I had such a good time on Sunday reading — and spending time — with Oil and Water…And Other Things That Don’t Mix Editor Nicky Wheeler-Nicholson-Brown and contributors Laura B. Gschwandtner, Ginger McKnight-Chavers, and Maureen Doallas, who graciously coordinated us. (The book is available from Amazon and benefits Mobile, AL charities. Read well and do good at the same time.)
It could have been supremely awkward — meetings of writers often are. And these are not just any writers. These are writers I’m already intimate with, people whose work snuggled up next to mine between the covers of our anthology. I’ve already spent lots of time with their words, so of course I wondered, what would they be like in real life? Would I like them, really like them? Could the be as fab as their poems/stories/essays?
Not to worry — they were.
We did have a friendly lovefest, listening to these ladies’ poems/stories/essays in their own strong voices. I get so much from hearing writers speak their words aloud, from hearing the inflection, the additions and the contractions, the humor — an increased intimacy.
Oil and Water may not mix, but Oil and Water contributors definitely do, and I hope we will again soon!
Thanks to Judith HeartSong for the photo (from her blog) and for hosting us at her lovely gallery.
Dania Rajendra 