Welcome to the first edition of Book It Thursday, a weekly event in which we, as a community of bloggers, read and “discuss” a few good books. After having read Section I of both Writer Mama and Eat, Pray, Love ~ let’s recap!

Writer Mama: How to Raise a Writing Career Alongside Your Kids, by Christina Katz

“Staying sane requires doing what you can do, not simply wishing to do more than you already do.”

For any mama thinking about a career in writing, this book is definitely one to keep on her desk. In my usual A-student fashion, I filled three pages of a notebook with the information I deemed most appropriate and useful. Among them:

• Begin a journal in which to record thoughts and ideas
• Stay in touch with trends by reading not only popular magazines, but by examining personal events
• Identify your audience by understanding for whom you write
• Start simple and short *most of us are not JK Rowling*

I learned the importance of studying the magazine in which you would like to see your work appear in order to understand its “feel” and the people who read it. Likewise, studying current and past issues of magazines enables you to determine what freelancers generally do and do not write. Above all, I learned that following guidelines is key and shows the editor your level of professionalism.

As a writer, you should establish a weekly agenda with simple goals to accomplish each day. Primarily these goals should focus on gaining clips for your portfolio. New writers should start at the bottom and work their way up (which is not always what we want to do). Early in their career, writers should look to daily newspapers, trade magazines, custom and closed-circulations (such as alumni publications), and online markets as potential buyers.

Page 58 includes helpful tips on how to write an appropriate cover letter, something which I have yet to do (although I have written several query letters). The difference between a cover letter and a query letter is this:

A query letter pitches an article idea concisely to an editor, whereas a cover letter outlines a written article and is part of a “package” sent to an editor. A cover letter accompanies a written article that has either been solicited or unsolicited. *In my brief experience, I haven’t run across many editors who accept unsolicited work. Therefore, I have written only query letters.*

Section II is all about practicing your writing. If you would like to participate in the next edition of Book It Thursday, read pages 69-130 by next Thursday.

What did I gain personally from Section I? Without tooting my own horn, I was surprised to find that most of what I read was already intuitive. Certainly writing is much more manageable if you have a particular goal and audience in mind. And it only makes sense that a writer must start at the bottom and work her way up the ranks. Although I will continue to submit queries to magazines (in fact, I’m getting ready to submit one in the next week that, crossing all fingers and toes, will be accepted), I need to focus on my community and look to my local newspaper as a way to get my foot in the proverbial door.

I also began thinking about where I would like to be ultimately as a writer. Although I once had dreams of writing fiction for children, let’s face it, you have to have a certain . . . flare to pen creative stories. I am an uptight person. I have always been uptight. My husband *loves* the character Bree, from Desperate Housewives, because, no joke, Bree reminds him of me. Uh, thanks?! I am much better about telling people what to do and how to think. I am controlling like that. Also, I particularly enjoy grammar and mechanics, much more so than creative writing. My sister thinks I am a nerd (this, coming from someone who graduated from graduate school with over a 4.0 GPA).

I have often thought of starting an online magazine about . . . .? And who knows? Maybe I will drag some of you along for the ride! So make sure you stay on my good side.

***********************************************************************

Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert 

“I was with Luca the first time I ever tried eating the intestines of a newborn lamb. This is a Roman specialty. Food-wise, Rome is actually a pretty rough town, known for its coarse traditional fare like guts and tongues – all the parts of the animal rich people up north throw away. My lamb intestines tasted OK, as long as I didn’t think too much about what they were. They were served in a heavy, buttery, savory gravy that itself was terrific, but the intestines had a kind of . . . well . . . intestinal consistency. Kind of like liver, but mushier. I did well with them until I started trying to think how I would describe this dish, and I thought, It doesn’t look like intestines. It actually looks like tapeworms. Then I pushed it aside and asked for a salad.

“You don’t like it?” asked Luca, who loves the stuff.
“I bet Gandhi never ate lamb intestines in his life,” I said.
“He could have.”
“No, he couldn’t have, Luca. Gandhi was a vegetarian.”
“But vegetarians can eat this,” Luca insisted. “Because intestines aren’t even meat, Liz. They’re just shit.”

I cannot explain how this passage from Eat, Pray, Love had me chuckling for days. Just the other morning, I recounted it to my husband and, even though the humor was lost on him, I was doubled over with laughter, barely able to relate the story. He looked at me as he often does, as though I were speaking an entirely different language.

I much preferred reading about Liz’s love affair with Napolean pizza, the description, of which, left me longing for but one small bite just to experience the sensation of a perfect combination of hot dough, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.

The food aside, there was so much I loved about this first section of Elizabeth Gilbert’s book: her style of writing is like reading a friendly letter from a close chum; her desperation and absolute need to escape convention, something which we have all felt, I am sure, at one time or another; her journey of self-discovery.

Don’t most of us have a “David” in our past? I know I did, and it took us forever to get over each other. Despite the fact that we were horribly wrong for each other, we simply loved being around each other. I could so identify with Liz’s passages about David, they were almost painful to read. But the way she spoke of Rome, the language, the friends she made . . . pure light!

I especially enjoyed Liz’s conversation with Giulio in which they talked about the one word that defines a city. For example, Rome can be summarized with one word: SEX. As Liz began wondering about the perfect word to describe her, I, too, began to contemplate the one word that describes me. At this point in my life, it is PROVE.

I feel I have something to PROVE. I need to PROVE myself, specifically, my abilities as a writer.

What is YOUR word?

As far as that beautiful, brown-eyed Giovanni is concerned, I began wishing that I could reach through the pages and kiss him myself. I applaud Liz in her self-control and need to remain celibate for four months. I can’t say that I could have shown the same restraint, as I have a particular weak spot for dark-skinned, dark-eyed, dark-haired men with lovely accents (despite the fact that I married a ruddy-toned, green-eyed man of Irish descent from Lancaster, PA!).

Now, what will happen to Liz in India?

If you would like to participate in the next edition of Book It Thursday, read pages 117-211 by next Thursday.

********************************************************************************

It was suggested to me that I announce the next two books now so that there is ample time for you to either purchase them or request them from your local library. The choices are A Mind At A Time by Mel Levine, M.D., which deals with nurturing different types of minds (specifically those of children), and A Girl Named Zippy, by Haven Kimmel, which my mother-in-law assures me is one terrific read. *My MIL has yet to give me a bad book. She’s the one who gave me Eat, Pray, Love.*

You will need to have these two books in the next 2-3 weeks.

PS – I want to say Thank You for the kind comments regarding this post. The subject is something that has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, and it was just one of those things that needed to come out.