Working on a 900-plus-page novel at the office, and my proofreader has queried every instance of a comma-less “too”—i.e., “He laughed too,” as opposed to “He laughed, too.”
It depends on the style the author prefers, of course, plus my boss once instructed me not to globally add or remove such commas, as it really depends [...]
An editor was in my office. I gently chastised him for passing on my friend’s manuscript. He felt remorse, and admitted that he couldn’t yet bear to part with the book (it’s sitting in his office at home) even though he and his boss decided in the end that we weren’t the right house for [...]
I never know where to set my stories—I’m always debating between New York and Taipei—but one thing I’ve decided on lately is to be confident in writing Chinese and Chinese American characters. I don’t know how to explain it on paper, however, because for me it’s more a feeling than any cultural signifier.
I’m Chinese.
Sometimes that [...]
On Sunday
Lunch in a popular Union Square diner. I take a seat at the bar—that is, my proofreading job and I take a seat at the bar.
The bartender says, “I remember you.”
The last time I saw him, I also sat at the bar, also with a proofreading job, only without makeup and my hair in [...]
Phone at work rang. Caller ID said it was somebody from the hallway. Likely a coworker who’d forgotten her card key, or a freelancer dropping something off or picking something up.
I said, “Hello?”
He said, “Hello, it’s me—A.”
He’d e-mailed me a couple of weeks ago and had left me a voicemail last week. I’d ignored both. [...]
A week ago I met an Author who was going to share a table with Edmund White at the Strand Bookstore’s eightieth anniversary literary festival, and I kept asking him what they were slated to do, because I couldn’t wrap my mind around the idea that the festival’s daylong schedule of Author appearances included not [...]
Two dreams, the second seguing seamlessly from the first.
The First
My mother is having an affair. My father dottily insists she is out getting her hair done. I reply, “At eleven at night??” He shrugs and goes up to bed. I fume. Finally she comes through the door, looking radiant. We sit down at the table [...]
Steady thrum of anxiety. Not feeling altogether with it. Partly because returned to long project last night. After laying out doubts, have tried to tease out the start of What Comes Next—not calling it the Next Chapter, though. Funny, all these little things said or not said, done or not done, in name of superstition. [...]
Yesterday morning, wrote brief summary of what I’d learned from most recent proofreading job, a novella and stories set in West Africa. Had a slight issue with POV, though am not well read enough to fully comprehend or explain own criticism—white guy being taught by Africans about meaning of Africa, what it means to be African, that [...]
A loud solitude occurs at one o'clock in the morning.
E-mail me: loudsolitude (at) gmail (dot) com.
Surprise me: Amazon wish list.
