Category: Novel
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Writing Regimen: the Five-Two
The rhythm is familiar. Rhythm and familiarity make the work sublime. It can also be a grind but I’ll get to that. I’ve got the bit in my mouth on my latest novel (I, Fisheye) for a little over a month now. December was the swirl of possibilities, the slow whittling or careful nurturing of…
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I, Fisheye
Work in progress. Banging out chapters for a middle grade audience. I’ll want to tweak the title and synopsis, but here’s a start: Soon after Christopher Fischer (a.k.a. Fish) meets new fifth-grader Monty Peregrine, a man dressed in underwear enters the Sweet Life Cafe and orders pants. Who is this half-naked stranger? And what’s his…
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The Mess We’re In
Only in our currently defiled situation could an unpaid intern have the gall and patience to assert moral power… This month’s Foreign Service Journal features an incisive review of Patchworks by author and retired Foreign Service Officer Dan Whitman. Generous praise from a great writer. Dan served as French interpreter for the State Department’s International…
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2018
Resolution: Let’s be deliberate in the year ahead. Let’s choose our time and our course and our actions with a certainty in what we hope to achieve. I’ll begin January working on the novel that will serve as a gift for my second son, who turns eight in July. That work will continue steadily during…
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A Well Regulated Militia
The gun lobby conveniently forgets a key aspect of the law that grants the right to arms. Congress need not be so forgetful. Neither should we, who elect them. Every November ask: Which side do you stand on protecting the nation from flying bullets? –
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Not One More
Working on a promotional series for Patchworks. This one takes up the refrain from Everytown for Gun Safety. It’s a good refrain. Not one more.
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11:15 06-Dec-04
The next-to-last time I saw Mohamed—11:15, Dec 6, 2004—a blast-resistant window separated me from the Afghan businessman with good English, admiration for the U.S., and a carpet enterprise in Virginia. The last applicant of the morning at our visa counter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Mohamed was alone in the waiting room when the high-low alarm began…
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What Next?
Think of all the time and effort that goes into writing a novel. Then think about this reaction when you get to the end: “So what?” Or this: “What next?” So what? What next? That can be what it feels like to finish writing a novel. I guess there was the one time I finished…
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Foreign Service, Under Covers
DC-area writers, consider stopping by the American Foreign Service Association for this year’s book market featuring a talk on writing and publishing from 25-year veteran literary agent and editor Deborah Grosvenor. Two dozen Foreign Service-affiliated authors will also be there with their latest work. Find out what publishers are looking for when it comes to writing…
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The Annapolis Bookstore
A short block from Maryland’s historic State House, down a white brick street narrow with specialty shops, The Annapolis Bookstore is exactly what a bookstore ought to be: jammed with literature, old and new, on shelves that climb from creaking wood floor to high plaster ceiling. Close with the antiquated must of well-turned pages, yet…
Ben East Books 