May 28, 2017 | Writing Life |
Back in 1995, just a year out of college, I managed to nab a spot in the Clarion Workshop. I will never forget what I learned there. It made me a far better writer. I also made lasting friendships and connections within the science fiction community.
Now I’m giving back. Clarion runs largely on donations, and every year, they run a Write-a-Thon. Writers pledge to write a certain amount of work, counted in words or chapters or hours or edits, and supporters pledge money if those writers complete their goals. I’m hereby pledging to write five chapters of A PIXIE’S PROMISE during Clarion this summer – that is, between June 25 and August 5. My plan is to write one chapter per week, except for the week when I’m off on vacation. I’m hoping to raise $125 from my efforts – that’s just $25/chapter!
But it all depends on YOU, my readers. Can ten of you spare $12.50? Can 125 of you spare a buck? What are you willing to pay to see not only the sequel to A Witch’s Kitchen written, but also to support the next generation of great science fiction and fantasy writers? What is that worth to you? I’m betting it’s worth at least a dollar.
So please, go to the Clarion Write-a-Thon page and sign up to pledge your support, for me and other fantastic writers as we work to support excellence in science fiction and fantasy.
May 22, 2017 | Writing Life |
Hi, all. I have recently been informed by my daughters that this blog is boooooooring and not at all interesting for kids. So I’d really like to know: what would you like me to write about on this blog? What’s fun and interesting to you? Parents, please ask your young readers what they look for on authors’ blogs. As an incentive, I will a send a FREE signed copy of A Witch’s Kitchen to one person who comments on this post. Thanks!
Mar 21, 2017 | Restaurant Reviews, Writing Life |
Bloc Cafe street sign
I promised I’d review the area cafés I’ve tried for writing purposes, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. Today, I’ll start making good on that promise. I’m at Bloc in Union Sq., Somerville. I used to come here once/week for a writers’ meetup, back when it was known as Bloc 11, but driving in from Beverly proved too daunting a task. It’s been several years now since I was last here, but I’m pleasantly surprised that all the good things I remember are still good, and the bad things are not as bad as I thought.
Bloc Cafe vault seating
First, the seating: I remember Bloc 11 being very crowded at the meetups, but in fact this was an artifact of the meetup taking over the cramped front of the café, close to the windows. In fact, there’s a vast amount of space in the rear, including a former bank vault converted into cozy, semi-private seating. The metal chairs are hard, and the café tables are wobbly, but the built-in wooden benches in the vault and rearmost room are more stable and comfortable. They also have picnic tables outside, and it was even nice enough today that a few people were making use of them.
Second, the food: I remember the sandwiches being excellent, and I am not disappointed. I’m contentedly munching on a Safehaven, consisting of goat cheese, avocado, roasted fennel, lettuce, tomato, and cheddar, which I chose to have on a honey wheat bagel. That was a bit of a mistake. The sandwich is so hugely thick, I can barely stuff it into my mouth. The fennel is delicious, sweet and crunchy, the perfect counterpoint to the smooth, soft avocado and goat cheese. Note: I’m not a vegetarian, I just love good vegetables, and this sandwich really delivers. A nice pasta side salad with chunks of cucumber and pepper in a slightly spicy vinaigrette complements the sandwich nicely.
Bloc Cafe counter and menu
My mint matcha latte is pretty good, frothy and not too sweet, but slightly overbrewed so that it tastes a bit mossy. Still, it’s better than most matchas I’ve had around here. I should try the chai latte to see if it’s still as good as I remember.
There’s internet available, but you have to pay to use it, so I’m leaving it turned off for now. I kind of like this; if I really, absolutely have to look something up, I can use my phone. Meanwhile, I can write distraction-free.
Exterior seating at Bloc Cafe
The background music is eclectic and funky but not intrusive. I am loving all the elbow room I have, lots of space to sprawl out with my plate and my laptop. I’m expecting friends to join me any minute, and I had no trouble snagging a larger table to accommodate us all. My one complaint is that the temperature is a bit chilly. It’ll be nice in the summertime, I suspect. I may come back here and hide in the vault when I really need to focus on something.
The location is good, though not perfect. It’s a slight hike from Central Sq., but the 83 bus comes right through here. Hub Comics is next door, and if you want something more substantial than a sandwich or salad, there are plentiful excellent restaurants all around. I’m sad to see that locavore favorites Sherman Market and Sherman Café are both gone, the former replaced by an ice cream joint that I may go try when I’m done here.
Overall, a good choice for a place to get some serious work done.
Dec 14, 2016 | Restaurant Reviews, Writing Life |
Phew! After more than a month of being nearly continuously sick, I’m well enough to get out of the house, go to a nice cafe, and write. Which reminds me that, now that I’ve moved to Cambridge, I’d intended to start rating the cafes I go to for ideal writing conditions. First, I should define those conditions:
1. Quality of fare: If you’ve read A WITCH’S KITCHEN, you know that I love food. Any cafe I go to should have good food and drinks at reasonable prices. I’m not talking four stars in the Michelin guide, but I want better than brownies and donuts.
2. Comfortable space: Are there plenty of tables? Are the chairs comfortable? Tables large enough to stretch out in? Can I meet friends here? Are there outlets I can plug into? Is it warm? Are there windows where I can look out at people passing by? Not too noisy, not dead quiet?
3. Free wi-fi: This is a mixed blessing. Sometimes I spend entirely too much time faffing about the internet and not writing. Other times, I really need to get online to research things. But there’s no way I’m going somewhere I’ll have to pay extra for connectivity. This, incidentally, means no Starbucks except in very dire circumstances.
4. Accessibility: Is it easy to get to by bus or subway? Along the bike path? Easy walking distance from home? How late is it open?
The gold standard, for me, was the Gulu Gulu Cafe in Salem, MA. It has excellent food (though they sadly no longer offer ghost pepper salami), fabulous lattes, and an eclectic selection of beer, cider, and sterner stuff. The Gulu is large enough that you can almost always get a table (except in October), their smallest tables are still large enough to handle a laptop, and a plate of food, and their large common table offers more sprawl space if you’re poring over manuscripts. It has enormous glass windows, offering a great view of downtown Salem and its wonderfully diverse citizens. Inside, there’s always artwork by local artists, as well as whimsical murals in the back hall and the bathrooms. Best of all, they’re open from 8am to 1am or midnight, every day. The downsides: I had to drive there, even when I was living in the next town over, and they have live music every night except Tuesday night.
So now I’m searching for a new favorite cafe. Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, and Arlington have so much to offer! It should take me a good long while to work my way through all of them.
Today, I tried two: Cafe Zing and Panera in Porter Square.
Cafe Zing is located inside Porter Square Books and occupies just a tiny corner of the space. They have great food: delicious pastries, excellent Vietnamese fresh rolls, and pre-made sandwiches from sister Kickstand Cafe in Arlington. Today, I had their fresh mozzarella and pesto sandwich on a baguette and a tall glass of ginger lemonade. Both were quite delicious, the sandwich fresh and tasty, the lemonade not overly gingery and quite refreshing. However, Cafe Zing has very little table space, and while it does offer free wifi, it actively discourages people from parking and writing for hours. So while it’s a lovely place to stop in for a book and a bite, it’s not a good choice for writing time. Cafe Zing is open 7am-9pm weekdays, 8am-7pm weekends.
Panera Bread is the exact opposite. I had a cup of tomato soup and a chai latte. The latte is not bad, but the soup was terrible. Only ate half of it, and I paid as much at Panera as I did at Cafe Zing. However, Panera has tons of space, including a basement room that was nothing like full and offers seating with outlets liberally scattered around the room. It’s a cozy space with a faux fireplace and mellow background music. Good if I want someplace to hole up for hours, as long as I don’t have high expectations for the food. Panera opens at 6:30am and closes at 9:30pm, 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
My old standby in the area is the Blue Shirt Cafe, which has decent food at reasonable prices, free wifi, and a nice view out into Davis Square. However, the tables are small and the chairs uncomfortable. Also, after years of haunting the place, I’ve gotten bored with their menu. A close second is the Kickstand Cafe in Arlington Center. Great food, including the best green tea latte I’ve ever had, but always incredibly crowded because they’re the only decent cafe in Arlington, plus they close at 7pm.
Got any suggestions for good cafes in the area? Let me know!
Nov 1, 2016 | Events, Writing Life |
…and I am all in! If you’ve never heard of it, NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a 50,000-word novel within the month of November. That’s about 1,667 words/day. I have kids, which makes weekends impossible for writing, so I’ve set myself the goal of writing 2500 words/day on weekdays only. I’ve been feverishly outlining, plotting, and planning for weeks, and now I’ve kicked off my next novel with a respectable 2075 words. I didn’t quite make my goal due to Halloween cleanup efforts (sequins EVERYWHERE), but that’s okay. I can make it up tomorrow, when my schedule is nearly empty.
Most NaNoWriMo participants post their daily word count, but i don’t want to fill your inbox. So if you’d like to keep tabs on my progress, or just keep me honest, check my Facebook page (@diannasanchezbooks) or Twitter feed (@diannabooks). Meanwhile, I’m going to stop posting here for the most part until NaNoWriMo is over, and hopefully I’ll then be reporting on my new novel!
See ya in December!
Sep 4, 2016 | Books, Writing Life |
I had a tremendous amount of fun last weekend at Bubonicon in my home town, Albuquerque, NM. I met a lot of great people and learned much more about the publishing process. I sat on a panel with two Hugo Award winners – no pressure – and read a chapter of A Witch’s Kitchen before an audience for the first time. People came up to me after that to tell me they’d preordered my book, which completely amazed me.
And one panel reminded me of my origins. Melinda Snodgrass, an extraordinary writer responsible for several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, described her early childhood and how she discovered science fiction through her local library, the Ernie Pyle branch in Albuquerque.
A shiver went down my back. That was my branch! I know the converted home of war journalist Ernie Pyle like the back of my hand, and thinking of it brings back the musty smell of the card catalog. I was nine years old, and I’d pretty much read everything in the children’s section of the library when I came across a new book: Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonflight.
Yes, that’s an adult book. Someone had mistaken it for one of her juveniles and shelved it in the wrong place. But all I saw was a tantalizingly thick book with a dragon on the cover, so I checked it out and devoured it. When I returned it to the library, the librarian gave me a strange look.
“You read this?” she asked. I nodded. “Did you understand it?” I nodded again. She paused. “Could I speak with your mother?”
I brought my mother over, and they chatted for a moment. Then the librarian turned to me and said, “Come with me.”
She led me into the adult section of the library, reached up to a high shelf, took down a paperback, and handed it to me: The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Sitting in the panel, listening to Melinda Snodgrass, I wondered whether she’d read the same book. I wondered whether the same librarian had placed it in her hands, though there’s at least ten years’ difference in our ages. I wondered again who that librarian had been. I don’t recall her name. I don’t even recall what she looked like. But I owe that librarian an incredible debt of gratitude for guiding me to a lifelong love of fantasy and science fiction and endless possibility.
The next time I visit my local library, I’m going to make a point of thanking the librarian. And I’m going to donate books, not just my book. LOTS of books. Maybe one of them will be someone else’s gateway to the future.
Recent Comments