My favorite Book Covers of All Time

Posted by mommaty on

October 24, 2009

As a lifelong writer,  I have been fascinated by book covers.  I decided to try to find the best ones, some I've read and some I will get around to some day.  Don't forget to comment and let me know who yours are.  I'll put them up!  Here we go...

Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye

"Exposure: A Novel" by Kurt Wenzel

Exposure: A Novel

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dracula (Vintage Classics)

Brideshead Revisited

Brideshead Revisited

Michael Chabon - Maps and Legends

Maps and Legends

White_Like_Me.large

savage

when_you_are_engulfed_in_flames.large

red

TO SEE THE COMPLETE LIST CLICK BELOW!

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Writing & Progress

Posted by mommaty on

February 10, 2009

I've been writing a novel for two years now. It isn't the first novel I've ever written, but it will be the first I will eventually show people - hopefully my agent and others. What's taking so long? Good question, though difficult to answer in a quick blog post. It's hellish.  My first book, Behind Bars: The Straight-Up Tales of a Big City Bartender, was nothing compared to this.  After all, that was a memoir, everything had happened, I just had to document it in an organized witty way - which I hope I accomplished. 

The most challenging part of writing every day (besides the utter isolation), is snapping out of the story. Living in one's head is incredibly difficult when trying to maintain a *normal* family life, as trying to break out of character takes some time. Not a good idea to be writing right before dinner... especially if you want to chit chat about whatever whilst passing the butter. Last night I couldn't stop thinking about a dream I had about one of the characters in the book. Sometimes a character, whether fictional or real, will take over your life. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him for longer than five minutes. What would he do at dinner? Would he talk about the rumored coup? Would he go on a hunger strike? Yada yada... So stop writing at least an hour before dinner. It's quite distracting.

The issue is that writing is such a grueling process. I hadn't mapped it out as well as I thought from the start. Then a minor character became a major player, thus changing the landscape completely. So around Thanksgiving of last year, I had to trash all of the previous version of the book and start anew with what I had. What helped tremendously was outlining the story from beginning to end, leaving less moments to writer's block, and more to just "aha!" moments, as the process resumed. I can't emphasize enough how important it has been to flesh out every single character, every scene, ever intimation. If I had done that sooner, I might have been finished by now, instead of having to trash 350 pages of story that really needed that extra something.

xo

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Sabah Gazetesi article about Kurt and me in Turkish!

Posted by mommaty on

November 25, 2008

Türk'le evlendi hayat? de?i?ti

Bir Türk k?z? ile evlenen ABD'li Kurt Wenzel hem dinini de?i?tirdi hem de e?inin etkisiyle kitap yaz?p ?öhret oldu
Kurt Wenzel ad? belki Türkler için henüz bir anlam ifade etmiyor ama ba?ta New York olmak üzere Amerikan edebiyat çevreleri 36 ya??ndaki Wenzel'e edebiyat?n yeni y?ld?z? yak??t?rmas? yap?yorlar. Yaz?n piyasaya sürdü?ü ilk kitab? "Lit Life" ile ummad??? bir ba?ar? yakalayan Wenzel'in edebiyatla ha??r ne?irli?i rakiplerinin aksine çok da eskilere dayanm?yor. New York'ta Patroon adl? bir restoranda garsonluk yapan Wenzel'in hayat?n? de?i?tiren olaylar 1997 y?l?nda ba?l?yor.

OKUMUYORDU B?LE..
Kendi deyimiyle de?il kitap yazmak, okumaktan dahi s?k?lan bir beyzbol fanati?i olan Wenzel bir gece restoranda hayat?m?n a?k? dedi?i Ty Bat?bek ile tan???yor. Türkiye'de do?mu? ve belli bir süre burada ya?am?? olan Bat?bek ile ç?kmaya ba?lad?ktan sadece 1 ay sonra Wenzel kitab?n? yazmaya ba?l?yor. Bat?bek'ten Türkiye ve ?slamiyet'le ilgili her?eyi ö?renen genç adam 1999 y?l?nda Türk k?z? ile evleniyor. Wenzel, ?slamiyet'ten o kadar çok etkileniyor ki dinini de?i?tirerek Müslümanl??? seçiyor. Kitap tamamlan?nca bu kez her amatör yazar?n kar??la?t??? sorun Wenzel çiftinin de ba??na geliyor. Kitab? basacak yay?nevi problemi... Wenzel'i kitap yazmaya te?vik eden ve kitab?n yaz?m a?amas?nda ba?tan a?a?? etkili olan Ty Bat?bek bir kez daha kollar? s?v?yor.

Continental Restoran'da barmaid olarak çal??an Bat?bek, her mü?terisine kocas?n?n bir kitap yazd???n? ve yay?nevi arad?klar?n? söylüyor. Nihayet bu çabalar son buluyor. Ve New York'un sayg?n yay?nevlerinden Random House editörlerinden Pamela Cannon kitab? okumay? kabul ediyor. Edebiyat çevresinde dönen dolaplar?n anlat?ld??? kitap editörün ho?una gidiyor ve kitap Haziran ay?nda bas?l?yor.

YEN? K?TAPLAR YOLDA
Wenzel'in pek de umutlu olmad??? "Lit Life" iki hafta içinde New York Times, Washington Post ve Publisher Weekly'e konu oluyor. Tüm ele?tirmenler kitap için "edebiyat çevresini ak?c? ve komik bir ?ekilde anlat?yor" yorumunda bulununca kitap ciddi bir sat?? ba?ar?s?na ula??yor. ?u s?ralar yeni kitab?n? yazmaya ba?layan Wenzel roman?nda kahraman?n? bir Müslüman'la evlendiriyor. Kitab?n?, hamile olan e?inin önümüzdeki Haziran ay?ndaki do?umuna yeti?tirmeyi planlayan çiçe?i burnunda yazarla, yay?nevi ?imdiden 2 kitapl?k ve bol s?f?rl? bir anla?ma imzalam?? bile.

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Women of the 21st Century = Men?

Posted by mommaty on

August 29, 2008

My husband, Kurt, and I have a running joke around here.  I'm the "husband" and he's the "wife."  He's a big hunk of a man, really, but he is not your typical man's man - despite the fact that he's a cubano smoker and worships the Red Sox.  He cooks gorgeous dinners for us EVERY SINGLE NIGHT.  He lets me know when it's time to do some laundry and does all of the grocery shopping.  But...

He has never known a hammer or screwdriver in his life.  He can't hang a picture, spackle or use a power tool to save his life.

Now, I'm a carpenter's daughter.  I came with power tools, spackle, adore my new chain saw and am typing this post with a swollen right hand from a scary wasp sting whilst felling a dead pine tree that I couldn't take any more.  And I hate to cook, and doing dishes - well, I hate that the most.  The only traditional "wifey" thing I'll still partake in is doing the laundry.  Kurt got spoiled by the lovely Korean laundry women in Little Italy in Manhattan.  Who does their own laundry in Manhattan?  Nobody, that's who.

I am beginning to realize that I married a man who had a rotary phone when I met him ten years ago.  He barely knows how to send an e-mail and panics when he gets a new cellphone because setting it up is a major fiasco to him.  I used to resent this side of him, still do a little.

But this summer, as I've been clearing the backyard of the woods on its outskirts to make a larger lawn for Kurt (yes, he does LOVE mowing the lawn), I realized something that hit me.  I actually love doing the man's job at home.  If he enjoys cooking salmon with peach chutney, buying great wines every night for us to try, I am a happy woman.  I know way too many families eating garbage these days.  He's an amazing father that fills with pride at almost everything Kyle (our son, 6) does.  He's very much an in-touch, hands-on Dad.

So I'm over the fact that my man will never own a circular saw, or handle our chain saw without terror in his eyes.  It's okay - that's my job.

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