Category: Books

Book Fair

Nearly two years have passed since I started this blog. In all that time, I’ve hardly mentioned my home town. Not here, anyway. I did write a bit about why I’m here in a guest post on Tania Hershman’s blog.

Why not? I’m not ashamed of it. On the contrary. I am proud of it. Of the whole country and this town in particular. So much has been accomplished, despite attempts to block all achievements – from without and within.

I haven’t written about it, because where I live is not one of the two themes of this blog: writing and social anxiety. And because it’s not a neutral place, to put it mildly. It’s a place that arouses emotions. In the present climate, those emotions are often hostile and I don’t want to deal with them. My main reasons for being here are personal, and I’m not equipped to take on the rest of the world.

One of the things I’m proud of is the biennial Jerusalem International Book Fair, which has been held since 1963. This year, I did something there I haven’t done before: I attended some author interviews. They were fascinating. I don’t know why I haven’t done that before. These are the ones I heard:

Aaron Appelfeld: an Israeli author who survived the Holocaust as a young boy, separated from his parents. What I took away from the interview is what literature is not. I can’t remember all the list, but I remember the last item: literature is not politics. That doesn’t mean you can’t write about politics, he said, but you can’t use it as an outlet for your political views.
Robert Cohen, from Canada. He spoke very well and held my interest all the time. As I listened to all these authors, I wondered whether I could ever become an author in modern times. I can see myself doing readings and presentations. But interviews?
Marina Nemat: a Canadian originally from Iran. Wow! That was some interview. The audience was riveted by her story and the way she told it, starting at the end: certain people used strong language to try to dissuade her from attending the book fair, but she came anyway. She doesn’t do boycotts.
Guy-Philippe Goldstein, from France, discussed cyber warfare. Software put Iran’s nuclear programme back by five years. What if organisations with sinister motives could do this? I suppose we have to read his book, Babel Minute Zéro, to discover his prediction.
Oren Nahari, an expert in Japan, told us a lot about Japan and the Japanese, starting with his meeting with the emperor of Japan.
Dr Yohanan Grinshpon, told some stories from India – stories in which abstract ideas become physical objects and real objects and people can be made from thoughts. I found the stories fascinating, as a person and as a writer.

Tags author interviews, book fair, Tania Hershman

Books Social anxiety

This is Not a Review

I recently read DJ Kirkby’s memoir From Zaftig to Aspie. It is no longer available to buy. The reason for that is the same as the only thing I disliked about the book – the mistakes. So I’m not going to write a review. I’ll just mention the things that stuck out, for me.

I was expecting more about what it’s like to have Asperger’s syndrome. There was certainly something of that, but a lot more about DJ’s unusual upbringing. I wasn’t disappointed, just surprised.

After describing her first smoke, DJ writes, “Thus began a love affair which was to continue for the next twenty years and that still tries to lure me into its poisonous rapture eight years after the last puff left my lungs.” I’ve never smoked, but I think that’s pretty normal. People who enjoy smoking don’t usually grow to hate cigarettes after they give up the habit. Their craving is always there in the background.

That reminds me of a BBC article about stammering that I read recently. In it, a successful headmaster who used to stammer says, “I don’t think any stammerer ever loses the fear.”

I think that’s a very interesting statement, not least because I think the same is true of social anxiety. In my view, no one is ever completely cured of social anxiety. Certainly, people I’ve met who claim they no longer suffer from the disorder don’t appear that way to me. Some so-called former sufferers might learn to present a confident façade, but the thoughts associated with social anxiety never go away. I don’t see that as a loser’s attitude. On the contrary. It means I don’t have to perform the seemingly impossible feat of crushing those anxiety-inducing thoughts. I have to “feel the fear and do it anyway,” to say what I have to say despite the thoughts.

The other thing that struck me in From Zaftig to Aspie was the similarities between Asperger’s and social anxiety. Despite the obvious difference – that people with Asperger’s often fail to understand the feelings of others, while those with social anxiety take too much notice of them – there are some similar consequences: a lack of communication skills, difficulties in recognising faces.

So this memoir has caused me to reflect on various issues. I might write more about those issues in future posts.

Tags Asperger's syndrome, DJ Kirkby, smoking, stammering

Books Social anxiety

Open Letter to Publishers/Agents

Post author By Miriam Drori
Post date Jan 19, 2011
3 Comments on Open Letter to Publishers/Agents

Recently, certain bloggers have been writing about factors that could cause an author’s writing to be rejected by publishers or agents, although these factors shouldn’t really count at all. Catdownunder wrote about age and location after being told by a publisher that her age and location would prevent her from ever being published. Nicola Morgan wrote a very sensible response to that, in which she said that while the publisher was not correct, age and unavailability could make publication harder. Both of these posts attracted many comments, most of which disagreed vehemently with the publisher, while some cautiously mentioned that, actually, there was a little truth in what he said. Then Catherine Hughes discussed a comment on another blog that asserted that “disabled people are – to an employer (a publisher, in fact) at least – a potential embarrassment, and should stand aside and allow those capable of doing all aspects of a job without difficulty to go ahead and do so.”

Since certain similar factors apply to me, and I have no wish to hide them, I decided to address them in an open letter to anyone who is wondering whether I’m worth publishing. The letter follows. At a later stage, I might post it on a separate page of this blog.

***

Dear Publisher, Agent and anyone else who’s interested,

There are many reasons why I am a good person to work with:

I know I’m not perfect and neither is my writing. I know there’s always room for improvement, and so I would be happy to work with anyone to improve it.
My time is no longer occupied by small children and I am prepared to spend a lot of time creating the best book I can.
My experience as a technical writer has taught me the skills of gathering, organising and presenting information in a clear and logical manner.
My command of grammar is excellent (so I’ve been told). When I break the rules, I do it intentionally and not out of ignorance.

Just in case you think there are any factors that might weigh against me in my quest to be published, I want to put your mind at rest by discussing each of the possibilities:

Age. It’s hard for me to believe it, but it seems I’m 57. I don’t have any aches or pains and feel no different from the way I felt at 20 – physically. Mentally, I feel much better. It’s taken me this long to understand some of the complexities of life, enabling me to write what I would never have dared to write earlier. Oh, and my mother is 98.
Location. I don’t live in the country where I hope to be published. But I have family and friends there and often visit it. I’m also active online, where location is irrelevant.
Social anxiety. As I’ve said many times on this blog, social anxiety isn’t shyness – not in my case, anyway. I’ve never shied away from attending events, and I actually enjoy giving presentations. If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t be able to write about it from the perspective of someone who has it.

Now that I’ve clarified those points, and if you like my writing, I hope we can talk, meet, sign and work together.

Books

Guilt

Post author By Miriam Drori
Post date Jan 3, 2011
2 Comments on Guilt

My head is still reeling. I finished reading Nicola Morgan’s Wasted this morning. Usually, I don’t have a chance to stay in bed and read in the morning, but today, by chance (or luck), I had the opportunity and decided to take it. I didn’t toss a coin to decide; I just did what I wanted because I could.

Much has been said about chance, luck and predicting the future with reference to this brilliant story. I don’t think so much has been said about guilt, but this is also an important factor. Jack has found a method of coping with his feeling of guilt over an event that occurred when he was very young. His method of leaving decisions to chance, of tossing a coin, is unhealthy and only hides the guilt which shouldn’t be there at all. He couldn’t have known what his actions would cause.

We’ve probably all felt guilty at some time. I know I have. I’ve even felt guilty about decisions that have caused harm only to me. But now I realise that I couldn’t possibly have known what my decisions would cause.

Wasted is a YA book, which perhaps explains why I was able to read it so quickly. But I suspect I’ll be thinking about it for a long time, and that’s a sign of a good book.

Tags chance, guilt, luck, Nicola Morgan, Wasted

Books Small stones

Small Stones

You probably know what goes on in November – how certain crazy (or dedicated) people go into hibernation for a month and come out on the first of December with a whole novel. Now there’s something similar to NaNoWriMo, called NaSmaStoMo. During the month of January, certain crazy people will create a small stone every day, and it seems I’m going to be one of them. The badge on the right says so.

What are these stones?
From the River of Stones website: “A small stone is a polished moment of paying proper attention.” It’s a scene, described after taking care to notice all the details.

I’m not expecting this to be easy, but I’m going to give it a go. Hopefully it’ll teach me to pay more attention to what’s going on around me. If you want to join in, the details are here.

This project is the brainchild of Fiona Robyn and her fiancé, Kaspa.

Books

My First Reading

Yesterday evening, I attended an event where people read stories… essays… pieces they’d written on the topic of immigration and I read one of my stories.

I think it went well. People said they liked my story and I think they meant it. And I enjoyed talking to people afterwards.

So, I’m feeling good today. Time to do lots of writing, methinks.

Tags doing a reading, meeting other writers

Books

It’s All about Money

Someone in my family qualified as an optician and found a job in a large UK company. On her first day, she was told to recommend glasses to everyone, whether they really needed them or not. She left that job and went into another field entirely.

Last weekend’s edition of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper had an article that highlighted a similar situation in the two big book store chains here. Employees are given a list of books to recommend. It doesn’t matter whether they’ve actually read those books or not, they have to recommend them. And if they succeed in selling enough of them, they are rewarded with bonuses and trips abroad.

I’ve hardly ever asked for a recommendation for a book in a shop. I certainly won’t do that any more.

Is this how it works? Is this what happens all over the world? Can this be stopped?

Tags book recommendations

Books Holidays

Home From Home – Day 40

Right! It’s time to finish my account of the almost six weeks I spent in the UK and Holland in the summer. In the meantime, I’ve accumulated other things I want to blog about. But I must finish this first.

***

After another visit to my mother, I buy some more leggings, have a quick meal and make my way to a pub called The Phoenix to attend the event for which I extended my trip. Once a month, downstairs at the Phoenix, is an event called “Liars’ League”, in which people come to listen to a few chosen stories read by real actors. I decided that I couldn’t let this opportunity of being in London pass without doing something connected to fiction, and I’m not disappointed.

The stories are read exceptionally well, and I even speak to some people during the breaks. It’s a very pleasant evening.

Back in M2’s house, I spend some time organising my belongings, putting the heaviest things in my rucksack. There’s not much time to sleep. Tomorrow, I’m finally returning home.

Tags Liars' League, returning home