{"id":254,"date":"2014-03-28T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-28T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=254"},"modified":"2015-07-25T11:57:09","modified_gmt":"2015-07-25T11:57:09","slug":"a-year-of-womens-voices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/?p=254","title":{"rendered":"A Year Of Women’s Voices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Halong Bay, Vietnam 2009<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n Starting this week, I am embarking on a year long reading project that will focus on women writers as a way of acknowledging that women encounter resistance in getting their work published, reviewed, and taken seriously. <\/p>\n

I was inspired to start this project after reading this post 100 Best Lesbian Fiction Memoir Books of All Time<\/a> . After a little research I also found these two lists,  10 Novels \/ Memoirs by and about Black Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer Women<\/a> and Feminista’s 100 Great 20th Century Works of Fiction by Women<\/a> .  I am not alone in dedicating this year’s reading to women writers. There is a Twitter hashtag #readwomen2014, and this Note from the Editor: Critical Flame Dedicates One Year to Women and Writers of Color<\/a> .  After reading through each list with a highlighter, I felt like I had been living in a cave.   I had only read about half of the books listed.<\/p>\n

I should explain that I read four or five books per week.  I am as likely to be reading a natural history of earthworms, as I am the latest release from my favorite romance\/erotica writers.  I read literary fiction, memoir, non-fiction, creative non-fiction, mystery, romance, suspense, erotica, fantasy, science-fiction, and horror. <\/p>\n

As an obsessive reader of all manner of books, and not content to follow someone else’s list, I decided to create my own list.  I asked my friends for recommendations in person, and on my Facebook page. The response was wonderful. I have so many suggestions that I may have to do this again next year!  I am looking forward to reading new books, and rereading a few books that are favorites.<\/p>\n

Why reread? Books speak to you in different ways at different times in your life. You can’t step in the same river twice, and you can’t read a book again for the first time.  This time when I reread some of my favorites, I will also be reading as a writer.<\/p>\n

Prior to a recent milestone birthday, writing for publication was a nebulous idea.  I wrote in journals, and spiral notebooks. I never considered myself a writer, or showed anyone my writing.  It was my secret.  Then I hit the half-century mark. I decided to gift myself a writing conference, and to take the craft and work of writing seriously. It was the best gift I have ever given myself.  Reading a book as a writer is different than reading as a reader.  As a long time reader I knew I loved some books, as I study the craft of writing, I understand why I love them. My posts will talk about the books I read in two way. One as they resonate, or not, with me as a person, and how the books are crafted. <\/p>\n

Thank you to my friends who contributed ideas for the book list.  I appreciate your help.  Each month on the blog I will publish the list of books for the month.<\/p>\n

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\nBooks have been my refuge, my solace, my escape, and my teachers for as long as I can remember. They have inspired me to take great adventures, change my thinking, and appreciate life. <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nDo you feel the same way about books? Come along on the grand adventure. <\/div>\n
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Halong Bay, Vietnam 2009 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Halong Bay, Vietnam 2009  Starting this week, I am embarking on a year long reading project that will focus on women writers as a way of acknowledging that women encounter resistance in getting their work published, reviewed, and taken seriously. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[79,54,178,198],"class_list":["post-254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-year-of-womens-voices","tag-craft-of-writing","tag-reading-as-a-writer","tag-women-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.writingwhiledistracted.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}