Averil Dean's Blog, page 16

Anti-Rebels

The next real literary “rebels” in this country might well emerge as some weird bunch of anti-rebels, born oglers who dare somehow to back away from ironic watching, who have the childish gall actually to endorse and instantiate single-entendre principles. Who treat of plain old untrendy human troubles and emotions in U.S. life with reverence and conviction. Who eschew self-consciousness and hip fatigue. These anti-rebels would be outdated, of course, before they even started. Dead on the pag...

There

Where do you want to be right now? What do you want to be doing?

Mascots

I’m late writing today because my son has brought home his art projects and I’ve been busy admiring them. I have a small collection of these objects scattered around my writing space: a clay hippo, missing one ear but redeemed by the most adorable toe point of its left hind foot; a corn-husk doll with twine belt and tie; a 3D extravaganza titled The Dancing Mushroom, made with oil pastels and paint; a sock puppet sporting googly eyes and a felt uni-brow, its sticks held upright between the sp...

Pollution

Over the weekend I tried to start writing the new book, but realized almost immediately that something was off. In planning this story, I had reached to include an element that fascinates me but doesn’t belong, is not essential, and will expose one of my biggest flaws as a writer: a lack of imagination. I can’t do world-building. My strengths lie in the dark realms of character: schemes and obsession and polluted headspace, all manner of malicious deceit. There’s no imagination in that for me...

Chana Masala

One trip to the farmers market + one trip to the food co-op = one of our favorite dinners, courtesy of Isa Chandra Moskowitz:

Chana Masala

For the masala spice blend:

1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed or chopped

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

For everything else:

3 tablespoons refined coconut oil

1 large yellow onion, sliced into medium pieces

2 jalap...

Rigor

From The Secret Miracle, Edited by Daniel Alarcon:

How rigorous are you about maintaining a schedule?

Anne Enright: My children dictate my schedule—I have done vast amounts since they were born because they keep me from my desk and make me impatient to get back to it. I don’t count words so much anymore, or note beginnings and endings. I work on several things at once, so there is always a file to open and no such thing as a blank page. I like working. What discipline I have comes from the fact...

An Unethical Category

“People do not really want or desire happiness.”

Do you agree?

Patience

At work yesterday, I helped two patients fill out their intake forms. The first was an elderly man who had walked to our office from the group home down the street. He was beautifully dressed in button-down and fedora, and when we got to the part of the questionnaire that asks about his grip, he took my hand and squeezed it hard and asked whether he still seemed strong to me. His skin had a satiny thinness, slipping over the bones, the fingernails pale and delicate as capiz shells. He told me...

Signs

Pre-writing signs, anyone?

Copy

Yesterday, my editor approved the last of the substantive changes to Blackbird. To which I say, Hell YES! This book is done, baby, done for reals! It’s even got a description for the back cover:

On a bitter January evening, three people are found murdered in the isolated Blackbird hotel.

Best friends since childhood, Eric, Rory and Celia have always been inseparable. Together they’ve coped with broken homes and damaged families, clinging to each other as they’ve navigated their tenuous lives. T...