Category Joy’s Work

Short Story: Deluge in Salomé

I’m so pleased to be part of Salomé’s July issue. My very short story is called Deluge. Here’s the first two lines: The woman’s personality wouldn’t stay inside her. She vomited it into the corner of the literary gathering, a…

Book Review: The Sorrow of Isadora Duncan

I have a book review up on KQED on Isadora by Amelia Gray. It’s about Isadora Duncan. Excerpt: Fun fact: Isadora Duncan and Jack London were contemporaries. Both were born in San Francisco, in 1877 and 1876, respectively. Both experienced…

Article: How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising

I have an article in the Smithsonian on how How Beatrix Potter Invented Character Merchandising. Excerpt: Beatrix Potter is known for her gentle children’s books and beautiful illustrations. But the sweet stories of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and others helped…

Short Story: Murmur

My short story Murmur is up on Every Day Fiction. It’s about a ghost. Excerpt: She came in with the rain, through an open window. It was the house of a young family. The ghost, whose name had been Amaya,…

Book Review: Hourglass by Dani Shapiro

I really enjoyed Hourglass by Dani Shapiro. Check out my review on KQED. Excerpt: My 15th wedding anniversary is in June. It seems impossible that my husband and I have been together for that long. The first 10 years of…

Superstition Review: On Sondheim and Whether Lyrics Are Poetry

Over at the Superstition Review, check out my essay On Sondheim and Whether Lyrics Are Poetry. I wrote about why I don’t think Bob Dylan should have won a Nobel Prize in Literature, using Sondheim–another great storyteller through lyrics and…

Article: How Reality TV Made Donald Trump

I have an op-ed up on Vice! Check out How Reality TV Made Donald Trump President. A sample: We should learn from this election. It’s imperative that we look at who and what we’re elevating in the form of harmless…

Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency

In June I went to the Cuttyhunk Island Writers’ Residency. It was the first year they had the residency, which was located on Cuttyhunk Island, near Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. I’d never heard of it before. Along with 14 other…