants to work with me again, and a treat to get to see how their novels have developed. And then it’s exciting, too, to meet new writers and their novels at whatever point they’re at with them. I’m eager to get back to work, to read everyone’s pages and talk about craft and help to build a community with them. No matter what kind of a mood I’m in when I start the Zoom meeting for a workshop, I’m reliably in a good one by the time we’re done. It works every time, like magic. A community of writers is a beautiful thing.
(I’ll post links to my fall online classes below, if you’re interested in taking a novel workshop. There are a few spots still open in two of the three classes. The kittens won’t be making an appearance, because they will have moved on by that point, but our own cats, Meatball and Tito, have been known to do a bit of Zoom bombing.)
Speaking of writing communities, will you indulge me in a moment of kvelling? Please check out these recent novels by some of my former students! And watch this space, because I’ve heard from two more students who’ve sold their debut novels.
Everything’s Fine by Cecelia Rabess
A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands by Zephaniah Sole
When I’m not cuddling a tiny kitten or washing sheets or prepping for my fall classes or noodling around with my newest novel in progress, I’ve been reading, of course. Last week I devoured The Messiah by Stockholm by Cynthia Ozick. It is an astonishingly good book, the sort that makes you despair of ever writing anything that good yourself, while also feeling profoundly grateful that Ozick is precisely that good, and that she wrote this book for you to read. I felt the same way about The Puttermesser Papers, also by Ozick. I’d heard of her for years—it’s not like she’s an obscure author—but she never really caught my attention for some reason. I read Antiquities when it came out a couple of years ago and liked it fine, but wasn’t moved by it. And Heir to the Glimmering World sat on my bookshelf unread for at least fifteen years. Then, Puttermesser entered my life earlier this year. I don’t recall what got me to finally pick it up—though maybe it was the golem element—but oof. It blew me away. I’m a big Ozick fan now. I’ll be moving on to Foreign Bodies next. (I did finally read Glimmering World and it was good but not great, so I’m glad I didn’t start and possibly end there.)
I’m currently reading In the Night Café, a novel by Joyce Johnson, and also really loving that. (In my last post I talked about how good Johnson’s memoir Minor Characters was. Check that book out, too.) Johnson’s prose is smart and sharp and engaging, her characters rich, and it’s set in a time in New York that I’m particularly interested in, given my own current project. Given her era and her influences and subject matter, it would be fair to call her a Beat writer, but she doesn’t get caught up in any of the self-conscious style-over-substance that so many of the Beats fell prey to. Her work holds up where others simply don’t. I’m sorry I didn’t discover her sooner.
I guess I’m on a New York Jewish Women Writers of the Silent Generation kick? Is that a thing? Let’s say it’s a thing. Sure. As a Gen X New York Jewish Woman Writer (in exile in Portland), I’m all for it. Who else have I overlooked all these years? Any recommendations?
Upcoming classes!
Come take a workshop with me! Here’s what I’m offering this fall:
The 8-Week Novel Workshop: Revision Techniques for Your Novel is a great fit if you’re looking to revise a novel manuscript in an engaged, supportive group, with guidance and accountability to get you moving through to a revised draft. Limited to 8 students. The class will meet via Zoom on Monday evenings, 5:30 – 7:30pm PT / 8:30 – 10:30pm ET, September 11th - November 13th, 2023.
The 9-Month Novel Intensive is perfect for writers looking to write and workshop as part of a dedicated community for a longer stretch. This class is suitable for those anywhere in the process, from just the spark of an idea for a novel to revising a completed manuscript. The Wednesday class is full, but there are still spots in the Thursday section. The class is limited to 10 students. It meets via Zoom on Thursday evenings, 6:30 – 8:30pm PT / 9:30pm – 11:30pm ET, September 14, 2023 – May 16, 2024