Ann S. Epstein writes novels, short stories, memoir, essays, and poems. Please use the links or site menu to go to the HOME PAGE; learn about her NOVELS, SHORT STORIES, MEMOIR, ESSAYS, and POEMS; find interesting facts in BEHIND THE STORY; read REFLECTIONS on writing; check NEWS for updates on publications and related events; see REVIEWS; learn about her END-OF-LIFE DOULA credentials and services; and CONTACT US to send webmail.
“When I’m writing, I often think of endings in fiction like the close of a piece of music. Am I imagining a noisy, rousing crescendo? A minor melancholy chord? A single note that slowly fades into silence? And then I try to use language to create that same effect” (Alix Ohlin in “The Last Chapter” by Jack Smith, The Writer, December 2020). For me, music, more than any other creative medium, can discharge tears or release joy. So when I write, I aim to inspire in readers the same intense emotional reactions evoked by music’s magical powers. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.
Can words capture music’s power to evoke strong emotions?Why writers write: “Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled.” – Henry David Thoreau
If you’re looking for a holiday gift for someone or a great read for yourself, add these to your list:
From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve.: “The coroner broadcast authority when he pronounced the Witch of the East ‘not merely dead, but really most sincerely dead.’” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.
From On the Shore: “If you thought drowning was a Navy man’s biggest fear, you’re dead wrong. Fire’s your worst enemy.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.
From Tazia and Gemma: “Thieves don’t just steal money or possessions. They steal hearts.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.
My Amazon and Goodreads review of The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Rating 3) – Not Enough Rounds on the Watchman’s Shift. Louise Erdrich’s The Night Watchman, which tracks the lives of a Chippewa elder and his niece, was disappointing. I wanted more chapters (rounds) devoted to Thomas, the title character, and his fight against the U.S. Government’s Termination Bill to “emancipate” Indigenous people from their land. The novel is set in the 1950s, with an historical nod to the 1890s, but it echoes today. Erdrich makes clear what the Turtle Mountain clan will lose if the bill passes, namely a way of life that cohabits with nature, respects tribal wisdom, relishes language, and survives on irreverent humor and serious love. Erdrich wrote this book as an homage to her grandfather and her reverence for his strength and determination flow like spring sap through its pages. That said, the story of young Patrice is less compelling, even though hers ends on a hopeful note. Erdrich has a talent for weaving recurring characters within and across her books but in The Night Watchman, she is overextended. As a fiction writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I know that “killing your darlings” is hard, but necessary. Like the ghosts that populate her writing, however, Erdrich can always make these other characters come alive in future books. I just wish she’d given them a diminished role in this one.
A fight to save the Turtle Mountain clan from government termination masquerading as emancipationWhy writers read: “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler)
If you’re looking for a book for someone on your gift list, including yourself, look here:
From On the Shore: “Gratitude to this country drove Shmuel’s decision. Also, a desperate need to escape his father.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.
From Tazia and Gemma: “Let people think what they want, but don’t put the idea in their heads.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.
From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve.: “Judy Garland told Variety that the ‘little people’ got smashed every night.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the movie classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.
If you’re looking for a book for someone on your gift list, including yourself, here are three engaging novels:
From On the Shore: “There would be no way to notify his parents if he were hurt, captured, or killed. So be it.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.
From Tazia and Gemma: “It’s worse to lie by what you say than what you don’t say.” The heartfelt and suspenseful story of an unwed Italian immigrant who survives the 1911 Triangle Waist Co. fire and the daughter who seeks her father 50 years later. Order on Amazon.
From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve.:“Meinhardt Raabe didn’t want to be one of 122 nameless Munchkins. He was after a one-of-a-kind role.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the movie classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.
