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Lesléa Newman
Lesléa Newman (Fiction, Young Adult Fiction) writes novels, short stories, poetry, nonfiction and children's books. Her fifty books include the novels In Every Laugh a Tear and Good Enough to Eat; the short story collections A Letter to Harvey Milk and Girls Will Be Girls; the poetry collections Still Life with Buddy and Signs of Love; the teen novel, Jailbait; the middle grade novels Fat Chance and Hachiko Waits; and the picture books, The Boy Who Cried Fabulous and Heather Has Two Mommies, as well as the writing textbook, Write From the Heart. Her nonfiction articles have appeared in magazines including The Writer, The Advocate, Art & Understanding, and Lilith Magazine. Lesléa's literary awards include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, three Pushcart Prize nominations, a grant from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, a Parents' Choice Silver Medal and the Highlights for Children Fiction Writing Award. Nine of her books have been Lambda Literary Award Finalists. Selected Publications: She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not (Alyson Publications, Los Angeles, CA, 2002) The Best Cat in the World (Eerdmans Book, Grand Rapids, MI, 2004) The Best Short Stories of Lesléa Newman (Alyson Publications, Los Angeles, CA, 2003) The Boy Who Cried Fabulous (Tricycle Press, Berkeley, CA, 2004) Dogs, Dogs, Dogs! (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2002) A Fire Engine for Ruthie (Clarion Books, New York, NY, 2004) Jailbait (Random House, New York, NY, 2005) Hachiko Waits (Henry Holt & Co., New York, NY, 2004) Pigs, Pigs, Pigs! (Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2003) Runaway Dreidel! (Henry Holt & Co., New York, NY, 2002) Where Is Bear? (Harcourt, New York, NY, 2004) Write from the Heart (Ten Speed Press, Berkelely, CA, 2003)
Teaching Philosophy: “Writers are not special people. Every person is a special kind of writer.” —Elsa Gidlow My teaching is based on the firm belief that everyone has important and unique stories to tell and the ability to tell them. You are the only you on the planet. No one else has your imagination, memory and experience. As a mentor, my job is to help you gain access to the rich material that lies deep inside you. Some students do this by keeping a journal; others find it useful to do specific writing exercises. We will become archeologists together and dig deep to find those buried treasures. “There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.” —W. Somerset Maugham Once you discover what you want to write about, your job is to shape your material into a beautiful, truthful piece of writing. How to do this? I believe that content dictates form. There is no set formula for writing a novel, story or poem. Each writer has a different process. Some of us are night-writers; others go to work first thing in the morning. Some of us write in longhand; others compose on the computer. (Some of us still use a typewriter!) Some of us outline; others go sentence by sentence without a clue where we are headed. I will help you get to know, accept and nurture your own unique writing and rewriting process. (Note: often the same writer will have a different process for different pieces of writing.) “Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead.” —Gene Fowler Stuck? That's why I'm here. If your writing comes to a complete halt, which happens to most if not all writers at some point, I will help you get it going again, with suggestions of specific exercises and readings. I will also help you let go of expectations and help you let the writing lead the way (the writing itself is your best teacher). Often we get stuck when we want the writing to go one way and the writing itself wants to go another way. It's fine to have a plan, but it's wise to not be too attached to it. If your writing surprises you, that is a good sign that you're on to something. Remember: no surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader. “Write your heart out.” —Joyce Carol Oates My hope is that the students I work with will come to love the process of writing, with all its ups and downs, pleasures and frustrations, rewards and disappointments, so much so, that they will find delight in discipline, and be far happier writing, than not writing. It is always a privilege to share in another writer's creative process and I look forward to doing what I can to help emerging writers blossom. I am interested in all types of writing including short stories, novels, teen novels, linked short story collections, stories with strong female protagonists, and writing that merges genres (i.e. a novel told in poems). “I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork. ” —Peter DeVries Ah, the paperwork. For each packet you send me, I will send you a single-spaced critique four to eight pages in which I will give you general comments on your themes, characters and structures, as well as very specific comments on individual paragraphs, lines and even single words. I will also mark up your manuscript in purple ink. I work the good-old fashioned way: you will send me packets through the mail with an SASE with enough postage for the packets' return (along with up to eight additional pages). You can also email me questions about my comments, or about writing in general and I will reply. Homepage: www.lesleanewman.com Features Lesela Newman's children's book
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