upcoming classes and retreats

January is flying by, which is hard to believe since I spend most of day closeted in my tiny office. But I'm so busy getting ready for AWP and my winter and spring classes that all the sudden I glance at the clock and it's time to walk down to the bus stop to get Stella.

Here's what I have coming up:

There are still two spots open for the 2nd annual Mother Words retreat at Faith’s Lodge February 24 – 27. Spend the weekend writing and relaxing and talking about craft with a group of mother writers amidst the quiet and luxury of Faith’s Lodge. For more information about the retreat, visit my website. To register, contact Marquetta Nickols at Faith’s Lodge at marquetta@faithslodge.org or 612-825-2073.

I’m also excited about my upcoming prose revision class at the Loft. It meets Monday nights February 21 – April 11, 7:30 – 9:30 p.m. Here's the description of that class:

After the First Draft: Prose Revision
You’ve finished the first draft of your short story, novel, or memoir. Now what do you do with it? This course will help you revision your writing and move beyond that first draft. We will discuss how to strengthen your characters, sustain your narrative threads, identify the heart of your piece, and make the most of your dialogue. We will read writers such as James Baldwin, Charles Baxter, Bernard Cooper, and Beth Kephart. In addition to lectures and in-class writing exercises, each student will have an opportunity to share and receive feedback on his or her work. To register for that class, visit The Loft.

And I also have four spots still open in my Spring online Mother Words class, which begins on March 23. Visit my website or contact me with questions or to register.

Lots of fun teaching coming up. I look forward to having a few of you in class!

parents with pens

Thanks to all of you for your kind birthday wishes for my grandpa. He’s had two lovely parties so far and one more tomorrow. (It makes me tired to think about three parties. Imagine doing it when you’re 102.)


I’m pleased to announce that I have Kris Woll here at Mother Words today. Kris is a local Minneapolis writer and mother. She writes the blog A Little Practice, and is about to re-launch Parents with Pens, a local writing group for parents.

KH: Can you talk a little about Parents with Pens?

KW: Parents with Pens is a free writing group for parents who write and/or writers who tackle parenthood as their subject. It is casual and meant to be very supportive -- the kind of place where you can read something your are working on and gather a little feedback, float a few ideas, ponder where you might go with what you are working on. It is also a place to read and discuss some of the great work that is out there on the topic of parenthood. And I hope it's a place where a group of writers can really connect and get to know each other.

Parents with Pens is one of the Open Writing Groups that The Loft Literary Center hosts each month. The Loft kindly provides a space -- their cozy book club room -- where interested writers to gather and talk and read and support each other. Like all the Open Writing Groups, Parents with Pens is free and convened by a volunteer facilitator. And really it's low commitment -- once a month, 90 minutes.

KH: What was the impetus for starting this group?

KW: I first created Parents with Pens in 2009. Then I was still relatively new to Minneapolis, just emerging from the fog of early parenthood, and really eager to connect with other parents and other writers. In PWP’s first incarnation, a small group of us met through most of that year sharing our works-in-progress, but for a number of reasons (you know them -- no time, too much work, stuff to take care of at home, general craziness of life) the group took a break for most of 2010.

This fall I took a writing/reading course at the University of Minnesota, and it was so nice to meet with other writers to read and discuss. As it came to a close it occurred to me that it was very worthwhile to get the PWP group started again. And here we are, about to get started ...

KH: How do interested parents get involved?

KW: The group kicks off on Monday, January 24 at 7pm. For more info, including how to sign up (for this group and others) visit The Loft.

And hopefully, Kate, you might agree to be a special guest at one of our meetings!

KH: I’d be delighted, Kris! Thanks for being at Mother Words today! Head over to The Loft if you’d like to sign up for Parents with Pens.

102

Imagine being alive for over a century and still not being ready to die—to be interested in and excited about (and sometimes disgusted with) the world.

Some of you will remember my grandpa Spencer, who was ill a year ago when his abdomen filled with fluid, which made it difficult for him to breathe and sleep. Spencer, who was exasperated by my lack of imagination when I suggested that he wasn’t feeling well because he was old. Spencer, who has lived through numerous wars, who served in World War II as a military police officer, who is outraged that we haven’t learned our lesson yet. Spencer, who has had four holes-in-one, who has spent more time on a golf course than most people spend alive at all. Spencer, who was married to the love of his life, Lucille, for sixty-seven years, who sat beside her as she died, who went on living when she was gone.

Today, my grandpa is 102 years old, and he’s better than ever. He would argue that he’s still a little wobbly when he stands, and he would probably lament how long it’s been since he’s held a golf club in his hands. But he’s eating more, sleeping better, and he’s even learning how to play chess. He’s started thinking about spring and the scenic drives he and my mom will take when Minnesota thaws.

There is no one like Spencer, and I’m so lucky to have him in my life and in my girls’ lives. Happy Birthday, Grandpa! I love you!

Please raise your glass to Spencer today! 

proud

Cecilia, one of my talented former Mother Words students, has a wonderful piece in Cassie Premo Steele's Birthing the Mother Writer column at Literary Mama this week. Lovely writing, Cecilia. If you don't read Cecilia's blog, you should. She's so fabulous. Congratulations, Cecilia!

kudos

I’ve spent the last few days obsessively reading the New York Times and listening to public radio as they cover the devastating shootings in Arizona. I can’t stop thinking of the victims’ families, and I feel heartsick about the whole thing.

But today I want to focus on something positive. I *will* be positive. Here it goes:

One of the most satisfying things about being part of a writing community is celebrating the hard work and successes of my friends and colleagues. There are many successes and new books to celebrate this year, and I’d like to start with my dad, David Hopper:

I’m thrilled to announce that my dad’s fourth book, Divine Transcendence and the Culture of Change, was just published by W.B. Eerdmans. The book explores several significant historical and cultural effects of Reformation theology. (Check out these amazing blurbs.) It’s not the kind of book I generally read, but I’m so proud of and happy for my dad. He spent SEVENTEEN years writing this book. Talk about persistence and perseverance. Way to go, Dad!

My high-school friend, Michael Ebner, just came out with his first book, Ordinary Violence in Mussolini’s Italy. Like my dad’s book, this probably wouldn’t be considered light reading, but it looks fascinating.

Charles Baxter’s Gryphon: New and Selected Stories is getting rave reviews. Baxter is clearly a master of the short story form, so you can’t go wrong if you buy this book. Whenever my characters feel flat, I turn to Baxter’s stories, which are full of nuance and subtly. You can hear Baxter read and discuss Gryphon at Micawber’s on Friday, January 28 or at the University of Minnesota Bookstore on February 8.

I am also very excited about the following two books, which I helped edit:

Kara Thom’s and Laurie Kocanda’s Hot (Sweaty) Mamas: Five Secrets to Life as a Fit Mom. Kara was in my first Mother Words class (and a number of subsequent classes), and I used to trail behind her on the track until I realized I wouldn’t actually catch her. This book will be out March 29, and it’s a must-read for any mom who is fit or wants to be. Kara also writes the wonderful blog, Mama Sweat.

Elisabeth O’Toole’s In On It: What Adoptive Parents Would Like You to Know About Adoption was published in October, 2010. It’s a wonderful guide for friends and relatives of adoptive families. (I know I feel better able to support adoptive families after reading this book.)

And last, but certainly not least:

Kevin Fenton’s debut novel, Merit Badges, which won the 2009 AWP Awards Series in the Novel, is just out from New Issues Press. Kevin’s prose is lovely, his characters quirky and relatable. You’re not going to want to put this book down. You can hear Kevin read on Wednesday night, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. at the Virginia Swedenborgian Church in St. Paul.

Congratulations to all of these wonderful authors!! I’m lucky to call you my friends!

when clutter really means clutter

Many of my favorite mother bloggers have been writing about the desire to get organized at the same time they've been lamenting the challenge that "getting organized" poses when you have a house full of small children.

I get it. I spend so much of each day picking up toys that I'm often tempted to say the hell with it and just vacuum them all up. (And when you add to the general child and house maintenance a gerbil whose poop chamber, as we have taken to calling it, always needs cleaning, well, "organized" seems impossible.)

But after reading Kara's wonderful post about framing tasks as questions and Kay's post with some tips for keeping a clean house in the midst of pre-schoolers, I knew I needed to do something to clear the clutter. Then I was inspired by this photo of Vicki's office, and I realized that I didn't need to tackle the whole house (or even the basement); I just needed to clear some space so I could think again.

I am embarrassed to even post these photos of my office, but I need the evidence so you'll know how hard I worked yesterday. This is my office yesterday morning:

If you take a look at Kara's office again it's clear that "clutter" means a slightly different thing to her than it does to me. And seriously, what is that disheveled Barbie doing on my books?

Okay, now here is my office last night. D came home from taking the girls to Stella's dance class and said, "Look how big your desk it!" Indeed.

And now I am ready to dive into my work. Do you think I'll write faster now that I can actually see the surface of my desk?

happy new year!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday.

We spent the week after Christmas up at my mom’s cabin in Northern Minnesota, and it was just the change of scene I needed. Stella and D cleared an ice rink on the lake, and Stella skated back and forth, undaunted by the number of times she fell. Then it snowed over a foot, so we gave up skating for cross-country skiing.

There is nothing like gliding through the silence of snow surrounded by towering pine trees. It always helps me put the things in perspective.

We also spent time reading and doing puzzles (which developed into an obsession), laughing and eating and drinking wine. Zoë danced and played with Little People and got snugly on the couch with a pile of books. And Stella spent quite a bit of time making earrings and working on a quilt for her doll.

The sewing, crafting gene clearly skipped my generation, but I did the best I could as her assistant, trying not to curse when I pierced my skin with the needle or almost glued my finger to an earring. I kept thinking of Catherine Newman’s wonderful essay, “Pretty Baby,” in which she describes her son Ben’s “most special outfit.” It’s “the one he wears only for such extraordinary occasions as a birthday party or the weekly show-and-tell at his preschool.” It “involves a floral printed t-shirt and fuchsia velour sleeves, and the pants that I myself made (with much saying of the F-word and sewing of my actual hand to the fabric) from the magenta striped terry cloth that Ben picked out from Jo-Ann Fabrics.” I love her.

Over the course of the week, we made several trips to the Ben Franklin in town for more crafting supplies, and I’ll admit I was wooed by their isles of colorful fabrics (which are a steal, by the way.) Ben Franklin has just about everything, from tacky to truly useful. It may be my favorite store. (Do I sound like I’m becoming a crafter after all?)

I tried to stay off-line as much as possible over the holidays, but I did log in a dozen hours on the memoir. Based on insightful feedback from my wonderful agent and brilliant writing group, I dove back into it and cut cut cut.

I always promote the merits of ruthless cutting to my students. It can be such a challenging task, especially for beginning writers, because it’s difficult to eliminate a nicely crafted sentence, even if you know it’s superfluous. I felt those pangs as I cut chapters 3, 4, and 5. But as is always the case after I slice away unnecessary words and heavy-handed back-story, the manuscript is stronger. I did new writing, as well, and yesterday I sent it off to my agent again. It’s closer to being ready than it’s ever been, so I’m celebrating that.

I look forward to reading and writing my way through 2011! How about you?