by AnnSheybani | Feb 8, 2016 | Life, Reading, Writing, writing lessons
When I first began writing and presenting my short stories about Iran, people in my workshop class looked nervous. No doubt remembering the fatwa placed on Salmon Rushdie’s head for his Satanic Verses, they asked me, “Don’t you think Iranians might...
by AnnSheybani | Feb 1, 2016 | Reading, reinvention, shame, Writing, writing lessons
Here’s the thing. If you’re a coach or a speaker looking to write a book, your readers (a.k.a. potential clients) want to know that you’ve overcome the same challenges that they’re currently facing. They want to know that you’ve had your own on-your-knees...
by AnnSheybani | Dec 15, 2015 | books, Reading
The idea of downsizing totally appeals to me. The seven-bedroom house in Connecticut made sense (not really, but hey) when we had kids at home, but now that they’re grown, not so much. Now that the dogs are dead, too (the kids are still alive, thank God, so no...
by AnnSheybani | Dec 13, 2015 | books, Reading, Writing
All writers learn and do at the same time. Don’t think for a minute that you need to put your book-writing dreams on hold until you’ve earned an MFA. To save you the $30,000, I’d like to share with you what I learned at Harvard; the very thing each writing teacher...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 12, 2015 | identity, Reading
This is my very first blog post from November of 2009. Lord Almighty, time flies. Six years, nearly to the day I started this blog with the sole intent of building an audience for my memoir about Iran, creating a platform. I wrote about books that influenced me,...
by AnnSheybani | Oct 5, 2015 | Life, Reading, sex
It was the 70’s. Playboy and Penthouse were ubiquitous on suburban coffee tables, at least in the households where I babysat. My parents, in keeping with the make-love-not-war attitude of the era, kept a stash of porn star tell-all’s, Penthouse Forum volumes,...
