Spinsters Ink author news

Just a quick link to the great new page at my publisher's blog.

To those of you snowed in across North America, I wish you many good books to read!

A story for you

Dear Readers,

Because it's December, I have posted a story at my Web site, free to read. It's my favorite story, "The Fear of God," and was previously available only in the Canadian journal QWERTY (like the keyboard).

Simply visit jeknowles.com and, in the left column, click on "The Fear of God."

I wish you happy reading.

The pleasure of writing

Today, I am grateful for writing and all that it gives me. Of course, I mean all the work that has gone into books I love, as well as my own writing. Anyone who complains about what hard work writing is is missing the point of being a writer, I think.

Losing oneself in a story, becoming excited about a character, coming up with ideas and dialogue seemingly without conscious planning--this is what it is all about. I know how blessed I am to have this pleasure, as it is by no means guaranteed to each of us that we will find it. So many people hate their work, complain about what they do each day, and never seem to experience the purposeful activity that writing is for me.

I consider myself lucky because every job I do is a way of supporting my writing habit; every place I have lived has been a place to pursue writing. I have this constant in my life. For some people, their constant purpose is the job that pays their mortgage, or the hobby that fills their weekends. For me it is writing.

Thank you for sharing it with me.

Cancer cuts a swath

...of death and destruction through so many of our families. On Sunday, 3 October, I'll be running my first 10K (!) on behalf of Cancer Research UK. Please join me in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace, or on my fundraising page--thank you!

Meet and greet in London

Author Claire Rooney and I will meet and greet readers in London (England) on Saturday, the 14th of August, starting at 3:00pm at Gay's the Word. When the bookshop gets too crowded (!), we'll head down Marchmont Street to check out a new gay bar, The New Bloomsbury Set.

Gay's the Word
66 Marchmont Street
LondonWC1N 1AB
2 minutes walk from Russell Square Tube Station and 10 minutes from either Euston or King's Cross.
http://freespace.virgin.net/gays.theword/index.htm

The New Bloomsbury Set
76b Marchmont Street
Bloomsbury
LondonWC1N 1AG
(020) 7383 3084
thebar@newbloomsburyset.co.uk
http://www.newbloomsburyset.co.uk/

New story

Please enjoy a free download of Read These Lips, which includes my story "Orange Crush." "See the world unfolding through young eyes":

http://readtheselips.com

Denouement: In praise of the audience

The Lambda Literary Foundation co-sponsored Bi Lines III the night after the awards ceremony. I was scheduled to read last. This fulfilled the other dream of an American writer: to give a reading in Greenwich Village, in a room resembling a church basement, complete with piano.

(The droll expression indicates the voice of Edith, Arusha's hero.)

My lasting impression of that evening: The audience was absolutely fantastic. They did everything right, thereby overcoming any challenges we may have had, starting with the acoustics. Here are the things these wonderful men and women did, that I try to do and recommend everybody at readings should do:

1. They filled the seats. Granted, this is not something any individual audience member can control. But a room full of people is halfway to a successful reading no matter what else happens.

2. They listened. It wasn't always easy (see above). But the people in this room seemed to be there out of genuine interest. They could have been driving somewhere for the Memorial Day weekend, or in the bar with their friends, but they spent their Friday night at a reading instead. Cool.

3. They applauded every writer, musician, and photographer.

4. If they were there as friends of one performer, they did not leave when their friend's time was up. They stayed to The Bitter End (as one of the old folk clubs in the area was called). In other words, to hear me, who knew almost no one in the room.

5. Afterwards, they talked to us, asked questions, expressed interest in our books. I would not have blamed them if they had been ready to go home!

Audience, and readers everywhere: thank you. Whether or not you are writers also, readers are the reason we write. The folks at Bi Lines III truly impressed me by showing what my old band director always exhorted us to show: class. An old-fashioned concept, I know--like courtesy and reading from the printed page. Thanks a lot.

Signing books with Bobbie Geary (far left), Audrey Beth Stein (third from right), and Herukhuti (far right).

Photography: Efrain Gonzalez