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Sandy McIntosh

Goodreads Author

Born

in Rockville Centre, New York, The United States

Website

http://www.sandymcintosh.info

Genre

Memoir, Poetry, Nonfiction

Influences

P. G. Wodehouse, David Ignatow, H. R. Hays, Phillip Lopate, Ron Padget ...more

Member Since

October 2018

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Sandy McIntosh was born in Rockville Centre, New York, and received a BA from Southampton College, an MFA from Columbia University and a doctorate from the Union Graduate. After working with children for eight years as a writer in the schools he completed a study of writers who taught in the program and how their work with children affected their own writing. The study, The Poets in the Poets-in-the Schools was published by the University of Minnesota. He alternated teaching creative writing at Southampton College and Hofstra University with publishing nonfiction works, such as Firing Back (John Wiley 1997), and computer software, such as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! (Electronic Arts, 1986). He contributes journalism, poetry, and opinion co ...more

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What books are on your summer reading list this year?

Sandy McIntosh I re-read all of Carlos Castaneda after many years, thinking that I'd something more to say about him, after the dust of the years had settled. I disc…moreI re-read all of Carlos Castaneda after many years, thinking that I'd something more to say about him, after the dust of the years had settled. I discovered that, though I'd had several good ideas and insights, going back over my files I discovered that I'd already used them in op-eds and other articles many years ago. Ah, well.(less)

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What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Sandy McIntosh Some years ago, a friend announced that he would like to be a writer. He asked me what would he have to do? I thought about it a little and told him t…moreSome years ago, a friend announced that he would like to be a writer. He asked me what would he have to do? I thought about it a little and told him that he’d have to write something.

“Oh,” he said, fading.

And that was the end of that for him.

If you’ve already decided to write something then I would suggest you make a study—really, a life-long study—of the books in your genre written throughout history. As writers, we are part of the dialogue of books already written. When you read a book you may not be aware that you are evaluating it as part of this ancient dialogue, but you are. The more you read the more you understand what has already been written and what may be left for you to write. Without doing a lot of reading you’re bound to re-invent the wheel, so to speak, which, unless you’ve taken quite an extraordinary angle on it, will get you nowhere in the end.

But whatever you write, you must be genuinely enthusiastic about it, if you’re going to hold another reader’s attention. If you think you’re writing something important but are bored stiff with it, how would you expect a stranger to be excited by it? It doesn’t work like that. You have to be your own best audience. You have to be able to come back to your story or poem or novel and reread it after some time. At that point, if you surprise yourself and think “Hey! This isn’t bad,” then you’ve got somewhere.
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Sandy McIntosh’s books

Average rating: 4.14 · 35 ratings · 8 reviews · 21 distinct works • Similar authors

	237 More Reasons To Have Sex by Sandy McIntosh (Goodreads Author), Sandy McIntosh (Goodreads Author) 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lesser Lights: More Tales from a Hamptons' Apprenticeship 4.13 avg rating — 8 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Escape from the Fat Farm: Poetry and Prose 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Plan B: A Poet's Survivors Manual 4.25 avg rating — 4 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cemetery Chess: Selected and New Poems 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Between Earth and Sky it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2002 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Forty-Nine Guaranteed Ways To Escape Death it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2007	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The After-Death History of My Mother it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ernesta, in the Style of the Flamenco it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Endless Staircase really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Sandy McIntosh…

7 posts
Sandy McIntosh's Blog

House on West 35th Street

I was trying to describe the artistry of Rex Stout, author of the Nero Wolfe detective series to a friend. This is what I came up with:

A woman I'd met had read the thirty-three novels and thirty-nine short stories about Nero Wolfe, the detective, more than once--in fact, again and again--as I had. More than the stories themselves, we agreed, it was their backdrop that drew us to them: the old brow Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 28, 2018 08:22

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Sandy McIntosh wants to read Escape from the Fat Farm: Poetry and Prose by Sandy McIntosh (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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