4/27-5/3: Monday Book Club is BACK
Book Buds: I hope you had a lovely weekend. Saturday’s Gen writing was a total blast. Thanks so much for coming.
First Announcement: I’m moving book club back to Mondays! So this means our next one will be June 15th not the 16th. On the 15th, however, I’m on the hunt for a Gen Writing sub so that I can attend Heather Abel’s book launch at the Odyssey Bookshop. Are you interested in subbing? Send me an email if so. Are you interested in coming to see Heather with me? Let me know, and register using this link (it’s free!)
For this one we’re reading Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:
Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka's ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She's found her final candidate.But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan's kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul's worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.
I think it sounds rad and hope you read it.
Second Announcement: Some of you might remember that I used to offer a free session to Gen Writing for anyone who wants to check out Book Buddies, but I’m not going to do that anymore. Instead I’m opening up Gen Writing for anyone to drop into a single session for $20. If you know anyone who you think would like it and would maybe wanna try, let them know! Here’s the link to register: https://www.katesenecal.com/store/p/book-buddies-gen-writing-single-session-drop-in
Feedback Group Submission Schedules!
IRL Group Wednesdays @ beautyland 6:30-8:30: The next meeting is April 29 and Aimee and Rich will have the floor. Rich’s pages are already in. The following meeting is May 13 and Genna and Johanna will have floor time.
Noon Crew Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: The next meeting is April 30 and Ezra has the floor. His pages are already in. The following meeting May 14 and Sara will have the floor.
Weirdlings Wednesdays 12pm - 1:30: We meet again on April 29 and Elizabeth will have the floor. She’s sent an outline and plenty of stuff for us to gab about. The next meeting is May 13 and Dana is up.
Kool Kids Thursdays at 7pm - 8:30: Our next meeting is is May 7. Kristin and Hilary have floor time with pages due May 3.
OG Crew Thursdays at 7:30pm - 9: The next meeting is on April 30th! Tom’s got the floor with a longer than normal submission already in your inboxes. The following meeting is May 14. Malavika and Maia will have floor timewith pages due on May 7.
Saturday besties 12:30pm - 2: The next meeting is May 9 and Helen and Nora have the floor. Pages due on May 2.
Book Buddies Bulletin Board :)
Got an announcement? Wanna share a publication with the wider BB community? Are you looking for a beta reader or some other kind of lowkey support from each other? Email me and I’ll include your announcements and requests here!
Genna Sarnak has a new poem in Scapegoat Review! You can read it here. She also has a poem in Faoilenach Journal: https://www.faoileanachjournal.com/. She’s also got another poem out via Scapegoat Review. You can read it here. AND she has another poem in PHIL LIT journal which you can read here.
Gen writing Prompt for this week:
This week we’re working from a book I use sometimes call “Now Write!” which a compilation of prompts and process advice from a bunch of different writers. Some gems in there, for sure, but I’m not sure it’s worth buying TBH. But this one I like a lot! Here it is:
Using Seed Ideas & Fragments
From Now Write! (contributed by David Michael Kaplan)
Stories, poems, essays, novels all begin with “seed ideas”: An image, idea, or experience, however small, which gets your imaginative juices going enough to make you want to develop it into a more fully fleshed-out piece. This is an exercise which illustrates a technique to help you get to that piece or story.
First, jot down three “seed ideas” - things you’ve overheard, seen, been told, have happened to you, whatever - which you feel could be the starting point for a character or a conflict in a story, poem, or essay. These should be brief - a phrase or a sentence is often enough - and specific and concrete - not vague or abstract. Not, “a man in a moral quandary,” or “a woman pines for lost love.” It’s hard to get imaginatively involved in either of those. For today, focus on what you can pull from over the last few weeks, or even today. They can be fictional, fantastic, or observational and true to your life. Some examples:
- A woman on a cell phone says, “There’s nothing anyone can do now. It’s over..”
- A man in quarantine angrily begins a garden as a way of coping with isolation.
- A woman overcomes her fear of getting stung to let a wasp out of her window.
- A woman goes to war with the chipmunks in her yard.
- A couple wakes up to find all the water in their pond gone overnight.
Now, choose the one you like the most out of these seed ideas, and spend 10 minutes developing it, writing in whatever direction feels right. If writing fiction at the very least, try to indicate who the main character or characters are, where and when it’s taking place, what the conflict(s) might be, and maybe a bit of what happens. If writing poetry, try doing a free association/stream of consciousness exercise where you just say yes to whatever thought comes in response to the seed idea and write it til you tap out. If writing nonfiction, think about what interested you about the seed idea and use that as a jumping off point.
2. Let’s use description as a springboard. Imagine a room or an object that has deep sentimental value for you, and begin by describing that room or object using the five senses to generate as much detail as possible. This should naturally invite you to ruminate about the emotional resonance of the room or object, and you should just let those things come in and color the narrative. Let this be a starting point for a poem, or a place where something dramatic happens in a fictional story or creative nonfiction essay. If working with an object, think about from where the object came. Was it a gift? Was it stolen? Is the origin unknown? See if that gets your motor going!
3. Try imagining a conversation to get things started. This could be one that happened in real life, or a fictional one. You can try working with this one: This scene can have many meanings, depending on how the characters speak the lines, the gestures, the setting, and the added “padding” between the lines of dialogue.
A: “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
B: “No.”
A: “I can’t hear you. What did you say?”
B: “I don’t want to tell you anything.”
A: “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
B: “I’m fine.”
C: “Hurry! It’s starting!”
You’re the best around. See you all sometime this week or next!
Your bestie —
Kate
