February 21st, 2012

Grub Street News

Welcome to the latest installment of the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene brought to you every Monday (except when we are using former Presidents as an excuse for a holiday) from the Winter Fashion Lookbook featuring flip-flops and tank tops at Grub Street's World Headquarters. As always, if you are receiving this email in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.

Grub's House Is Your House

Want to learn about all the great events and new classes happening at Grub Street in the spring? Want a chance to mingle with fellow members, students, instructors and staff? Over the next few weeks we’ll be holding several open houses at Grub Street and you’re invited to come and enjoy some soda, wine, snacks, and great company. This is also a wonderful opportunity to get recommendations from our staff and instructors about upcoming classes, or to learn more about Grub Street. Whether you’re taking an evening class or not, these open houses will be a fun and relaxing way to start your night. We’ll be holding open houses from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on the following dates, and hope to see you at one of them!

• Monday, February 27th
• Tuesday, March 6th
• Thursday, March 8th
• Wednesday, March 14th

Don't Miss This Inspiring Lecture by Jason Ashlock

Join us on March 13th from 6:30 - 8:30 pm at the Cambridge YMCA Theater for the latest in our Publish it Forward series.   Our friend Jason Ashlock, the brilliant and trailblazing principal of Movable Type Management, will be talking about the changing role of literary agents.  This seminar is a MUST for writers and we're bringing it to you free of charge thanks to the NEA.   Given the rapid changes taking place in publishing, writers now need to ask themselves a host of new questions:  Do I even need an agent?  If so, what should I be looking for in an agent today that might not have been necessary five years ago?  Is it kosher for a literary agency to publish my book?   Are new financial models evolving or is 15% still the norm?   Come get some answers. Reserve your spot today.

Save the Date: Grub Goes...Up!

We're revising our address, and we want you to help us celebrate.

Save the date for the literary party of the year on Friday, March 30th. There'll be celebrity author bartenders, music, literary-themed drinks and appetizers, and word game throwdowns all night long. The fun doesn't wait until sunset, though: we'll also have daytime activities: tea and tours, family friendly activities, etc.

More information will be available on our website in about a week, and tickets will go on sale then as well.

Our Daily Best

• Morgan Frank sends her poem out in the world in a disguise
• Jenna Blum's no memoirist, but she gives great advice about it anyhow
• Kate Flora on the glamorous and not-so-glamorous aspects of being a writer

Cheers,
Whitney, Sonya, Eve, Chris, Rowan and Sean

Muse Spotlights

For the next two months, The Rag will be spotlighting sessions from our annual conference, The Muse and the Marketplace. We hope you’ll be able to enjoy these sessions in person the weekend of May 5th & 6th at the Park Plaza Hotel. For all details, including registration info, go to www.museandthemarketplace.com.

"Muse" Spotlight: We are thrilled that acclaimed author Bharati Mukherjee will be joining Grub Street’s conference for the first time. On Sunday afternoon,  Ms. Mukherjee will be leading a Muse craft session called “The Author-Narrator Two Step”  which takes on the crucial and endlessly complex questions of POV and narrative distance. Participants are encouraged to bring “flash fiction” or an excerpt of a longer story that they have written for workshop discussion. In the meantime, we urge you to (re)-read the work of Bharati Mukherjee, who has written eight novels, most recently Miss New India, Desirable Daughters, and The Tree Bride, two collections of stories, Darkness and The Middleman and other stories; and is the co-author, with her husband Clark Blaise (also a first-time Muse and the Marketplace presenter!), of two books of non-fiction, Days and Nights in Calcutta, and The Sorrow and the Terror: The Haunting Legacy of the Air India Tragedy, and numerous essays on immigration and American culture. She is the first naturalized American citizen to win the National Book Critics' Circle award for best fiction.

Marketplace Spotlight: Again this year, Grub Street will be offering its one-of-a-kind “Non-Fiction Idea Clinic.” In this session, participants will get two minutes to share their idea for a non-fiction book for the audience and a panel of actively acquiring agents and editors. This panel of experts has lots of experience working with non-fiction writers to turn their book proposals into reality. After the writer reads his idea (preferably from a prepared text), the agents and editors will ask  follow-up questions and troubleshoot the idea. Together, the participant, panel and author/moderator/developmental editor Katrin Schumann, will discuss  issues of platform, expertise, and other elements of the non-fiction market. Presenters are chosen at random at the start of the session. This is a fun event that aims to be respectful of writers’ ideas and illuminate the process a writer goes through when s/he is developing an idea with an agent and/or editor. The panel this year includes Asya Muchnick (Executive Editor, Little, Brown), Elizabeth Evans (Agent, Jean V. Naggar Agency), Alan Rinzler (Independent Consultant/Developmental Editor) and Adam Schear (Agent, DeFiore & Co.).

Grub Events

In addition to our ongoing workshops, Grub Street offers numerous writing-related events around town. See our website for a long-term view of all we do.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, February 25th, 10:00am-5:00pm, The Psychology of Strong Characters
In an atmosphere of exploration and support, you will create more compelling characters by revealing their fears, desires, and dreams. We’ll use a series of writing prompts that will challenge our characters to take actions to reveal the white hot core of your story. It’s a tall order, but it’s what all good stories are about.
Instructor: Jacqueline Sheehan
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, February 25th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Building Your Platform
So you’ve been writing some essays or chapters of your memoir, getting feedback on them and being told that if you want to publish them, you have to “build your platform.” In this seminar, you will look at how to do just that: help your work reach a broader audience while raising your author profile. We will look at various publications that accept work from new or emerging writers and how to approach queries and pitch letters. We will also delve into social networking and how to become involved in the conversation and discuss putting these efforts together into a coherent effort at platform building. This seminar is designed for those who are just beginning to build their platform or for those who have started and want to make sure they’re on the right track.
Instructor: Suzanne Cope
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.

Register Now

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, February 25th, 10:30am-5:30pm, Developing the 'I': Perspective & Voice in Memoir
Yes, that’s right, memoir! Perspective is often discussed as an important aspect of fiction, but the truth is it’s just as important in first-person memoir.
Instructor: Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Saturday, February 25th, 9:30am-4:30pm, Historical Fiction (Without All the Extra Buttons)
Historical novels, at their worst, can feel like veritable textbooks, laden with obscure details about fashion trends, hinges, and salted cod. So what’s a writer to do with all the ‘information’ she’s worked so hard to gather? We’ll look at examples of great literary historical fiction, discuss how and why it works, and practice our own hand at flushing out the excess and focusing on what’s really important: the story.
Instructor: Anna Solomon
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.

Register Now

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 26th, 10:30am-5:30pm, Understanding and Developing Your Characters
A literary agent-led workshop focusing on character development, from a marketplace perspective.
Instructor: Sorche Fairbank
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 26th, 9:30am-4:30pm, The Art of the Scene
Scenes play important roles in fiction and nonfiction—an opportunity for the reader to experience the action as it unfolds in the real time of the story and for the writer to dramatize crucial encounters and key moments. But combining numerous narrative elements into a successful scene can be a challenge. This one-day class—an expanded version of the popular seminar—will look at the way scenes work and strategies employed by various authors. We’ll focus on pacing, choreography, tension, details, subtext, and more and practice these with in-class writing exercises designed to inspire and elevate your own writing. There will also be time to workshop a short scene you bring (up to about five pages double spaced) in small groups. Bring 5 copies.
Instructor: Amy Marcott
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.

Register Now

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 26th, 10:00am-5:00pm, Developing Family Members as Characters
In this class, we'll use writing exercises to develop the characters that just happen to be our family members.
Instructor: Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
Sorry, this class is sold out. Please click here to be put on a waiting list.

WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 26th, 10:00am-5:00pm, How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book: Section B
Books often start with a simple yearning to explore new territory: fascinating topics, characters who won’t leave you alone, a good story. But manuscripts get unwieldy, fast. One out of ten writers never finish their manuscripts because most first-time book writers get lost without good structure and planning. Mary Carroll Moore, award-winning author of 13 books in three genres and a PEN/Faulkner nominee, will guide you through a simple and successful book-writing process that can take your book from idea to publication, a process using a three-act structure that eases organization and makes a manuscript vivid and engaging to readers. Find out why Aristotle believed that three acts formed a perfect structure for all stories, why humans lean toward beginning, middle, and end, and why we crave the emotional catharsis of that format in literature too. For all levels of writers working on nonfiction, memoir, or novels, at any stage from seed idea to draft. Learn why strong structuring is the key to selling a book in today's competitive publishing industry.
Instructor: Mary Carroll Moore
$115/$95 members, Grub Street HQ.

Register Now

BOOK CLUB: Sunday, February 26th 12:00pm to 2:00pm, Grub Street Book Club
The Grub Book Club will offer a chance to read and discuss great books with a focus on reading from a writer's perspective. The book club's pick for the month of February is the novel Cloud Cuckoo Land by Grub Street instructor Lisa Borders. On Sunday, February 26th from 12:00pm to 2:00pm the club will discuss Cloud Cuckoo Land for the first hour and will then be joined by author Lisa Borders for a Q&A about her novel.
For more information or to join our book club please contact sean@grubstreet.org.

LUNCHTIME WRITING: Wednesday, February 29th, 12:30-1:15pm, Brown Bag Lunch Series
Do you work downtown and want to fit some writing into your day? Or do you have a schedule that gives you free afternoons instead of evenings? Bring your lunch and come on over to Grub Street for a Brown Bag Writing Workshop – a series recently profiled in the Boston Globe. For 45 minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing with some cool writing exercises. Led by one of our award-winning instructors or ambassadors. Best of all, you’ll leave lunch with some new ideas to ponder for the rest of your day, and beyond. No need to RSVP-- just come!
Instructor: Tom Meek
FREE, Grub Street HQ.

DAYTIME SEMINAR: Friday, March 2nd, 11:00am-2:00pm, The Messy Essay
Don't have time to take Six Weeks, Six Essays? Come to this workshop where we'll tackle the joys and pitfalls of essay writing. The first half of the course will be spent looking at the essay form and dissecting a few essays to see what makes them tick. Next, we'll take a look at our own essay attempts, talk about the challenges that come up when trying to structure the essay, and discuss tools and ideas to help take your work-in-progress or ideas to the next level. Bring an essay you are working on, or just your ideas.
Instructor: Amy Yelin
$65/$50 members, Grub Street HQ.

Register Now

READING SERIES: Friday, March 9th, 7-8pm, Grub Street Reading Series
Do you want a chance to read your work out loud? Join the new Grub Street Reading Series for a fun open mic event and practice the art of reading to an audience. This event is open to the public, and limited to 10 readers. Sign-up begins at 6:30pm. Readings will run from 7:00pm to 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity for any members interested in sharing their work and connecting with other writers. For more information or to join the reading series mailing list, please email sean@grubstreet.org.

LECTURE: Tuesday, March 13th, 6:30-8:30pm, Agents For Today's Author: Jason Allen Ashlock
Since founding Movable Type in the spring of 2009, Jason has been a leading voice for change in the agenting community, advocating for "radical mediation," a more expansive and digitally responsible form of representation and creative management. Jason believes that with greater access to production, distribution and marketing tools, authors are poised to be more successful than ever before--but they are also at greater risk of choosing short-term gratification over long-term success. Jason will speak for 45 minutes about the value of literary agent as radical mediator, and then take questions.
Instructor: Jason Ashlock
FREE, Cambridge YMCA Theater.

Reserve Your Spot Now

Be sure to check out our website for a comprehensive view of upcoming events.

Spreading the Love

Grub Street wants to promote YOU! Please send events for consideration to whitney@grubstreet.org. Bonus points and undying gratitude for submitting your event info in the same format as the events below. Our apologies in advance if we cannot fit you in. Please note that we do the best we can to evaluate requests, and do privilege requests from members, but cannot be held responsible for the quality of these events and programs or the legitimacy of contests. We expect that readers will do their own due diligence before sending their work or their money to any individual or organization.

--PARTY: Sunday, February 26th, 5:30pm, Brattle Film Foundation's Annual Oscar Party
Celebrate the most exciting night in Hollywood and support the Brattle Film Foundation by attending their exclusive Oscar night pre-party, then stay and watch the awards! Complimentary cocktails and appetizers, gift bags, silent auction, and more.
Minimum donation $75. You can RSVP for the Oscar night pre-party on the Brattle website, by calling 617 876-8021, Monday–Friday 11:00 AM–6:00 PM, or emailing rsvp@brattlefilm.org.

--CONTEST: Beacon Street Prize
In honor of Redivider's 10th anniversary, they have established the Beacon Street Prize. Open to both fiction and poetry, the best poem and story will win $500 each and be publicated in issue 10.1 in Fall/Winter 2012. The winning story will be selected by Michael Kimball and the winning poem by Todd Boss. Finalists will be acknowledged in issue 10.1, but will not receive publication or a monetary prize. The entrance fee is $15 and comes with a FREE one-year subscription to Redivider. Each entry should consist of either one story (maximum 8,000 words) or up to three poems. The contest opens on February 15 and will close on May 30. More info at http://www.redividerjournal.org.

--READING: Monday, February 27th, 7:30pm, Finding My Place: One Man's Journey through the Middle Ages
Local writer and NPR commentator Judah Leblang will present his one-man show that tells the true (and often humorous) story of his struggle to fit in among his various tribes: gay men, middle-aged "Boomers," Jews, and Midwesterners who have migrated East. Based on his recent memoir, Finding My Place: One Man's Journey from Cleveland to Boston and Beyond, Judah's story is at once specific and broad enough to encompass the experience of anyone who has felt the hot breath of Father Time breathing down his or her neck. Tickets available at: www.lakeeffectpress.com and at the door.
$10, Arlington Street Church, 351 Boylston St Boston.

--CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Al Blanchard Short Crime Fiction Contest
Don’t miss this opportunity to win $100 in cash, publication in Blood Moon, Level Best Books’ tenth anthology of short crime fiction, admission to the Crime Bake conference in November, and a handsome plaque.  The story should be a crime story by a New England author or with a New England setting for non-New England authors, previously unpublished (in print or electronically, including your website), no more than 5,000 words in length, and may include the following genres: mystery, thriller, suspense, caper, and horror (no torture/killing of children or animals).  There is NO entry fee, a limit of two stories per person, and we will consider stories that have been submitted only once before, provided they have not been previously published. The deadline is midnight, April 30. For details on how to submit, visit the Crime Bake website: www.crimebake.org.  New England authors may also submit the same story to Level Best Books; for details visit www.levelbestbooks.com.