On Writing in the First Person

“When you first start writing stories in the first person if the stories are made so real that people believe them, the people reading them nearly always think the stories really happened to you. That is natural because while you were making them up you had to make them happen to the person who was telling them. If you do this successfully enough, you make the person who is reading them believe that the things happened to him too. If you can do this you are beginning to get what you are trying for, which is to make something that will become a part of the reader’s experience and a part of his memory. There must be things that he did not notice when he read the story or the novel which, without his knowing it, enter into his memory and experience so that they are a part of his life. This is not easy to do.”

~~ from A Moveable Feast (The Restored Edition) by Ernest Hemingway

no matter what Scott did

“When I had finished the book I knew that no matter what Scott did, nor how he behaved, I must know it was like a sickness and be of any help I could to him and try to be a good friend. He had many good, good friends, more than anyone I knew. But I enlisted as one more, whether I could be of any use to him or not. If he could write a book as fine as The Great Gatsby I was sure that he could write an even better one. I did not know Zelda yet, and so I did not know the terrible odds that were against him. But we were to find them out soon enough.”

~~ from A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

In Paris, then. . .

"In Paris, then, you could live very well on almost nothing and by skipping meals occasionally and never buying any new clothes, you could save and have luxuries."

~~ from A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

we can't stop

What most people don’t realize about writers is that we can’t stop.

— Steve Edwards (@The_Big_Quiet) April 11, 2019

on dumpster diving

This recent New York Times article on dumpster diving in San Francisco reminds me of Lars Eighner's classic on the topic.

Isabel Allende On Chilean Pessimism

"Among us Chileans, pessimism is considered good form; it is assumed that only idiots go around happy." ~~ Isabel Allende
My Invented Country#FridayReads

— Alex Kudera (@kudera) April 5, 2019

Isabel Allende on Writing

“Writing, when all is said and done, is an attempt to understand one's own circumstance and to clarify the confusion of existence, including insecurities that do not torment normal people, only chronic nonconformists, many of whom end up as writers after having failed in other undertakings.”

 ~~ from My Invented Country: A Nostalgic Journey Through Chile by Isabel Allende

more positive vibrations from Gabino the transnational success (at least on twitter)

Yesterday I emailed my French publisher, read some submissions, received news of a contract, and emailed someone about translation rights in another country. I felt like a fucking pro. Keep checking those emails, fellow writers, because the email you're waiting for will come.

— Gabino Iglesias (@Gabino_Iglesias) April 3, 2019

According to Allende, Cholesterol in Chile

"I never heard the word cholesterol mentioned. My parents, who are over eighty, consume ninety eggs, a quart of cream, a pound of butter, and four pounds of cheese per week. They're healthy and lively as little kids."

~~ from My Invented Country by Isabel Allende

Kundera's birthday, not mine

I'm very grateful to honor Kundera's 90th birthday by appearing as Kundera in several online locations. Happy birthday, Milan!