Writing With a Broken Tusk
Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. The blog name refers to the mythical pact made between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House and still miraculously in print.
Since March, writer and former student Jen Breach has helped me manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog. They have lined up and conducted author/illustrator interviews and invited and coordinated guest posts. That support has helped me get through weeks when I’ve been in edit-copyedit-proofing mode, and it’s also introduced me to writers and books I might not have found otherwise. Our overlapping interests have led to posts for which I might not have had the time or attention-span. It’s the beauty of shared circles—Venn diagrams, anyone?
Vocabulary Word: Monopsony
Over the years I have tried to be more of a writer than an author, which has meant not focusing on the business end of publishing more than I have to. It’s a weird business that sometimes pretends not to be a business at all and mostly behaves like no other business I can think of. But it's hard to ignore the fact that the United States Department of Justice has brought an anti-trust trial against two of the Big Five, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster.
The Story Before the Story: Mark Karlins on Kiyoshi's Walk, Part 2
Kiyoshi's Walk by Mark Karlins, illustrated by Nicole Wong, is a meditative reflection on poetry and love, family and connection and the beauty around us. Earlier, Mark told me about his journey as he dreamed of this picture book. Here's more from him now on the path by which the book grew into itself.