Really mellow day…

Really mellow day yesterday. Wrote in the morning (actually, 'til about 3), finishing the revisions according to Ben. Not sure if it's actually better; we'll see what my first readers think. Then I ran around with my mom doing errands. Bits of felt to go under the chairs in the dining room (which I dutifully applied later in the evening), a couple of pots for her new gardenia and hibiscus, etc. at Home Depot. Visited two garden stores. Pleasant, and at the end of the day, she made me curry. Mmm....

Today I'm in New York, working at a cafe. Just had a great lunch with Sumita Sheth, the editor-in-chief of the soon-forthcoming DesiLit Magazine. I hadn't met her in person before, so it was terrific to have the chance, and she's even sweeter in person than on the phone. In addition to telling her a half-dozen things I thought she should do with the magazine (most of which I should have e-mailed to her weeks, if not months ago, but I am too scattered these days), I managed to con her into agreeing to serve as Coordinator of our proposed online writing workshop. :-) :-) :-) I love talking people into doing work. I would feel more guilty about it, except a) it shouldn't be all that much work, and b) it's in a good cause, not only providing a writing workshop for people who may be too isolated to find one otherwise, but also hopefully facilitating communication between diaspora and homeland writers, to the enhancement of the literature of both! We're going to work on it next week, hopefully, and who knows -- we might even be ready to go by the end of the month. There really isn't so much involved in setting up a bare-bones version.

The one thing we do need are a few more facilitators. Devi agreed to be one, but I think two more would help alleviate the workload. The facilitators would track subs and crits sent to the list, and once a month, post a tracking sheet to the list, so people know exactly who's subbing and critting and who isn't. It's virtue enforced by shame. :-) If people don't live up to our participation requirements for three months, they get kicked off the list. (That's one of Sumita's jobs, poor munchkin.) So if you're interested in serving as a facilitator (you can also sub and crit), let me know. You need not be South Asian to apply, although a strong interest in the area is certainly recommended. :-)

The workshop will be open to anyone from S. Asia, of the diaspora, or writing about S. Asia and/or the diaspora. Broad enough? :-)

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