Ann S. Epstein Writer

Earn the Ending

“If you’re a storyteller, you face that notorious bugbear called an ending. Maybe you’ll write your way into it, or maybe you’ll plan it out in advance. Whatever your process, your ending needs to ring true. No tricks. No clichés” (“The Last Chapter” by Jack Smith, The Writer, December 2020). I begin with a general idea of how a story will end, but I write my way to the specifics. As I get to know characters and eavesdrop on scenes, the ending takes shape and changes. Whatever emerges, the ending must be earned to satisfy the writer and reader alike. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

Why writers write: “Cheat your landlord, but do not shortchange the Muse. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.” – William S. Burroughs

Books are Forever Holiday Gifts

Looking for a gift whose joy will outlast the holiday? Check out these books:

From On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “Let’s have sholem bayess, peace in the house.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “After being persecuted as degenerates in Germany, his peers went overboard flaunting their freedom in America.” 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 Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “I just wish I knew what it is about my father she’s protecting me from.” 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.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Giving the Gift of Reading?

If books are on your holiday list, whether for others or yourself, here are three to keep anyone company on a stay-at-home winter night:

From Tazia and Gemma (Vine Leaves Press): “She was a poor young woman, alone in this country, and wanted something to call her own.” 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 On the Shore (Vine Leaves Press): “I was sorry I’d told Mama about my dream to be a scientist, and hoped she hadn’t spilled the beans to Papa.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (Alternative Book Press): “Normal-size women would automatically reject him; a short woman might take him because she couldn’t do better.” A probing fictional biography of the actor who played the Munchkin Coroner in the 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz. Order on Amazon.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

What I’m Reading: Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare

My Amazon and Goodreads review of Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare (Rating 5) –As Stark and Breathtaking as the Australian Outback. Time is the Longest Distance by Janet Clare is a journey of self-discovery as stark and breathtaking as the Australian Outback. Lilly, in her mid-forties, having led an unexceptional and unsatisfactory life in California and New York, learns a secret about her birth that upends her world. In search of a past she never knew was hers, she heads to that other end of the world to meet her unknown father, half-brother, and niece. The surprises continue to come but Lilly, no longer a passive recipient, is now complicit in generating them. As a writer myself (see my Amazon author page and Goodreads author page), I appreciate Clare’s masterful pacing in introducing each shock. Embarking on the adventure of a lifetime, Lilly, the pampered city girl, crosses the rugged Outback to find out what kind of person her father is and instead learns who she is. The answer is not what she, or readers, expect. Nor is her basic nature easily accepted by Lilly, or us. Yet each revelation rings true. After all, if we’re honest with ourselves, we too never cease to ask “Who am I?” “How did I get here?” And most important, “Where am I going?”

A rugged and revelatory journey of self-discovery

Why writers read: “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” – Stephen King

Nail It But Don’t Nail It Down

“[I prefer] open-ended conclusions, in which there’s some resolution at hand, but it’s not tied up in a perfect literary bow. A well written-ending offers a sense of where the characters end up and where they might be headed beyond the final page” (Midge Raymond in “The Last Chapter” by Jack Smith, The Writer, December 2020). In my own writing, I want to “nail” my endings, but not “nail them down.” Ambiguity allows the reader’s imagination to continue working. The book ends but the story keeps spinning. Read more of my thoughts about writing in REFLECTIONS.

The book ends but the story keeps spinning

Why writers write: “I write to discover what I know.” – Flannery O’Connor

Books on Your Gift or Wish List?

If your gift list for others or wish list for yourself includes the joy of books, take a look at these novels:

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve.: “Wanting something was a worthwhile challenge, wanting someone was too big a risk.” 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: “He made men angry enough to spite him by surviving.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From Tazia and Gemma: “There’s something about a first love that you never let you go of, or that never lets go of you.” 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.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Giving the Gift of Reading?

If your holiday gift list includes books for family, friends, and/or yourself, consider these five-star novels:

From A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve.: “Just because midgets were short was no reason to treat them like children.” 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: “The rabbis taught that kindness superseded honesty.” An emotionally charged tale of an immigrant Jewish family in turmoil when their children rebel during WWI. Order on Amazon.

From Tazia and Gemma: “Understanding and forgiving don’t happen at the same time.” 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.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

Translating Music’s Magic Into Words

“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

Books on Your Gift or Wish List?

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.

Read more about each book in NOVELS.

What I’m Reading: The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

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.