Tayari Jones Female Jersey City, NJ United States: Like

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Silver Sparrow and the Pill

I was recently attending the meeting of a book club that had chosen Silver Sparrow as their monthly selection. One of the questions raised in the meeting was whether or not the daughters (Dana and Chaurisse) had broken the cycle of problematic relationships modeled by their mothers. Earlier this year, when I was interviewed by…See More

Blog post by Tayari Jones Sunday

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Blog posts by Tayari Jones Friday

Brook Blander liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Ten Second Writing Lesson' Jan 25

Augie commented on the blog post 'Five Things I Wish I Had Known When I Published My First Book'

Tayari, thank you---this gives each one of us a little more hope that the 'big houses' need to learn, that we are writers and we do not quit because of rejection. Heck I hear no everyday so what's one more. Remember when LP's…

Jan 21

Maria Nazos liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Five Things I Wish I Had Known When I Published My First Book' Jan 20

Blog posts by Tayari Jones Dec 31, 2011

Allyson Whipple liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Ten Second Writing Lesson' Dec 21, 2011

Novelist Shayla V. McClellon liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Ten Second Writing Lesson' Dec 19, 2011

Ten Second Writing Lesson

I was reading a student's manuscript recently. I liked it, but I didn't love it because there was something generic about the descriptions. I shared with him a pretty easy fix that will make a significant difference in the draft:Dear _____________,Here is an easy suggested to amp up the language in your story. Use your "find" function on your word processor and look for the following words--…See More

Blog post by Tayari Jones Dec 19, 2011

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Teonna Rolen liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'When It Comes to Writing Time, Sometimes Less Is More' Dec 13, 2011

D Taylor liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Workshop Dos and Don'ts' Dec 3, 2011

Catherine McNamara commented on the blog post 'Five Things I Wish I Had Known When I Published My First Book'

Lovely and inspiring words. My debut novel is coming out next spring and I too have excluded almost everything to get this work onto the road. I have lost balance! So thank you, you've given me some food for thought. (ps I still love the new…

Dec 1, 2011

Valerie Brooks liked Tayari Jones's blog post 'Workshop Dos and Don'ts' Nov 30, 2011

Jessica Vealitzek commented on the blog post 'Silver Sparrow is a Goodreads Semi Finalist!'

Voted - good luck!

Nov 14, 2011

Silver Sparrow is a Goodreads Semi Finalist!

I am thrilled to see that Silver Sparrow is a Semifinalist in the Goodreads Readers Choice Awards thanks to write-in votes from readers. Now, I am asking you to help Silver Sparrow to make it up to the next round. Thank you so much, SheWriters, for being so supportive and just generally awesome.See More

Blog post by Tayari Jones Nov 14, 2011

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When It Comes to Writing Time, Sometimes Less Is More

This Is Not WritingMany of you know that I am spending the year as a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. It’s wonderful here. There are fifty fellows and we are given a full academic year to basically do our thing. My thing, as you can imagine, is researching and writing a new novel. It’s called Dear History and it’s turning out to have a mind of it’s own– but that’s a post for another day. This opportunity is what I have always dreamed of. It’s a…See More

Blog post by Tayari Jones Nov 6, 2011

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Profile Information

Who I am:: www.tayarijones.com/blog
www.twitter.com/tayari
tayarijones.tumblr.com

Books I've written, anthologies I've contributed to, and any scripts or plays I've authored:: Leaving Atlanta (Warner Books, 2002)
The Untelling (Warner Books, 2005)
The Silver Girl (Algonquin Books, 2011)

My writing is:: Fiction

Outlets where I review books, TV, or film:: novels

My professional associations:: Rutgers-Nweark MFA Program
Associated Writing Programs
PEN USA
Author's Guild

I found out about She Writes from:: Kamy

Tayari Jones's Blog

Silver Sparrow and the Pill

Posted on February 12, 2012 at 7:30am 0 Comments 0 Likes

I was recently attending the meeting of a book club that had chosen Silver Sparrow as their monthly selection. One of the questions raised in the meeting was whether or not the daughters (Dana and Chaurisse) had broken the cycle of problematic relationships modeled by their mothers. Earlier this year, when I was…

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From The Archives: Ntozake Shange, Pearl Cleage, Nikky Finney, And Me

Posted on February 10, 2012 at 7:34am 0 Comments 0 Likes

This photo of Nikky Finney, Pearl Cleage, and Ntozake Shange and me was taken at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta in 2003. I can’t believe that was almost ten years ago. My first novel, Leaving Atlanta, was just out in paperback. I was starting to feel like a “real” writer, but sharing the stage with these women had me shaking like a leaf. All three…

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Are You Prepared For The Possibility of Adventure?

Posted on December 31, 2011 at 6:00am 0 Comments 0 Likes

Today, I am renewing my passport. I can't believe that it has been ten years since I made a New Years Eve promise to myself. Things were a lot different then. I hadn't yet published my first book. I was living on a tight budget. I did all my writing in a closet. Not a converted closet, but an actual closet with clothes in it, and also a small desk. But still, I decided to get myself a…

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Silver Sparrow one of O Magazine's "Favorite Things"

Posted on December 30, 2011 at 11:20am 0 Comments 0 Likes

Sixteen-year-old Dana Lynn Yarboro lives with her mother in 1980s Atlanta, not far from her father, who visits at least once a week. But in Tayari Jones's Silver Sparrow (Algonquin), this is not your typical single-parent household: Dana's dad and mom are married, after all. The thing is, they're a "secret family" because he's also married to another woman and has another…

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At 9:42am on July 6, 2011, Sarah Pinneo said…: Ooooh!!!! I heard you on NPR today, and all I could think was "Big time! Silver Sparrow is officially big time!"

Great job,

S.P.

At 9:21pm on June 1, 2011, Joanne C. Hillhouse said…: I'm sure you've seen this review already http://sandralambert.typepad.com/sandra_gail_lambert/2011/05/silver-sparrow.html

but between it and your blog posts I'm adding Silver Sparrow to my reading list.

At 6:27pm on May 28, 2011, s Michelle said…: Tayari,

I just finished Silver Sparrow, my emotions are hemorrhaging, so this won't be an intelligent comment. but I had to write you to say thank you, for birthing Dana, Gwen, Chaurisse, James, Laverne & Raleigh. Each one is a piece of someone I know & love. I will post a review on my blog & amazon & good reads, etc - once I stop the bleeding.

At 12:34pm on May 9, 2011, Susan McBeth said…: Yes, Winter Institute was great, and it was a pleasure meeting you. Attended as a bookstore Director of Marketing & Events and will now be attending BEA as my own boss, having left the bookstore and ventured out on my own as Adventures By the Book. Are you heading to BEA? I see you will be at SDSU in December? Will that be a public event or something private with the school?

At 12:21pm on March 19, 2011, Tracita Linda said…: HI Ms. Jones! I wanted to send you my thoughts on the book 'The Untelling'- I read it in 2 days! Thanks for doing what you do. You have truly blessed me with your skill. Keep it up!

At 1:18pm on October 31, 2010, Elaine Weaver-Crepps, M.A. said…: Hi, Tayari! I'm Elaine! My twitter handle is ElaineGardner28! I'm already following you! I, too am from NJ. However, I live in South Jersey. Let's meet sometime! I am also writing a book! Take care!

At 5:36am on October 27, 2010, Editors Picks said…: Hey there Tayari,
Your post is featured for this week's Editor's Picks!
Check it out here and let us know what you think.
Keep writing!
-Kate
Managing Editor, She Writes Blog
Community Manager, She Writes

At 10:11am on August 10, 2010, Deborah Siegel said…: How fabulous to be reading your inaugural Surviving the Draft column here today! Love your wisdom. Thank you, Tayari!!! Warmest wishes, Debbie

At 7:06am on August 4, 2010, Editors Picks said…: Hey Tayari,
We've featured you on Editor's Picks this week.
Check it out here!
Keep up the great work,
-Kate
Managing Editor, She Writes Blog

At 9:57am on July 26, 2010, Judith van Praag said…: Tayari, What a relieve to read your response to the White Ambassadors Wanted blog post. I'm wishing you a wonderful time at the Hurston/Wright Writers Week. How marvelous to return to the place that symbolizes the beginning/ take-off of your career!

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How John Cusack ruined Valentine's Day for Me.

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Jeannette LeSure commented on the blog post 'How to Write Memoir? 1. Forget Writing Prompts and Exercises 2. Stake Out Your Territory'

While I agree that we can get carried away and even use prompts and exercises as effective avoidance techniques to tell ourselves, well, we ARE writing something, I found two books and a couple of classes to be enormously helpful in getting me going…

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How John Cusack and his boom box ruined Valentine's Day: http://goo.gl/SgMfN

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Amy Lynn Nolan commented on the blog post 'How to Write Memoir? 1. Forget Writing Prompts and Exercises 2. Stake Out Your Territory'

This is so beautiful. Thank you for your generous spirit and for sharing it. I am slowly working on a memoir that has been "near finished" for two years. I'm struggling not to let writing be "the first to go," when life gets…

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