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Letter from Joyce Archives
Look for the February 2004 release of The Usual Rules in paperback!
October 24, 2006
Dear Friends,
This week, instead of sending you a piece of my writing here in this letter, I wanted to send you a link to an essay of mine that was published today in Salon.com. This one will be included in a new collection, out early next year, featuring twenty writers' experiences of miscarriage. The book is called About What Was Lost.
If you read the piece online, you may also notice it is receiving some pretty strong criticism from Salon readers. As a person who is hardly unfamiliar with criticism (of my work, and of my life choices) I'm ok with that. I think it's part of the function of good, honest and thoughtful writing that it stir up strong response in the reader. This one evidently has. I haven't read the collection yet, but I'm eager to of course.
(If you aren't a Salon subscriber, you can also find the article in the Columns and Articles section of this website.)
Meanwhile, I want to remind those of you living in Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Austin, Miami or Portland, Maine, that I am coming to your cities soon on the final leg of my long tour, to promote my new book, Internal Combustion: The Story of a Marriage and a Murder in the Motor City. You can see my tour schedule on my website, for details. I'd love to see you at one of my stops. (And of course, if you haven't picked up a copy of the book, I hope you'll buy one at your local independent bookseller, or at Amazon.com -- and that if you like the book, you'll post your comments there.)
For those of you not on my touring route, I want to remind you of my upcoming writing workshops -- a weeklong workshop at the amazingly beautiful and peaceful spot of Lake Atitlan, in Guatemala, and my day-long workshop in Mill Valley, California, this coming December.
About Guatemala: It is a leap into the unknown, I know, to take off for an entire week, particularly to a place and country that may seem very foreign and unfamiliar. So I want to urge any of you who may be on the fence about this one -- or those who hold the view "I'd love to work on my writing...but why Guatemala?" to take the bold plunge that has been so resoundingly rewarding with those students of mine who've come to work with me at Lake Atitlan, in the past. There is a kind of a breakthrough that may occur in your writing, in this place, that you might be unlikely to experience in a place closer to home. The fact that we gather in this very beautiful and tranquil place, so unlike where most of us have come from, invariably results in breakthroughs of energy, excitement that astonish me, every time I run such a group. If you haven't done so yet, I hope you'll take a few minutes to read the comments of those students who have joined me at the lake, in the past. It is truly a magical place. Even if you've never travelled farther than the established tourist destinations of Mexico or Canada -- or maybe, specifically, if that is so -- I can promise you you'll fall in love with San Marcos. And by all means, if you have questions beyond what's covered in my description of the workshop, send them to me.
For me, the workshops in Guatemala represent some of the happiest and most rewarding moments of the year, and I would love to share them with you. Ed and Cristina and I will be working hard to make it an unforgettable time.
With friendship,
RECOMMEND JOYCEMAYNARD.COM TO A FRIEND
