Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 67

June 12, 2010

Five Stars

Shiva's Arm's first 5 star review here! Thanks, Mrs. Kumar!
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Published on June 12, 2010 05:04

June 11, 2010

Snacktime

"Fusion or not, that sense of place and purpose is captured in the opening scene of Jhumpa Lahiri's best-selling immigrant novel, "The Namesake." In it, a pregnant Indian woman in Boston named Ashima longs for a specific snack from the old country. Lacking the right ingredients, she improvises using Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts to create a rough approximation of bhel puri, a popular Indian street food." (Aruna Jain)

Bhel puri makes a few guest appearances in Shiva's Arms, from the beach ...
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Published on June 11, 2010 18:13

Good News/Bad News

22% off Shiva's Arms today at Amazon. Bad for me, good for you!
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Published on June 11, 2010 05:28

June 10, 2010

Process

I was looking at a list of novels by poets---Jack Kerouac, Kathy Acker, Michael Ondaatje, Randall Jarrell, James Schulyer, Thomas Wolfe, Kenneth Patchen, Djuna Barnes, Henry Green, John Crowley, Tobias Hill, Elizabeth Smart--and started to think about the demands of writing in each genre.

I'd say the planning of a work is similar for both. I start with an image, a phrase, or an idea. I envision the general shape of the beast. How will the story begin and end, or how can I make the sequence of ...
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Published on June 10, 2010 15:48

Shiva

Jennifer Kumar, my first host on the upcoming blog tour, has an interesting POST today about Shiva. Check it out!
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Published on June 10, 2010 09:10

June 9, 2010

Want Chutney with That?

In Shiva's Arms, I often used food to reflect national character--hospitable, generous. No problem for Pritha Mehra, owner of The Mystic Kitchen, who is from a culture that uses every part of every plant, and where a lemon is a staple. This cool but spicy chutney is her recipe.

Cilantro-Mint Chutney

Ingredients:
1/2 large tomato
1/2 large red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 large lemon (2 to 3 tablespoons; optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder, preferably t...
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Published on June 09, 2010 13:52

vein

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Published on June 09, 2010 05:25

June 8, 2010

Awards

This morning, we were talking about doing our own dharma, regardless of recognition. I call awards "doilies" and try to renounce the desire for them. Yes, it's that kind of household.

"What do such awards really mean? 'You're really good'? Possibly. Or, 'Keep working, stupid.' The latter, almost surely. Either way, you need caller I.D." said novelist Richard Russo, winner of the 2002 fiction prize for Empire Falls.

Kind of puts the process in perspective, doesn't it. Or how about this--"The Pu...
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Published on June 08, 2010 10:04

June 7, 2010

Criticism

Robert Burns:"Thou eunuch of language: thou butcher, imbruing thy hands in the bowels of orthography: thou arch-heretic in pronunciation: thou pitch-pipe of affected emphasis: thou carpenter, mortising the awkward joints of jarring sentences: thou squeaking dissonance of cadence: thou pimp of gender: thou scape-gallows from the land of syntax: thou scavenger of mood and tense: thou murderous accoucheur of infant leanings: thou ignis fatuus, misleading the steps of benighted ignorance: thou pi...
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Published on June 07, 2010 05:22

June 6, 2010

Favorite Things

Done with the Sunday crossword? Here's a getting-to-know-you-quiz--

Favorite drink? Mango lassi
Favorite game? Pachesi
Favorite movie? Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Favorite smell? chocolate chip cookies baking
Most played iTunes/iPod song? Diana Krall, From This Moment On
Hero? Dad
What you are reading right now? Sugar Street, by Naguib Mahfouz
Quality you most enjoy in others? a sense of the ridiculous
Favorite literary magazine? Autumn Sky Poetry journal
Recommend a book and say why you liked it. Open S...
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Published on June 06, 2010 04:47