A few writing/book notes

A few quick notes on writing/book news from friends and colleagues:

Elizabeth Stuckey-French, wife of friend Ned Stuckey-French, has an exciting new novel out called Revenge of the Radioactive Lady. I am trying to get out from under the mountain of reading I have to do (which is not easy for me, because paying work always seems to get in the way) so that I can read this novel, which has been positively reviewed everywhere you can think of, including The New York Times. Could there be a movie in this story’s future?

Clifford Garstang, one of the editors of Prime Number Magazine, is the author of In an Uncharted Country, an award-winning short story collection that I’m currently reading (in-between my occasional hours with Anna Karenina). And friends, I’m impressed.

Laban Carrick Hill’s stunning book, Dave the Potter, illustrated by Bryan Collier and reviewed here in The New York Times, was recently #6 on the Times’ list for Children’s Picture Books.

Kim Dana Kupperman, who was profiled in The New York Times, is receiving a lot of accolades for her essay collection, I Just Lately Started Buying Wings. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys, studies, or writes personal essays, or who simply wants to sample some masterful writing.

Joy Castro, writer and teacher extraordinaire, is one of the writers currently being featured by Platte Valley Review. Joy is currently an associate professor with a joint appointment in English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Joy has a very unique voice — sensitive and poetic, yet uncannily strong and direct, and always, to me, important.

Erika Dreifus is the author of Quiet Americans, a short story collection published by Last Light Studio Books in January 2011. You can read more about the collection here.

Jeanne Veillette Bowerman, an old friend from my childhood years in rural upstate New York, has published an article in Writer’s Digest about how writers can use Twitter to expand their writing network. Read “Confessions of a Tweetaholic” here.

Jina Ortiz, a poet from my alma mater, the Solstice MFA Program in Creative Writing at Pine Manor College, published a poem titled poem “I’m Afroargentina” in the summer 2010 issue of Kweli Journal.

In other news, Faye Snider, another Solstice alum who writes both creative nonfiction and poetry, will be teaching a winter/spring semester course, “The Importance of Place in Creative Writing,” at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis University.

Congratulations to my friends and colleagues — and friends and readers, consider checking out their work. Supporting each other is a great thing to do.