Author: Siel

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Cake Time interview in Muse

Riverside City College has its own print annual literary journal called Muse, and the Spring 2018 issue features an interview with me about Cake Time and the writing life. Here’s an excerpt:

Q: You run a blog where you interview authors each month and do book giveaways. What is the most important piece of advice you would give someone who is looking to start a similar, literary-based blog? How do you offset the hidden costs involved in this work?

A: I would say start small, and be consistent. A daily blog is great in theory, but for most people, that’ll make them lose steam in a week —

Also, I wouldn’t expect to offset the hidden costs — I would just expect to pay them out of pocket. So if you’re limited in funds, use free resources as much as possible. You can grow from there when you’re feeling more flush.

Read the whole thing by picking up a copy at Cellar Door Books in Riverside, Calif., or by emailing muse@rcc.edu.

And thanks to RCC professors James Ducat and Jo Scott-Coe for inviting me to the campus for a reading and arranging for this interview — and to all the great RCC students I got to meet, both in person and through words. Here’s a video featuring the Spring 2018 RCC student staff members!

Earlier: 15 Literary journals for Los Angeles writers

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Catalina by Liska Jacobs — June 2018 giveaway

*** Winner selected! Congratulations to Jane in Beverly Hills, Calif.! ***

You know those times when you feel like you’ve totally fucked your life up — so you may as well fuck it up more? Give in to that impulse vicariously by reading Catalina.

Catalina stars Elsa, a thirty-something woman who leaves SoCal for NYC, has an affair with her boss at MoMA, and gets “downsized.” To recover from all that, she decides to return to LA for a weekend trip to Catalina with college friends — a group that includes her ex husband, his new girlfriend, a predatory and entitled rich guy, and some other problematic personalities. Throw a bunch of booze, pills, and random hook-ups into the mix and things get really dramatic and stressful on this vacation —

I’m giving away a copy of Catalina to one of my readers! All current email subscribers will be automatically entered to win the copy. Subscribe now if you’re not yet getting my occasional newsletters.

For a second chance to win, comment on this post below, recommending your favorite California getaway spot. The giveaway closes June 30, 2018 at 11:59 pm PST. US addresses only.

Come back mid-month to read an interview with Liska Jacobs.

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I tried Croissant. It was like Classpass for coworking — with free donuts

I have a fantasy about joining a coworking space. In this fantasy, I suddenly become a super-prolific fiction writer of the Joyce Carol Oates variety. This is because I’m no longer wasting precious minutes waiting for slow wifi or looking for a place to plug in my laptop or rationalizing why I really deserve a chocolate croissant.

Which is to say — I waste a lot of time when I work at coffee shops. Despite that, I’ve been reluctant to join a coworking space. My feeling is that if I’m going to go to the same place over and over again to write, I may as well just write at the same old place called home.

Enter Croissant. This tasty-sounding app is basically like Classpass for coworking. Buy a monthly membership, and you can go to any of eight coworking spaces in the L.A. area — all with their own unique amenities and features.

So — I downloaded the app and headed over to The Satellite, a coworking space in Santa Monica. I signed in with the app, got a quick tour from the friendly front desk person, and staked out one of the last spots in the sunny space. Then I got down to work.

Was I productive? Well, I was about as productive as I usually am when I visit a new coffee shop. The Satellite offers complimentary tea and coffee and wasabi peas — which I had to try. Then I got a call and went to the little front nook designated for people on the phone — and hung out there a while talking about Croissant. Then some random person just brought in a free box of donuts — all different and unique flavors — so I ate a donut. On went the afternoon —

I did get some writing done, in the end — and I enjoyed the experience of trying out a new work spot. Also, the donut.

I’m guessing Croissant will add more spots over time, but right now, the app’s especially useful if you live or like to work in downtown L.A., since there are three locations in that neighborhood. The Satellite in Santa Monica and LAX Coworking in Westchester are the only Croissant spots on the westside. Glendale, Chatsworth, and Pasadena each have one participating location.

Curious about Croissant? You can try it out free for a week right now. And monthly memberships — which start at $35 for 10 hours — are a pretty sweet deal, as far as coworking fees go. Happy writing —

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Chloe Caldwell on indie presses, DIY book tours, and pseudonyms

Every month, I interview an author I admire on her literary firsts.

Give your friends pseudonyms. That’s one piece of simple, concrete, and practical advice Chloe Caldwell gives to budding personal essay writers.

It makes sense, given the intimacy and detail of Chloe’s poignant and hilarious work. I love her collection I’ll Tell You in Person — and got to pick her brain this month about essay writing, teaching, working with indie presses, and a lot more.

Read on for more great essay writing advice —

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Siel: You teach writing workshops with Catapult and other organizations. What advice do you give students who are brand new to personal essay writing?

Chloe: Take your time. Personal essays grow and evolve the longer you sit with them. The time before you publish your work is sacred—enjoy it. Give your friends pseudonyms, and always write with love and compassion, for yourself and those you write about.

Do you find that teaching writing affects your own writing in any way?

I know it affects the way I read books now—looking for things I would edit or advise on, how I would critique the piece if it were workshopped in my class. As for writing, I wish I took more of my own advice that I dish out to students, and I also wish I had the balls to attempt the (sometimes) challenging writing prompts I give my students.

Elizabeth Ellen‘s small indie press Short Flight / Long Drive Books, published your first two books — then this latest collection came out from Emily Books, an imprint of Coffee House Press — which is a bigger indie press. How were the two experiences similar and different? And is your decision to publish with indie presses a deliberate one?

Indie presses were one of my first loves when I started reading and writing nonfiction. I loved finding unique and obscure books; it was inspiring to see other women writers publishing work about their lives. SF/LD and Coffee House were both incredible to work with—I got to have say on the titles, the covers, the publicity outreach. With SF/LD, Elizabeth Ellen (the editor & publisher there), would do DIY book tours—she’d rent a van and we’d tour around with other women writers, which was an incredible experience. I’m sure I will continue to publish with indie publishers as long as I’m writing.

If you had the whole first book experience to do over again, is there anything you’d do differently?

No way! I think my life has played out exactly as it should, and if I changed one thing, I might not be where I am today, and I’m really loving my life lately.

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Enter to win a copy of Chloe Caldwell’s  I’ll Tell You in Person by signing up for my newsletter. Already joined up? Then you’re already entered. Good luck!

Photo by Anna Ty Bergman

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I’ll Tell You In Person by Chloe Caldwell — May 2018 giveaway

*** Winner selected! Congratulations to Janis in Columbus, OH! ***

What happens when you write a book of personal essays? A lot, apparently, according to Chloe Caldwell, who writes this about her first essay collection, Legs Get Led Astray: “I sometimes wonder what would have happened had I not published that essay collection, because almost all of my best friends, and everyone I’ve slept with since then, I met through that book.”

I haven’t read that book yet, but I read the above quote in Chloe’s most recent essay collection, I’ll Tell You In Person, which I loved. These essays are intimate and freewheeling and hilarious stories that run the gamut, from going to the homes of random craigslist guys who’ve agreed to buy her steak to snorting heroin to try and cope with really bad cystic acne.

It’s a book that kind of makes me want to try writing personal essays — except I still don’t get why you wouldn’t just meet the guys who’ve agreed to buy you steak at a steakhouse, which makes me think maybe I have too pragmatic a brain to write crazy essay collections like this one.

But I can’t wait to read the rest of Chloe’s books.

I’m giving away  a copy of  I’ll Tell You In Person to one of my readers! All current email subscribers will be automatically entered to win the copy. Subscribe now if you’re not yet getting my occasional newsletters.

For a second chance to win, comment on this post below, recommending a nonfiction book you like. The giveaway closes May 31, 2018 at 11:59 pm PST. US addresses only.

Come back mid-month to read an interview with Chloe Caldwell.

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Come say hi at the LA Times Festival of Books 4/21!

The LA Times Festival of Books happens this weekend — and I’d love to see you at a couple events on Saturday, April 21 —

First, a signing: I’ll be at the Red Hen Press Booth (Booth #182 by the Poetry Stage) from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm signing copies of Cake Time!

Then, the reading: I’ll be at the Smoking Hot Indie Lit Lounge (Booth #377) from 3 pm to 4:30 pm for a reading by USC PhD in Literature and Creative writing people. It’ll be me, Diana Arterian, Doug Manuel, Catherine Theis, and Liz Johnson reading from our newish publications.

Hope to see you at one or both events!