The new Spring 2013 issue of Kartika Review is live! As the Fiction Editor, I’m particularly proud of the pieces by Wah-Ming Chang, Kaitlin Solimine, Anu Kandikuppa, and Sharon Hashimoto–though I’d like to also give a wink to my friend Jackson Bliss whose work is featured in the Creative Nonfiction section. And don’t miss our interview with the amazing Monique Truong.
Filed under Fiction Editor, literary magazines, Publishing, Reading
(Spring is making an appearance in Berkeley).
I’ve a few pieces out in the world in recent days.
Hope you like and enjoy them.
Filed under Publishing, Reading, Writing
I’m giving away a signed copy of Peter Tieryas Liu’s short story collection WATERING HEAVEN.
Watering Heaven is available for purchase now–and I’m proud to say one of the selections, “Searching for Normalcy” was one we published at Kartika Review for our Spring 2010 issue. One thing I love about Peter’s writing is that it is quirky without being precious and self-conscious. And thus, so enjoyable.
The copy I’m giving away is a brand new softcover book signed by Peter Tieryas Liu.
As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book’s first story “Chronology of an Egg,” because for me one of the biggest deciding factors in choosing to read a book are the opening lines. In the end, no one can tell you which book to like–that’s between you and the book.
Opening lines of the story collection:
“March 6: I first met Sarah Chao in Beijing over tequila shots after a game conference. I tell her I think she’s beautiful and she tells me she has an unusual genetic quirk that scares off most men.
‘Every time I have sex, I lay an egg.’
I assume she’s joking, get her email address. She’ll be coming out to the States in a few months and and we agree to hang out then.”
Interested?
Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or share a little anecdote from your travels in the world (there is a lot of traveling in this book). Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (please tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.
The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Monday November 26, 2012 12:00pm PST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced here on this blog post on or before Tuesday November 27, 2012 9:00pm PST.
GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of Watering Heaven soon!
UPDATE:
There were 15 entries in the giveaway…
Thanks for all of you who RT’d the giveaway! And helped publicize it.
I had the Random Number Generator pick a number from 1 to 15…
And then, I pushed the button.
Which then produced the corresponding winning number (you each had a corresponding number in the order you either entered a comment or tweeted the giveaway)…
The winner is #7, Jamie Martin, whose extra tweeting entry nabbed her the book!
Who says 7 isn’t a lucky number?
Jamie: I’ll be contacting you for your snail mail address shortly. I hope everyone else finds their way to a copy of WATERING HEAVEN soon! Thank you all for participating.
Filed under Giveaway
I buy a greater number of books on my Kindle, but READ a larger percentage of purchased hardcopy books.
In terms of concrete numbers:
2012: 58 e-books purchased (11 read)
2011: 49 e-books purchased (10 read)
In contrast, I bought about 10 hardcopy books each year (not counting cookbooks), and read almost all of them.
My book buying habits bode well for the book industry if indeed they reflect a larger trend–buying an e-book can be done at any time of day, with nearly-instant gratification. When I was reading the Fifty Shades of Grey and Hunger Games trilogies, I found myself buying and downloading the successive books at three o’clock in the morning. And then barreling forward with my reading.
Or if I hear about a good book during conversation or while reading an author interview. Bam. Downloaded again.
So when is it that I buy a hardcopy? When the book isn’t available as an e-book (like Octavia Butler or many of Chuck Palahniuk’s books). Or as a collectible. When the writer is a friend. Or I want the book signed. I will also buy both an e-book and hardcover copy of a book if I want the book accessible to me while traveling and/or the hardcover gets signed and it becomes precious (e.g., when Toni Morrison signed my hardcover copy of Home).
Maybe the books I buy in hardcopy are the reason I read more hardcopy books, you think. That they’re my friends’ books. Or an author whose writing I’m already familiar and already love.
But inevitably for me, it’s the tactile sensation of reading. Turning an actual page. Hearing the page turn.
The Kindle has its various attractions for me–the aforementinoed instant gratification, and the fact that I can carry an entire library with me on a plane.
I have friends who say they read more on Kindle (and anecdotally, I’ve found these friends are mostly software engineers (including my husband) who might be more attuned to reading a screen)–but for the most part my social network says they too read more hard copy books.
Do you buy more books on Kindle/as e-books? Or as hardcopy books? Why? And which format do you find more readable?
Filed under Reading
I’m giving away a copy of my friend Tim Elhajj’s debut memoir Dopefiend. It is, as the title suggests, a drug recovery memoir, but with the added theme of of Elhajj’s relationship with his son. (And Scarlet the Wiener Dog as you can see above, is thoroughly engrossed. She just wishes she had opposable thumbs so she could hold the book herself).
I first got to know Tim Elhajj after reading his essay in the NYTimes’ Modern Love column. I googled him. Came across his blog…And then of course, we became blog friends.
Dopefiend is available now…and I’m giving away a free hard copy of the book, along with a bookmark and postcard inserts, gifted to you personally by Elhajj, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Guernica, and Brevity.
As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book, because I think readers deserve the opening lines.
Opening lines of the novel:
“After getting booted from high school three times, I joined the military. Three years into my enlistment, the Navy cut me loose. I moved back to Pennsylvania and got married, but soon after our first child was born, my wife split, taking our baby boy with her.
I was a twenty-four-year-old cyclone of poor decisions.
In time, I landed in county jail. At least nobody gets thrown out of jail. Drug treatment followed, but even that didn’t work: I went to recovery meetings high. One night a woman named Wendy R pulled me aside and hissed: “You are going to die!”
I told her the obvious, ‘We’re all going to die, Wendy.’”
Interested?
Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or share an anecdote in which you overcame great odds, or a time you signed up for something about which you later changed your mind. Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (please include/tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.
The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Monday July 30, 2012 12:00pm PST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced Tuesday July 31, 2012 by 9:00pm PST.
GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of Dopefiend soon!
UPDATE: Winner of the giveaway!
There were 13 entries in the order received–two of you tweeted the giveaway, so two of you got an extra entry. Each of you had a corresponding number as follows…
If you entered into the drawing, remember your number/s!
I used a random number generator to determine the winning number.
And *drum roll*
*drum roll*
*drum roll*
The winner is number 12!
Aka Hope Rohde, whose entry reads:
“Tim and I went to the same small high school in the same small town. I’d love to have his book not because I’ve dealt with addiction but because I work for Children & Youth and come into contact with so many youth with addictions. What a testament this book would be for local children to see how a local man overcame and became someone’s hero. Bravo Tim and blessings to you.”
Thank you, Hope (if I don’t hear from you, I’ll be emailing you for a way to contact you). Thank you *everyone* for your interest and support. I hope all of you find your way to a copy of Dopefiend soon!
Filed under Giveaway
It took three tries, as expected, for him to return my call.
“Hello, this is a message for Rabbi F. My name is Christine, and I want to convert to Judaism, and study with you. I would like to discuss next steps. Thank you.” I was nervous and overeager.
If I’d known better at the time, I might have, among other things, winced when saying my name, Christine, the most Christian (i.e., non-Jewish) name out there. I certainly winced for the next several years when introducing myself at shul. And sometimes the congregants would also wince and add, “Do you have a Jewish name, dear?” No, I did not. You don’t have one until you finish your conversion.
I called two more times.
After the third message, Rabbi F invited me to meet with him at the synagogue. I sat outside on the steps, intimidated by the doors of the synagogue. I couldn’t bring myself to knock on those huge wooden doors, or to open them. Eventually the rabbi came out looking for me. He wore black slacks and a white short sleeved shirt. He had a large white beard and wore eyeglasses and a kipa. “There you are,” he said, and introduced himself. His voice, the tempo of which was of someone who chose his words carefully, was higher than I’d expected. He did not put out his hand to shake. This was an Orthodox rabbi, and touch between men and women is forbidden. That much I knew. Thank goodness.
He led me inside. It was an old building, and his office was a small room off of the main room, steps from the wooden bimah. The three walls without a window in the office were covered floor to ceiling with books. The window faced north, so that the office was covered in the cold blue northern light I love.
I’d just graduated from college, and the bookshelves were familiar to me, even if the synagogue was not; I’d sat in offices like this before in Wheeler and Dwinelle Hall, during office hours with professors. Throughout my five years studying with Rabbi F, he would often stand up and pull a book off those shelves to seek answers.
He expected me to ask questions. This was a major paradigm shift for me. I was coming from a culture in which learning occurred by passive listening and memorizing what I was told. In which authority should not be questioned.
What do you mean? I asked. I was scared. Intimidated.
He replied by asking me a question. He asked how I expected to learn if I didn’t have any questions. He also said that by coming with my own questions each week, I would direct my own learning.
It made sense.
So each week, I came up with questions. I felt self-conscious coming up with questions, and even more so when I dared ask them. But I was rewarded; these questions would lead to lengthy and enriching discussions with the rabbi. And over the next few months and years, the questions begat more questions, and I began to feel more at ease with my curiosity. I became an actively curious person.
Years later, when I started teaching freshman comp, I remembered going through this paradigm shift. And I channeled the rabbi and shared the above anecdote, in hopes that my students would take the leap, dare to ask questions, and become more active learners.
And when I came across challenges, Rabbi F’s advice was always three dimensional, sometimes quite literally so. When it came time to consider meeting the Beit Din, he told me something that sticks to this day. “Identity is not just one thing: it is comprised of legal identity, community identity, and self identity. The Beit Din will approve your legal identity, the community, which includes your family, will define your social identity as a Jew, and last you have your self identity as a Jew. If you self identify as a Jew, that is the most important of all.”
Rabbi F changed my life in so many positive ways. He was my guide into Judaism (a world that did not always welcome me with open arms–and a world in which I often stumbled, like the time I saw a salmon fish cake and before I could think asked, “Is that a crab cake?” I had already hung my head by the time the cook uttered a disdainful “No.”), and I will be forever grateful to him for his wisdom and kindness. In so many ways (maybe all ways) my conversion process was a major paradigm shift–not the least of which was turning me into a more active student. I am a bolder, more curious, and more confident woman today having studied with Rabbi F. And perhaps I would not have become a writer if had not unearthed an adventurous and curious self.
*****
Joining Heather’s Abecedary, Fog City Writer, and other writers like Susan Ito in working through the alphabet with short, memoir-like pieces. Except I’m going to go in reverse, beginning with “Z.” It’s called Alphabet: A History.
Filed under Alphabet: A History, Life, Memes, Reading, The Personal
In other news, I am was so exhausted last week. I normally do not get jetlag when I fly between San Francisco and New York City, partly because I fly so often, and partly because a three hour time shift doesn’t kill me. But this time, I had the additional complication of a new addiction; reading the first damn romance novel I’ve ever picked up. Ergo, my exhaustion is was amplified times 100, because I’ve I’d stay up all night reading, and then wake up sometime in the middle of the day.
The name of the books my friends, are Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed. If you buy the first book, just go ahead and buy the next two at the same time.
Also, if you do not like reading sex scenes, do not read them. I lost 30 purity points just by reading these books.
The Fifty Shades trilogy is like crack. And I am cracked out. I’m I was not eating well (partly because we’ve we’d yet to go grocery shopping plus the fact that I started reading the books during Passover; we were eating weird concoctions that are destined to become the next generation of matzo brei, which in and of itself is a desperate concoction). I missed all my yoga classes because I’m I was either too tired or reading, to go. And I’m I was drinking coffee so I can could get energy so I stay up so I read so I am was tired in the mornings so I make made some coffee…
*disclosure (and you’ve probably figured this out by now–I started writing this post last week).
The Fifty Shades Trilogy is like a mashup of Clan of the Cave Bear (deflowering virgins and sex scene after sex scene), Thomas Crowne Affair (the glider scene and a male protagonist who is wealthier than Thomas Crowne), Beauty and the Beast (monsters and romance and true love), Twilight (secrets and monsters again), 9 1/2 Weeks (BDSM and sex scene after sex scene), Jane Eyre (secrets and a new form of tortured Mr. Rochester), and The Fountainhead (stalwart and stoic capitalists). It’s a suspense-filled psychological thriller and it’s romance and it’s erotica. It’s formulaic and yet completely addictive featuring the ever-damaged, complex Christian Grey and the ever-spunky, strong Anastasia Steele. Seriously, are these romance novel names, or what? If your name is Anastasia Steele, your life is a romance novel waiting to happen.
The trilogy is an amazing lesson in building a pageturner that keeps readers so intrigued they get sleep deprived. Once I go into Fifty Shades Rehab, I’ll be able to figure out the pieces of the puzzle. (I’m diagramming the novel out as I type–see below for some of my dissection).
Filed under Reading
The month of book giveaways continues here at 80,000 Words…! I’m giving away a signed hardcover copy of my friend Catherine Chung’s amazing novel Forgotten Country.
Forgotten Country is out in stores now, buoyed by oodles of deserved praise from Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, O Magazine, and some of my favorite writers like Chang-rae Lee, Justin Torres, Cheryl Strayed, and Alexander Chee. Cathy’s debut novel went on sale just a few days ago, and more rave reviews are imminent. (And I’ve also interviewed Catherine Chung for Kartika Review, which will have its Spring 2012 issue out in a couple of weeks).
This is the book that I’ve heard called “my favorite novel of 2012″ so many times–and even several times during the course of one conversation at AWP in Chicago last week. To which I contributed, “Yes, me too! I loved it that much!” And yes, I am twisted, because I am loving a novel that made me bawl my eyes out at two o’clock in the morning; but why else do we read but to achieve some deep connection with story? This is an author who got it right–Forgotten Country is a novel that gets the technical bits right and yet does not forget heart.
The copy I’m giving away is a brand new hardcover signed by Catherine Chung. Dudes, this cover: I love it. Also, it fits right into my rainbow spectrum bookshelf. Yes, I’m one of those assholes who arrange their books by color. (But that’s only because I’ve only got a few books in NYC–my Berkeley bookshelf is a mad chaos of color kowtowing to alphabetical ordered books).
Berkeley bookshelves…
And the rainbow NYC bookshelf…
So like, if you need pink/light blue on your bookshelf, this will serve an additional purpose.
As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book, because for me one of the biggest deciding factors in choosing to read a book are the opening lines. In the end, no one can tell you which book to like–that’s between you and the book.
Opening lines of the novel:
“The year that Hannah disappeared, the first frost came early, killing everything in the garden. It took the cantaloupe and the tomatoes; the leaves of lettuce turned brittle and snapped. Even the kale withered and died. In front, the wine-colored roses froze, powdered gray with the cold, like silk flowers in an attic covered with dust. My father and I had planted the garden over several weekends, and tended it carefully. Then it had overgrown itself, the tomatoes winding themselves up the wall of our house and stretching out to span the distance to the fence. After the frost we’d left it all winter without trimming anything back. Now we stood on the lawn, surveying the ruin, tracking damp patches of ground wherever we stepped.”
Interested?
Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or tell me something wonderful about a sibling, or a trip to the place of your origin. Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (please tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.
The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Wednesday March 14, 2012 12:00pm EST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced Wednesday March 14, 2012 by 9:00pm EST.
GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of Forgotten Country soon!
UPDATE: Time to announce the winner!
Methodology:
As always, I assigned each of you a number in the order you commented. If you RT’d my tweet, or tweeted about the giveaway on twitter, I gave you an additional entry, and I assigned additional numbers in the order you tweeted.
There were a total of 18 entries…and I used random.org to generate the winning entry number. I totally didn’t feel like going on camera today, so there is no live drawing, but this is kind of how it went…
The winnner is commenter #3, aka Naomi J. Williams! Her comment was:
I’d love to read this book. But I’m also curious about why you have *two* copies of IQ84, especially as I know you also have an electronic copy of it…? It’s worth a read & all, but takes up an inordinate amount of shelf space! Anyway, enjoyed this post & the opportunity for a free book & your willingness to share photos of your bookshelves!
I totes have two copies of 1Q84, because my husband dragged home an extra copy. Long story. I know. And I have it on my e-reader. The extra copy is going to a good friend of mine, soon.
Congratulations! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of Forgotten Country soon.
One more Update: Cathy gifted me an extra signed copy of her Forgotten Country! So I did another random.org drawing and the winner was #4…which is rachel!
…Someone has won The Edge of Maybe giveaway. Yes. One of you had to win.
As always, I assigned each of you who entered the giveaway, a number. I gave out numbers in the order of commenting (the first commenter was #1, the 2nd was #2, etc., etc).
Seriously, there you all are…
Then I went on a walk. And had some tea. Sat with my dogs and petted them on the head.
You know, things that would drive you nuts if you were waiting for the winner of the giveaway to be announced.
Oh.
Oops.
I pulled up random.org, my handy dandy online number generator and told it to pick a number between 1 and 15.
And guess what? The winner was…
The winner is #1! Entrant #1 is none other than Dave Holper who as his comment wrote:
I went to high school with her, and I’d like to see what’s she writing.
Congratulations, Dave! You win a signed copy of Ericka Lutz’s The Edge of Maybe along with The Edge of Maybe postcards and refrigerator (or file cabinet or other metal object) magnet.
I’m giving away a signed copy of my friend Nina LaCour’s amazing YA novel The Disenchantments! I love this book, and whether you are a young adult or someone who is thirty-eight years old *ahem*, The Disenchantments is pure pleasure to read.
Nina writes books that I wish existed when I was younger, and I’m so glad they exist.
The Disenchantments is out in stores now, with rave reviews from many venues including The LA Times, which proclaimed it “not just for kids.” I totally agree–!
As always, I will sweeten your intrigue with the opening lines of the giveaway book. I don’t know about you, but for me one of the biggest deciding factors in choosing to read a book are the opening lines. Because in the end, no one can tell you which book to like–that’s between you and the book.
Opening lines of the novel:
“Bev says when she’s onstage she feels the world holding its breath for her. She feels electric, louder than a thousand wailing sirens, more powerful than God.
‘I thought you didn’t believe in God,’ I say.
She says, ‘Okay. More powerful than the universe, then.’
Bev is the lead singer of a band called The Disenchantments. They aren’t very good, but they play so loud the speakers crackle and the bass makes your bones tremble. And they look amazing.”
The copy I’m giving away is a brand new hardcover signed by Nina, who has graciously offered up free sticker-tattoos to sweeten the giveaway deal.
Isn’t the book beautiful? And the sticker tattoos, fabulous?
Oh, and have I told you how much I love the sticker tattoos? Here I am, modeling one.
Lately, I’ve been doing, James Lipton-esque, Proust Questionnaire-based interviews with the book giveaway authors via twitter or other messaging (yes, these interviews happen “in real time”). I’m hoping it will give you some insight into the writer behind the book and of course, we always have a bit of fun with these questions. So here we go…
1. What is your favorite occupation?
Nina LaCour: I would love to be a haberdasher so that I could say the word a lot.2. Where would you like to live?
NL: I would like to live exactly where I live: on the border of two beautiful, urban areas of Oakland, but I would turn my apartment into a house with a huge yard and an attic for writing and a front porch where I could sit all day and spy on the neighbors.3. What is your greatest extravagance?
NL: Cheese. I buy really expensive cheese, and I buy it at a fancy cheese counter in a gourmet shop almost every day.
Interested?
Here’s how to enter:
1) Leave a comment below. You can say anything you want–e.g., you can choose to tell me why you want a copy of the book, or tell me about a roadtrip you’ve taken, or share the name of your favorite music band (and if you’re compelled, why you love them). Do fill out your email address when you fill out the fields in the comment box (it won’t be published to the world, but I will need it in order to contact you in case you win)!
2) 1 entry per person. If you tweet about this giveaway (& tag @czilka in your tweet so that I can track it), you get an extra entry.
3) The giveaway is open worldwide.
4) If you win the contest, I will email you for your mailing address.
5) Winners will be chosen by a random number generator.
6) I will be announcing the contest winner on the blog. None of your personal information will be posted, aside from your first name and last initial (or the nickname you choose to list in your comment). If you see that someone else has entered the same name as you, please try to pick a different nickname to call yourself, so as to avoid confusion.
7) If you are below the age of 13, please ask your parents to fill out the comment field with their information.
The deadline to enter a comment/tweet is Monday March 5, 2012 12:00pm EST. The winner (picked at random) will be announced Monday March 5, 2012 by 6:00pm EST.
GOOD LUCK! And I hope you all find your way to a copy of The Disenchantments soon!
UPDATE…
The winner is announced!
Methodology:
As always, I assigned each of you a number in the order you commented. If you RT’d my tweet, or tweeted about the giveaway on twitter, I gave you an additional entry, and I assigned additional numbers in the order you tweeted.
There were a total of 44 entries…and I used random.org to generate the winning entry number. I taped all of this, and if you’d like to watch it live (with a cameo by my unwilling, but deserving husband)…the video is below…
Otherwise, if you don’t feel like watching the video, the winning number is…
*drum roll*
*drum roll*
*drum roll some more*
*take a sip of water*
*drum roll*
*cough*
*drum rolll….*
The winner is #33, also known as “Vanessa Buzeta (@dayzer389), whose comment was:
“I loved her novel, Hold Still. I thought it was amazing and it completely blew me away. I’d love to read her next novel. Thanks for the awesome giveaway.”
I’m happy a faithful reader of Nina LaCour’s work is now the proud owner of a free copy of The Disenchantments. 
And I hope the rest of you find yourself a copy of The Disenchantments soon!
