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When It Comes to Grief and Loss

Sometimes the thing you least want to do becomes the very thing that touches other people most. I never wanted to write The Widowers Notebook, a book that chronicles my wife, Joy’s sudden death. I resisted writing it, then resisted publishing it. I told myself it was too personal, too revealing, too painful. I worried until the day it was published. Then I started traveling around the country with the book, meeting people, hearing their stories, their need to tell them; men and women talking of grief and loss and, if not wanting answers at least acknowledgment that although they may never get over their loss they will get better. Messages from strangers flood my website and inbox every day telling me I have written their words, thanking me for having the courage to write them. I tell them it was not courage; it was simply the way I processed my grief. Everywhere I go … Read more

It Occurs to Me That I Am America – Excerpt

The following is an excerpt from It Occurs to Me That I am American IT OCCURS TO ME THAT I AM AMERICA Foreword The idea for this book came together over a weekend not long after the 2016 presidential election. For weeks I had been thinking: What can I do? Then I knew. I presented the idea to Touchstone’s David Falk, who not only said “Yes!” but helped form the book and has been its champion from day one. I knew something else: I wanted the book to give back, to not only be an incredible read and visually dazzling but to put all of the creative work in the service of an organization that has been defending our civil liberties for almost a hundred years, which is exactly what every writer and artist has done by donating his or her royalties to the ACLU. Having led a bifurcated life in art and writing, I … Read more

Strand Books Event – Panel Discussion with Anthology Contributors

When: Tuesday January 16: 7:00PM – 8:00PM Where: Strand Books, New York, NY Just in time for the anniversary of the Trump presidency, this thought-provoking anthology features original short stories from thirty bestselling and award-winning authors. The literary world erupted in righteous anger whe Donald Trump became president elect in November of 2016. Many of America’s foremost writers and artists openly condemn the escapades of the new administration and they’re not about to meekly accept the new state of affairs. In It Occurs to Me That I Am America: New Stories and Art, dozens of the most acclaimed modern writers explore what it means to strive for a truly free democracy. Featuring artwork by some of the most politically active and concious cartoonists and graphic novelists today, this literary anthology is a must read for any citizen of this country concerned for the United State’s well-being. Join us in the Rare Book Room as a panel of … Read more

It Occurs To Me That I am America – Available January 2018

Now more than ever, we must ask ourselves: Who are the WE in We the People? In It Occurs to Me That I Am America, more than 50 bestselling and award-winning authors and artists consider the fundamental ideals of a free, just, and compassionate democracy through heart-stirring and often provocative fiction and art. I am proud to have contributed a piece to this unprecedented anthology, which is being published by Touchstone Books on January 16, 2018, in support of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) upon the one-year anniversary of the Presidential Inauguration and the Women’s March on Washington. Learn more and pre-order It Occurs to Me That I Am America at iamamericabook.com.

Gaslight (Excerpt from Alive in Shape and Color)

The Following is an excerpt from Alive in Shape and Color   GASLIGHT by Jonathan Santlofer She saw it again, not a picture this time, just the hard cold truth: a handsome young man who had married her for money. What else could he possibly see in her? She did nothing, wasn’t beautiful nor brilliant, just unsuccessful Paula, dull and drab. Except for one thing: She was rich. When they’d met, Gregory had practically nothing: the Lower East Side tenement and a part time job painting walls in an art gallery; no family money, no prospects other than an art career that might or might not eventually take off, but when would that be, and how many art careers ever did? Still, she fought the idea. She had been reading too many crime novels, that was all. Gregory cared about her. He needed her, adored her. But the thought soured fast. He needed her all … Read more

Night Windows (Excerpt from In Sunlight or In Shadow)

(The following is an excerpt from the anthology In Sunlight or In Shadow) Night Windows by Jonathan Santlofer There she is again, pink bra, pink slip, in one window then the next, appearing then disappearing, a picture in a zoetrope, flickering, evanescent, maddening. Yes, that’s the word: maddening. Then he thinks of another: delicious. And another: torture. He hadn’t expected a replacement so soon. The last one, Laura or Lauren, her name hardly matters, gone now four or five months, not like he’s not counting. They’re all replaceable, one as good as the next. Though he liked the last one, her innocence—and taking it away. He tries to picture her but her features are already blurred, like she was a watercolor and he’d run a moist finger across her face, smearing her features, erasing her, creating her then destroying her. Exactly what he did. What he always does. The woman in pink bends over, her … Read more

In Sunlight or In Shadow

Edward Hopper, that most American of artists: girlie shows, movie theaters, gas stations at night, that famous diner, strangers glimpsed in windows, the lonely streets, landscapes filled with yearning. Despite the isolation, or because of it, Hopper strikes a chord, touches us, draws us in. His subjects inhabit a world constructed entirely by the artist: lost in thought, still yet searching, his couples sit, stand, recline, sometimes side by side but never quite connected, the artist a master of isolation. I felt compelled to make drawings, this one of the artist and a few of his paintings. At first they were going to be two-minute sketches, but Hopper took hold of me and my pencil just kept going. I even added a touch of color. Of course Hopper is always about light and shadow, which brings me to the book, “In Sunlight or In Shadow, Stories Inspired By the Paintings of Edward Hopper,” brainchild of the legendary crime fiction writer, Lawrence Block, … Read more