Stuart Rojstaczer's Blog, page 18
July 25, 2013
Pascha, the African grey
Novels are works of imagination and I tend to hate novels where there is a heavy emphasis on details accumulated through pre-novel writing research. Where’s the magic in that? But if you have a parrot in a novel, I figure you ought to study parrots. I do have a parrot in The Mathematician’s Shiva, Pascha. This is who Pascha is based on personality-wise. Her name is Obi and she lives in Portola Valley, CA. Her owners are delightful people who are very affectionate with their birds. Now tell me true, isn’t she gorgeous?
July 17, 2013
Novel edits have arrived
Time to conjure up my narrator, bring back the Slavic accent, remember all those feisty, acerbic, maniacally energetic people of my childhood, and go into character for the next three weeks. I kind of missed him.
June 27, 2013
First act of opera sent off
To Vox Contemporary Opera Lab. If all goes well, I’ll get to hear it performed live in NYC next January. Now that would be a thrill.
June 11, 2013
I get the novel edits July 17th
Just in time for my birthday, lucky me. Probably a slimmer and toned Math Shiva. Like it’s been going to the gym every day. Which reminds me….
June 2, 2013
Annual Father’s Day movie review compendium
Seven years worth of me watching mostly obscure movies can be found as a downloadable pdf here. Ignore the typos, but don’t ignore the opinions. Don’t have a gift for your dad for Father’s Day, yet? Give him this instead. It’s free!
May 24, 2013
Short story, The Muskie, published
By Moment Magazine today. It was a finalist in the annual Moment Magazine Karma Foundation Short Jewish Fiction contest. If all goes as planned it will end up, in a slightly different form, as a chapter in the book that will follow my novel out in 2014. Story can be found here.
May 22, 2013
Novel is sold
It will be published by Penguin Press, Fall 2014. Title so far is The Mathematician’s Shiva.
What’s it about? A genius, educated in Soviet Russia and living in Madison, Wisconsin, dies. Her family and a group of emigre mathematicians who idolize her descend upon her funeral and stay for her shiva. The result is delightful chaos.
May 20, 2013
Novel is sold
To Penguin Press. The title as of now is The Mathematician’s Shiva. What’s it about? A genius, educated in Soviet Russia and living in Madison, Wisconsin, dies. Her family and a group of emigre mathematicians who idolize her descend upon her funeral and stay for her shiva. The result is delightful chaos. There’s math, Yiddish, Polish, Russian and Hebrew. I decided to be nice and include some English as well. It will be published sometime in the fall of 2014.
