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.
“2020 was the year I finally got my wish, to be really bored of the monotony of one day bleeding into the next” (artist Anicka Yi). I neither am, nor wish to be, bored. A new day of writing always awaits and I never know where it will take me. However, months into the lockdown, I suffered inertia, spending scarce reserves of energy to do something as simple as peeling an orange. Pandemic anxiety is debilitating. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
My Amazon and Goodreads review of Fake Accounts (Rating 2) – False Hype for a Worthless Recounting. The nameless narrator in Lauren Oyler’s Fake Accounts comments, “I can’t help but feel the books of collected tweets you occasionally see displayed on tables at Urban Outfitters would be better as novels or memoirs that contain no tweets.” Oyler should have taken her protagonist’s advice. The fake accounts in this book — her boyfriend’s conspiracy blog, the outlandish profiles the narrator creates on dating apps, her rambling observations about life — don’t attain novel or memoir status. Noteworthy characters and a memorable story are absent, while the social media posts lack originality and insight. I offer this judgment not only as a disappointed reader, but also as a conscientious writer (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page). The raves for Fake Accounts strike me as “false” hype for a worthless “recounting.” Reading it was akin to wasted hours scrolling online.
Asked by The New York Times what she had made during the pandemic year, actor and writer Sharon Horgan replied, “I wrote tons. I hope that’s not a smug answer. It was like work or be damned.” The lockdown may intensify that feeling, but for me, and I suspect most writers, writing versus damnation are the ordinary poles of non-pandemic life. A day without writing, or comparable creative activity, is a woebegone day! Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
“I’m getting stressed imagining the world opening up. If I have a creative epiphany before then, it would make me feel like this time is done” (musician Phoebe Bridgers). I too am both anxious and eager contemplating a return to normal social interaction. I don’t need an epiphany, but I need reassurance that my creativity as a writer during the pandemic will continue after restrictions ease. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
Asked by The New York Times what they’ve accomplished during the pandemic, creative people offer opposing responses. “I have never gotten so much work done! There are so few distractions or interruptions. Even if you choose to do nothing, you can do it with intensity” (Sheila Hicks, fiber artist). “I’ve made nothing. Creatively, I’m lost. It’s why I’m doing this interview. I’m guessing some other artists identify” (Tracy Letts, playwright). I’m with Hicks. Not because I have more time to fill, but because writing offers solace. I immerse myself in my characters who, while coping with other problems, are decidedly not living through this pandemic. Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
“Too Old for Grievances,” a work of microfiction, has been published at 50 Give or Take. This online publication from Vine Leaves Press emails a story of 50 words or less to each subscriber’s inbox every day. All are welcome to read, subscribe, and submit. FREE. Check out these stories of mine:
Hit SEND November 25, 2020
Test Results December 22, 2020
Fido’s Lament February 13, 2021
Window Seat March 17, 2021
Too Old for Grievances April 04,2021
My Amazon and Goodreads review of Things That Crash, Things That Fly (Rating 5) – A Good Storyteller with a Good Story to Tell. Scott Gould’s memoir, Things That Crash, Things That Fly, speaks to everyone recovering from an experience — in his case a divorce — that has left them blind-sided and angry, in search of explanations and revenge. On the eve of a trip to Italy, including the small village where his wife’s family is from, she announces that she will leave him when they return. Readers recognize her sadism, but in his desperation to remain married, Gould is in denial until a “piercing” revelation (I won’t spoil it by revealing more) releases his rage. Wallowing in post-divorce misery, Gould returns to Italy to investigate the death of a young American World War Two bomber and tarnish his ex’s reputation. A good storyteller, with a good story to tell, Gould has an outward-looking eye for detail and an inward-looking eye for reflection. As an author myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate the dexterity with which Gould interweaves these two perspectives. In search of revenge, he experiences gratitude. In search of closure, he instead opens himself to new people and possibilities. Gould discovers that the dead soldier is kept alive by the stories of the villagers. Likewise, this return journey is a resurrection for the author. He tells his own tale and in the end, the book and its author soar.
“(Our) bad idea in the pandemic was finishing our daily dance regimen jeté-ing and tumbling down the promenade in Riverside Park. It was a total blast — until it gave us really bad shin splints” (Choreographer Justin Peck, The New York Times). Shin splints are caused by prolonged running, typically on hard surfaces. I wondered if there was a writer’s equivalent and concluded that it’s overexplaining, telling the reader what you’ve already shown. The cure for physical and literary shin splints? Give it a rest! Read more of my thoughts about writing at REFLECTIONS.
