Hurricane Irene

Buying batteries and battening down the hatches. Stay safe, friends ...

According to Dorothy Parker ...

''Hollywood money isn't money. It's congealed snow, melts in your hand, and there you are.'' 

Happy Birthday, Dorothy Parker!

The great wit/writer/critic/poet/humorist would be 118 today.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Parker.

For daily Dorothy Parker quotes on Facebook, click here. To follow her on Twitter, click here.

2½ minute radio interview

Here's an interview with me that aired on CBS Boston radio. Give a listen!

Temporary hiatus

I won't be doing my Friday updates for a while. Hope to be back soon.

Be well ...
xo

What's your book about?

It's one of the most dreaded questions for writers. And if you ever had trouble answering it, please see my post today over the Girlfriends Book Club blog, 8 Questions to Help You Develop Your Hook.

Friday Update 7/29/11

A rainy Friday, which I guess our poor lawns need here on Long Island. After that scorching heat wave last week the place looks like it's been set on fire. Here's the latest ...

• Finished my revisions on FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER  and sent it off to my editor. That feels SO good. I'm excited to share this book with readers!

• Now I'm ready to get back to work on my next book, which I've been keeping very hush-hush about. Even my agent doesn't know what I'm working on. Guess I should tell her, right? Lol.

• Mysterious. According to amazon.ca, THE OTHER LIFE had a major uptick in Canadian sales early this week. I can't find any media coverage online that might account for this, so I suppose it got a broadcast mention somewhere.

• What a great night! Got together with the Long Island Book Sisters at Saralee Rosenberg's house. Others in attendance: Susannah Greenberg, Susan Henderson, Carol Hoenig, Debbi Honorof, Debbie Markowitz, Alix Strauss and  Vivian Swift. Sending love to Brenda Janowitz, who was very missed!!

• The Open House for Writers on Monday night at Hofstra was a smashing success. It was a chance for students to meet the writing instructors and register for fall classes. These are Continuing Ed classes, and great for anyone who writes. The class I'll be teaching is called HOW TO TURN YOUR BIG IDEA INTO A FINISHED NOVEL, and it will be offered on Sunday mornings in the fall. For more info on that and other classes, click here.

• Another power outage yesterday. If you really want to see a middle-aged Jewish woman lose her sh*t, turn off her lights, computer and air conditioning in the middle of the day when her car is in the shop.

I wish there was some way I could get a divorce from LIPA, but where would I go? Who would take me in? I'm dependent upon the abusive bastard and he well knows it.

Ah, well. Have a good weekend. Stay cool and dry ...

Friday Update 7/22/11

Here's the latest ...

• Last night I took my oldest, youngest and two other kids to see the Harry Potter movie. (The middle one saw it opening weekend with friends.) Crazy hectic day, picking one round of kids up at camp, then another, then rushing to the theater for tickets, then off to a pizza joint and then finally to the movie. I enjoyed it, and the kids, of course, were wild for it.

When it was over, Emma wept, saying it's the end of her childhood. And I guess in a way it is.

• Huge shout-out to Tony Iovino for another great Summer Gazebo Reading event! Thanks, too, to all the wonderful folks who showed up despite the crummy weather.

• Speaking of weather, my car thermometer read 109 today. Seriously. 109. Felt it, too.

• A couple of nice shout-outs from Lisa Kudrow, who was on a press junket for the hilarious and brilliant Web Therapy, which is now on Showtime. Here's the mention in Parade, and here's the NPR piece.

• You can follow Lisa on Twitter. Also fun--follow her alter ego, Dr. Fiona Wallice.

• THE OTHER LIFE is still in the running for Book of the Year from the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. If you'd care to vote, please click here.

• Simply heartbroken over Borders ...

Stay cool, my darlings.

Friday Update 7/15/11

Is it really the middle of July already? That kind of depresses me, especially since I haven't been to the beach yet this summer.

My schedule has been pretty jammed with getting the kids to and from their activities this summer, leaving me little time to get into a rhythm with my work. Right now I'm revising FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER, and while I feel like I have a handle on it, it's hard to carve out the time I need.

No bullet points today, but I do want to give a special shout-out to the gang at Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington and the wonderful women who came to last night's book talk. A smart, engaging group!

Here's a swell video I found on Agent Kristin's blog. I think you'll love it ...


Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.


Have a great weekend!

P.S. Please join me Monday at the Summer Gazebo Readings! Click here for more info.

Friday Update 7/8/11

I have to dash, so just a couple of quick things on this busy day ...

• Lots of excitement for my daughter this week, who was interviewed for an upcoming Newsday article on Harry Potter, and posed for a photo spread.

• Big thanks to the Phillis Cox at the Jericho Library who organized such a terrific event this week.

• Looking forward to addressing the kids at Hofstra University's High School Summer Writers Program today. Thanks to Debbi Honorof for inviting me.

• Busy busy busy working on the edits for FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER. I can't honestly say I'm one of those writers who enjoys the revision process, but my keen-eyed editor, Rachel Kahan, had great notes that sparked some exciting ideas. So I'm hard at work.

• Special shout-out to my friends enjoying Thrillerfest this week.

• Congrats to my oldest for doing such a great job on his video-editing internship interview!

• This cracked me up--The Office recut as a cheesy traditional laugh-track sitcom:



Enjoy your weekend ...

Friday Upate 7/1/11

Happy July! Yesterday was my darling husband's birthday ... so fun to celebrate with the love of my life! Special shout-out to the Galleria Ristorante in Westbury. The food was extraordinary.

Here are a few other highlights of my week ...

• The other day Mike and I were in the car with our 13-year-old, who marches to her own drummer. The word "cool" came up, and Emma remarked, in a pretty upbeat tone,  "I'll never be cool."

"You're nerd-cool,"  I said.

"But I'll never be regular-cool. I'll be regular-anything. But you know what? I'm okay with that."

What a kid.

• This week I was interviewed by Adam Curry for The Big Show, coming soon to a smartphone near you. It was a lot of fun, and Adam is smart and cute. I'll give a heads up when it's available.

• Wonderful blog review of THE OTHER LIFE from writer Chandra Garza, who said, "The Other Life is spellbinding, captivating and easily one of the best books I've read so far this summer. Meister spins a tale of loss, love and forgiveness that touches the heart and literally feeds the soul." Read the rest here.

• Had a lot of fun at the Women's Fiction mini-conference in NYC, including a stellar presentation on plot structure by Michael Hauge, and a panel presentation by four industry pros, including my brilliant agent, Andrea Cirillo, and her colleague extraordinaire, Meg Ruley. The other panelists, agent Kristin Nelson and Random House editor Shauna Summers, were equally smart, impressive and insightful. All in all, a great day (except that they starved us).

I was sorry my wonderful pal Saralee Rosenberg couldn't make it, but thrilled that Alix Strauss took her place. And a special shout-out to Maggie Marr for pulling off the impossible.

• Got my editor's notes on FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER, so expect me to be very busy working the next few weeks. I probably won't even be answering the phone.

• Last but not least, if you're on Long Island, please come to the Jericho Library this Tuesday, July 5,  at 7pm. I'll be talking about THE OTHER LIFE. Lots of juicy gossip included, free of charge. More info here.

Have a safe, fun, happy Fourth of July weekend!

Friday Update 6/24/11

This was one of those weeks where I wish I got paid by the mile, as I spent most of time driving the kids here and there. Good news is that the school year is officially done--no more finals, regents or classes. And next week I'll be in a frenzy working out the logistics of the summer schedule.

Meanwhile, a couple of tidbits ...

• I was very excited to see that the Image of the Day in today's Shelf Awareness, the big publishing industry newsletter, has some very familiar faces. Do check it out!

• Big thanks to Mari Farthing for posting such a stellar review of THE OTHER LIFE at The Book End Babes. Here's my favorite line: "I’ve read fiction that has entertained me and made me laugh, but nothing that has compelled me to keep reading as much as this book has." Read the rest here.

• My cup runneth over this week, because I also got a rave review from Michele Stefanides at ViewsHound. Thanks, Michele!

• If you're not following my Dorothy Parker page on Facebook, I hope you'll do so today. Just click here and then click "like." I think you'll enjoy the daily quotes from America's greatest wit.

• Shout-out to my darling daughter for cutting her hair yesterday and donating her locks to charity!

Have a great weekend ...

Friday Update, 6/17/11

Sorry I've been such a blogger slacker! We're in that transition between school and summer, and things get a little hectic.

A few quick things to share ...

• Had a simply magnificent lunch yesterday with my Long Island lit pals. Saralee thought to bring a camera (yay!), and so we captured the whole wonderful group ...



Standing, l to r: Alix Strauss, Ellen Meister, Saralee Rosenberg, Susan Henderson, Susannah Greenberg, Carol Hoenig
Seated: Brenda Janowtiz, Vivian Swift, Debbi Honorof


• Oh, Canada! Big thanks to Lisa D. Martinez for posting this glorious book review on Amazon.ca:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Other Life: Simply: Wow., Jun 13 2011

By 

Lisa D. Martinez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Other Life (Hardcover)

Wow is the first word that comes to mind in respect of this fabulous read by Ellen Meister. I downloaded the sample for my Kindle and I was hooked after the first sentence. I have never ordered a book so fast! 

The voice of this story is the voice of every parent who has ever held their child close and smelled the top of his head. This story is a book for every person who has lost someone close to them or made a decision and wondered, "What if..." 

While most of us do not have a portal into a parallel life hidden somewhere in our basement, every one of us has wondered what our life would be like if we had done things differently. This book is more about choices, love and finding your authentic self than it is about the possibility of a quantum escape-hatch. The sheer realness of Ellen's writing is captivating and evocative, and yes, I cried...I can admit it. Just don't tell anyone. 

If not for my own "real life" sleeping in his crib beside me, I could have easily made the decision to pull an all-nighter and read this straight through. It's that good. 

Am I raving? Just a little. As a writer myself, I tend to read books with a more critical eye than most and this book was, in my humble opinion, very rave-worthy. The author has a way of describing the simplest things that turns them into something spectacular. 

I cannot imagine anyone regretting the decision to read this book. I have officially added Ellen Meister to my list of "Authors Who Inspire Me".



• A special shout-out to LitChat for letting me host a Twitter discussion last week. What a blast!

• Last weekend was the BooksNJ festival in Paramus and it was a smash! Here's a recap.

• If you missed the summer newsletter I sent to my subscribers, you can view it here.

• Thanks to The Laughing Yeti for posting my quote on reading.

• Very excited to see  my cousin Lisa Kudrow interviewed in the Wall Street Journal today about Web Therapy's upcoming debut on Showtime. Great stuff and worth a read! Click here.

Have a wonderful Father's Day and a terrific weekend ...

Social media tips for writers ... on the GBCB

Today on the Girlfriends Book Club blog I posted an article called 20 Social Media Tips for Writers. I hope you'll check it out!

Summer Newsletter

I just sent out my summer newsletter to everyone on my mailing list. If you signed up but didn't get it, your spam filter probably snagged it. In any case, here's a link.

Friday Update 6/3/11

Just a few quickies today ...

• On Sunday, June12, I'll be appearing at BooksNJ in Paramus. (Yeah, a literary festival in New Jersey. You got a problem with that?) It's going to be a massive and wonderful event, and I hope you'll tell all your friends. Here's a link: http://www.booksnj.org/

• Big thanks to the Long Island Writers Guild for inviting me, Debbi Honorof and Marshall Honorof to speak last night at the Levittown Library. What a great group!

• Lovely review from a blogger who calls herself Allison Writes. Here's the whole text:

The Other Life by Ellen Meister. This book grabbed me from the opening scene, where a pregnant woman is struggling between killing herself or giving birth to her baby. The writing is so clear and straight-forward that you are drawn in. I found myself thinking about the characters whenever I wasn't reading; I was certain they were real and wanted to know what they were up to. There is a supernatural element of the portals that take Quinn from her "real" life to her other life, but they are explained very well, and it was easy to picture the fissures and Quinn's travel without feeling like you'd been displaced into a sci-fi novel. The portals are logically discussed before the end of the book, and with the focus being more on people and relationships than the paranormal, I would say this book is literary fiction more so than being classified in any sub-genre.
Click here for more of Allison's reviews. 

• More summer events coming up:
  ♥ On Tuesday, July 5, I'll be kicking off the Summer Reading Club at the Jericho Library. It starts at 7 and I hope you'll us! Click here for more info.
  ♥ On Thursday, July 14, at 7:30, I'll be doing a book club discussion of THE OTHER LIFE at the Dolphin Bookshop in Port Washington. It's a wonderful indie and I hope you can join us.
  ♥ On Monday, July 18, I'll be reading at the Summer Gazebo Reading Series in Oceanside along with Carol Hoenig, Robert Savino Peter Dugan. But if you're looking for literary fun on ANY Monday night in the summer, stop by. More info here.
  ♥ On Monday, July 25, Hofstra University is hosting a Writers Open House from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. Refreshments will be served, and it's a great place to  meet and greet the lecturers (like yours truly) who will be teaching writing courses in the fall.


Have a great weekend!

Why Using TrueTwit is a Mistake

There's a service on Twitter designed to keep you from getting notified when you're followed by bots. It's called TrueTwit and it's just awful. Here's why:

Actual TrueTwit Captcha

When you follow someone who uses TrueTwit, you're directed to a page with a captcha code you are required to type. These are almost never decipherable. You have to hit refresh 4-5 times to get a readable code. That's a lot of trouble to go through to follow someone.

Why are TrueTwit's captchas so much harder to read than those from other sites? It's their way of twisting your arm to get you to sign up for the service. Because once you register with TrueTwit, you no longer have to jump through the pain-in-the-ass captcha code hoop. And then, of course, all your followers get redirected to TrueTwit.

Actual TrueTwit Captchas

So it's not only viral, but despicable. Don't like using our pain-in-the-ass service? Sign up and we won't bother you anymore!
I call that blackmail.

Between the unethical nature of the service and the fact that I resent being forced to click and click and click and click just to get a readable captcha, I take a stand against this service by refusing to use it. And I think you should, too.

_____________________________________________________________

Thanks for reading this blog. If you'd like to follow me on Twitter, click here. 
I promise you won't be directed to TrueTwit.

Friday Update 5/27/11

Well, it's a much brighter Friday than last week, and I'm happy to explain why I was in such a pissy mood I missed my last update.

I had minor surgery on Wednesday, but it was done under general anesthesia at a  hospital, so that skews the whole experience. (I'm a morning caffeine addict and a migraine sufferer so fasting is excruciating for me. Also, I'm a total wuss with zero pain tolerance and very high anxiety about anything medical.)  Anyway, on Friday morning my doctor's office called to tell me I was pushed back on the schedule from 9 am to noon, and that just freaked me the hell out, because I had a terrible experience years ago with surgery that got delayed for hours and hours and hours, and a hospital staff that didn't give a damn how sick I got.

Happy to say the staff at North Shore University Hospital at Manhasset was just the opposite--compassionate, kind, and professional. So it' all behind me and I'm feeling fine.

And now a few updates ...

• In anticipation of my next book, FAREWELL, DOROTHY PARKER, I started a new Facebook page featuring great quotes from the famous wit. People are really enjoying and if you haven't "liked it" yet, I hope you'll do so now. Thanks!

 • And just this week I started a Dorothy Parker Twitter account. It's brand new and could really use some followers.

• THE OTHER LIFE got a glorious review from a blog called Rated Reads. The irony is that the site's raison d'etre is to warn people about "objectionable" material, i.e., sex and bad language. THE OTHER LIFE rated "high," which is just below "dirt." (Seriously!) And yet the book got a rave. Here's an excerpt:

"I found myself drawn into Meister’s book not just by the possibilities of “returning to the road not taken,” but by its beautiful approach to the love between a mother and daughter. Meister addresses heavy issues of grief, loss, love, and difficult decisions in parenting, and does it with aplomb. She gently puts each issue into the mix and stirs with delicacy. I was so drawn into the story and the characters that I devoured the book in two days.

The Other Life is an engaging read, one that strikes deep in the heart."

I love this! Click here to read the whole review.

• Big thanks to Newsday for featuring my Twitter page online and in the paper!

• Thanks, too, to this blogger, for spotlighting THE OTHER LIFE in her Teaser Tuesday

• The second annual BooksNJ, a fun and fabulous literary festival, is coming up on Sunday, June 12. Mark your calendar! It's going to be an awesome day.

• Long Islanders, starting on June 6, you can hear great readings every Monday night at the Summer Gazebo Reading Series at the Schoolhouse Green in Oceanside. I'll be there on July 18 with my pal Carol Hoenig. Click here for more info.

• Thrilled to discover that THE OTHER LIFE has been nominated by the New Atlantic Independent  Booksellers Association for Book of the Year! Check it out.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend ...

No update day

Sorry. Day's off to a bad start. :(

 Maybe tomorrow.

Friday Update, 5/13/11

Happy Friday the 13th! I guess it was bad luck for Blogger (and me) because the whole system was down all morning and I couldn't post my update.

This week I was busy playing catch up with a million and one errands, as I had house guests last week and my schedule has been crammed. But here are a couple of fun things ...

• HUGE thanks to Katrina Denza for posting this smashing review of THE OTHER LIFE!

• So very thrilled to discover THE OTHER LIFE on Robin Kall's list of 7 Great Books for Spring! Delighted to be in such great company.

• Shout-out to Target for the temporary price cut on THE OTHER LIFE. It's a bargain hunter's alert.

There's more going on, but it'll have to wait. Blogger really messed up my schedule, and now I have to dash. Have a great weekend!