I was lucky to take part in PEN/Faulkner's Celebration held on October 5, 2015. For the entertainment part of the evening hosted by Calvin Trillin, twelve authors read an original short piece inspired by the word "spark" on the stage of Shakespeare Folger Library in D.C.. The stories and essays were as different as the writers, which included Elliot Ackerman, Molly Antopol, Celia Caldwell, Susan Coll, Marlon James, T. Geronimo Johnson, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Jocelyn Reyes, Justin Taylor, and Julie Otsuka. The whole thing is available on this podcast. Here is my story in print. Thanks for reading!

​Ever since dying a year ago, I’ve been scheming my way back to life. Not because my new realm bored me. There was no shortage of fascinating people here willing, in fact, insisting on telling me their old stories over and over until my ears burned. But because my little sister Violet, who was still alive, needed my help.

She needed my help with her unruly hair. Incidentally, her hair was what killed me. Or rather, it was an errant spark of electricity from the faultily-wired socket when I turned on the hairdryer to style her hair for a school play. 

She needed my help with our parents and with Excel spreadsheets. With handling mean girls and mean boys and nice girls, too. She needed my help with implementing her plan to save the world and with choosing the perfect dress for the Homecoming dance. She was going with Jake, of whom I disapproved.  

For a while, I set my hopes on the spark to jolt me back into Violet’s world.  

Even though I was afraid, I climbed back into my killer socket. The vibrations inside of it were pleasant, like someone tickling you. But I only caused the circuits to break in the house. Violet was too busy stalking Jake on Facebook to even notice.

I caught four lightenings during a thunderstorm, then spent a week inside NASA’s cold fusion reactor. I raged around our house, almost setting my old room on fire. The room Violet had not entered since my death. 

Nothing.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t bear listening yet again to Napoleon’s account of his victory at Austerlitz. Jeez, we get it already.    

Then, one day, I met Nino. He was not capital-G great, like Peter the Great or Alexander. He was just a regular guy from sixteenth century Italy who had drowned. Something about him made my charred nerves tingle, but he also enveloped me in watery coolness so sweetly. With him, I took the first deep breath since my death. 

It’s then that Violet finally reached me, and made me feel alive and also ashamed for doubting her. I cried and cried, setting off sparks around me, until Nino’s hair—which was always a little damp—stood on ends.   

Nino and I floated on a mandarin slice in the fruit punch at the Homecoming dance. Violet’s thoughts—which, all along, had just needed a better conductor—flowed to me through the charged atmosphere of the school cafeteria. She danced with Jake, but I beat in her heart, always.     

​Nino put his arm around me, and chills ran down my spine. I didn’t know what would happen next.

I wrote a guest blog post for AMAZON's Omnivoracious blog about my hometown of Magadan, which features prominently in Snow in May, and posted several photos from the family archive of us having some good times there.

Here's the start of the blog:

"Several of the stories in my debut collection, Snow in May, are set in Magadan, my hometown in the northeast of Russia. Although the older generation associates Magadan with its dark Stalinist history, it is also a place of incredible northern beauty and of tenacious human spirit. I have very happy childhood memories of Magadan; so does my father, who also grew up in Magadan, and my grandfather who has spent many years there. Here are several photos from the family archive of Magadan throughout the years."

And here's a little preview: my grandfather and my father in the Park of Culture and Leisure in Magadan circa 1958. See the rest HERE

There days, if I'm not talking to my cat, I am probably listening to a podcast. Seriously, how did anyone ever accomplish any chores back when there weren't any podcasts? So while I'm still thinking of actual topics for the blog posts, here's a list of my favorite podcasts. Most are book-related, because apparently I can listen almost without limit to strangers talking about books—most of which I haven't read. These podcasts are what substitutes for NYC literary events, MFA classes & book discussions with friends at bars afterwards. UPDATES MAY COME.

1. Book Fight. The hosts, Mike Ingram and Tom McAllister, are writers, editors of Barrelhouse Magazine, and professors at Temple University in Philadelphia. They are also very funny and opinionated guys. They alternate between discussing books—both classics and contemporary, sometimes with guests—and answering questions related to books, writing, life, the literary scene and what have you. This podcast often sends me into fits of giggling.
2. The Drunken Odyssey with John King: A Podcast About the Writing Life. The host, John King, is a former classmate of mine from the NYU MFA, and he teaches at the University of Central Florida. The bulk of the podcast is an interview with a writer, poet (sometimes even a musician)—John is a fantastic interviewer. He also talks about the literary news, the progress of his own work, what's going on in or around Orlando, Florida readings-wise, and has great segments like "The Book that Changed My Life". John also reports from the literary conferences and festivals he attends, as well as broadcasts life readings, such as "Erotic Poetry Night."
3. Other People with Brad Listi. The host, Brad Listi, is a very energetic, wry, in-depth interviewer. He's not afraid to ask the hard and sometimes embarrassing questions. He is the author of the novel Attention. Deficit. Disorder. and founder of The Nervous Breakdown, an online culture magazine and literary community. (and a monthly book club). Totally addictive!
4. Make/Work: A Rumpus Podcast. Scott Pinkmountain interviews emerging and established artists, writers, filmmakers (and others) about how they balance creative work with making a living and stay sane—or at least make that attempt. Very reassuring and inspiring.
5. Slate's Audio Book Club.. Slate critics discuss contemporary books and the classics. Regular book club members include Dan Kois, Hanna Rosin, Emily Bazelon, Meghan O'Rourke, David Haglund, among others.
6. KCRW Bookworm. Michael Silverblatt, who's been hosting this syndicated show since 1989, talks to writers and poets. Apparently, he reads the entire oeuvre of his guest before the conversation; only invites writers he really admires (not whom he is obliged to promote); and has a "book apartment," where even doors are lined with book shelves and kitchen cupboards are stuffed with books!
7. Dear Book Nerd. Brooklyn librarian Rita Meade and guests answer reader-submitted questions of utter and immediate importance to book nerds, such as: how to find time to read, what makes a bestseller, how to choose what to read, trying to talk books with your significant other, and whether to read the classics.
   
8. Three Percent Podcast. A podcast companion to the Three Percent Blog. Chad W. Post of Open Letter Books and Tom Roberge of New Directions discuss new books in translation and various literary & publishing topics., and some random stuff. Three percent refers to the percentage of books published annually in the United States that are translations—and this small percentage is a problem.
   
9. Scriptnotes Podcast. "Screenwriters John August and Craig Mazin discuss screenwriting and related topics in the film and television industry, everything from getting stuff written to the vagaries of copyright and work-for-hire law." Love these guys. A lot of stuff they discuss relates to fiction writers, too.
10. The Mookse and the Gripes Podcast. A podcast companion to The Mookse and the Gripes review blog. Trevor Berrett and his brother, Brian, discuss books published by NYRB Classics, the "quintessential publisher as curator," in Trevor's words. These guys are not connected to the publishing industry but have a real passion for books, and the quips between the brothers are often sweet and hilarious. Trevor and Betsy also review all the fiction published in the New Yorker here.
    
11. Inside The New York Times Book Review. A podcast companion to the Sunday book review supplement. "Pamela Paul, the editor of the Book Review, talks to authors, editors and critics about new books, the literary scene and current best sellers." This podcast always makes me feel smarter!
    
12. NPR: Books Podcast. A compilation of book discussions and interviews from such NPR shows as "The Morning Edition," "All Things Considered," and "Fresh Air."
    
13. Books on the Nightstand. Friends and publishing professionals Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman give "great book recommendations, as well as a behind-the-scenes look at the world of books, bookstores and publishing."
    
14. The Guardian Books Podcast. Now, for those who like their books discussed in a British accent! Book news from across the pond. Claire Armitstead hosts. Plus there is a monthly book club episode.
    
15. The New Yorker Fiction Podcast. Writers whose fiction has been published in the New Yorker choose a story from the archive to read and discuss with Deborah Treisman, fiction editor at the magazine. Save this one for when you have enough time to listen to the whole thing at one stretch.
    
16. BBC World Book Club. "World Book Club invites the globe's great authors to discuss their best known novel. This monthly programme, presented by Harriett Gilbert, includes questions from World Service listeners." You can email questions for the upcoming guest here.
    
    NOT SOLELY-BOOK-RELATED PODCASTS
    
17. Slate's Culture Gabfest. State critics Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens debate "the week in culture, from highbrow to pop." Each also endorses one thing at the end of the episode: it could be a poem, a song, an essay, a YouTube video, a recipe, anything. Love this podcast, especially after big events like the Oscars.
    
18. Stuff Mom Never Told You. Lovely, well-spoken, smart, and funny Cristin and Caroline research and discuss subjects that are interesting to women and other human beings, from health and history to bro-rista coffee culture and convulsing cheerleaders.
    
19. Savage Lovecast. Dan Savage, "America's sweetheart," rants about politics and answers callers' love and sex questions. I need my weekly dose of Dan!
    



Henry Holt is giving away advance reader editions of Snow in May through Goodreads! Click HERE to enter.

2013 has been a good year for reading for several reasons: a) I had to quit my job due to a cross-country move; actually, two moves; b) I spent a lot of time on planes; and c) I signed up for the Goodreads reading challenge (60 books out of 65 so far and a week left till 2014). So this year, especially, I felt I had no excuses. Here's a rundown of the books I'd finished, and the places which will forever color those readings experiences in my mind. 

January.
Where: The year started in Alaska, where I was living, with a jaunt to Kauai for a late honeymoon.
What: Too Good to be True, A Memoir by Benjamin Anastas. (Mostly at mom's house, snow falling outside, so starkly white in the lit-up darkness) I'm a sucker for books about writers and the writing life; it's painful and addicting to read them, like staring into the well of one's own soul.
Two Captains by Veniamin Kaverin. Rereading it for the first time since I was about 14. Oh, how I adore this book, a perfect mix of history, romance, adventure, and passion. 
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy. My husband and I had many interesting discussions about this book on the beach. 
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. (On the beach; a sudden wave came over our towels and things, curly pages thereafter, sand between the pages). A childhood reread.

February.
Where: We sat out on our cross-country journey to Oklahoma; on a ferry through the American and Canadian waters, in a car through Alaska, Canada, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.
What: A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn. Listening to the electronic Kindle voice reading this book on and on while we drove through America was revelatory. Makes you look out of the window differently.
The Affirmation by Christopher Priest. (On the bunk bed in the little ferry state room. Going the Poor Man's Route of the Alaska Gold Rush) What a delicious mindtwist.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling. Very funny. I love her voice, love her show (most of the time).

March.
Where: Lawton, Oklahoma. Yellow winter grass, cows, flying clouds of grackles, neon signs for everything, lightening, churches. A very comfortable recliner.
What: A Novel with Cocaine by M. Ageyev. Another reread. A novel of youth, a novel of ideas, a novel of ambition both literary and social by a mysterious Russian emigre author; it thrills me every time. My favorite part is when Ageyev describes his classmates and the class dynamic-brilliant and hilarious.
The Golden Ass by Apuleius 

April, May, June, July.
Where:  Lawton, Oklahoma - days getting hotter, rare but hard rain, crazy warm winds, an evening of hail, an evening of tornado warning, cicadas getting louder, scissor-tailed flycatchers, curious cows, many box turtles on the road, many of them squished :(
What: Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan. I love books set in England, if they're good. This one is a campus/spy/love/literary thriller wrapped up in one. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. The end was a bit manipulative, but I totally bought it.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Finally.
How Should a Person Be by Sheila Heti. Very naked-feeling. My editor at Holt sent me a box of Holt books, many of which have been on my to-read list. 
The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Again, finally. This was fantastic, a real page-turner and masterly characterizations. 
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook by Daniel Alarcón (from the Holt box). This book, a complillation of writers answering Alarcón's questions, basically showed that there was no one answer and everybody did it differently. Still fun to get into the heads of a diverse group of writers from all over the world for a while.
Atonement by Ian McEwan. So much better than the movie!
On the Taiga Paths by Aleksey Kosterin. One of the old books my grandfather still has from his days of living in Magadan, Russia in the 50s and 60s. Beautiful descriptions of Magadan's nature and its first Soviet inhabitants. Fascinating to watch how the stories skirt/treat the Gulag, the history of which is so deeply intertwined with Magadan's.
Journalism by Joe Sacco. (Holt box) I've never seen visual/comic style journalism before. Love it.
No One is Here Except All of Us by Ramona Ausubel. Even with the turns that were a little weird, she still somehow pulled off the incredible fantastical premise of the book. Admirable. 
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Somehow I liked it less this time than when I was in high school.
Boom, Cash, and Balderdash: A Different Look at Fairbanks During Pipeline Construction by Jerry Fears. He was a journalist at a paper in Fairbanks, and this collection of short articles paints vividly the mood of the times. Though how would I really know: I wasn't born yet. Anyway, I loved these dispatches; they are so sly and so full of love for Fairbanks..
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris. A easy read, an occasional laugh-outlouder. Sedaris is so endearing..
Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro
You Are One of Them by Elliott Holt. I loved the description of 90s Moscow here; the portrait of the main heroine's mother was so touching. That character came alive for me most of all.
Winter Journal by Paul Auster (Holt box).  
A Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. I wish I was reading this for a lit class. Many paragraphs are masterpieces, which I might have read too fast.
Shakespeare's Kitchen by Lore Segal. I was blown away by "The Reverse Bug" as read by Jennifer Egan for the New Yorker fiction podcast. No story in this collection really rivals that one.
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. Most of this book kinda went over my head.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I listened to this on Spotify read by Wendy Ellison Mullen. She was perfect. I am yet to actually read the book.
Outlander (Outlander, #1) by Diana Gabaldon. First book in, what, seven? A Scottish time-travel romance that is actually very smart and well written. Pure delight. And they are making it into a TV series!

August:
Where: Los Angeles:  (by the pool, in the jacuzzi)
What: The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman. (Holt box) A most impressive debut. I admired the way she portrayed relationships - the way they can be ugly and true and beautiful at the same time. Also literary ambition, and literary New York, and late youth. There were so many moments of truth here, for me.
Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life by Martin E.P. Seligman
On Writing: Notes from the world of books, 1995-2012 by Robert McCrum
On Reading: Notes on the literary landscape, 1995-2012 by Robert McCrum. I have an insatiable appetite for books about reading.
Bartleby, the Scrivener by Herman Melville. Read this awkwardly on my iPhone. Wish I could listen to a lecture by a brilliant teacher on this. 

Where: Stavropol and Moscow, Russia
Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. I was reading this on the Air France flight to Moscow with a layover in Paris. For me, as a former Soviet subject with restricted traveling rights, even a layover in Paris still somehow feels the top of luxury, exoticism, and adventure, even though I think the AC was broken at the terminal. I laugh-cried reading the part where Strayed was trying to hoist her overly heavy backpack on her back. Then I cried minutes later when she was talking about her mother's death. The elegant French flight attendants with little scarves around their necks looked at me like I'd had a bit too much wine.
Persuasion by Jane Austen. I read this in Russian; somehow it had much more of a romance book feel than in English. 
Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald. (more transatlantic and Russian flights, a layover in Rome) I loved this a little less than Emigrants, Rings of Saturn, and Vertigo.

September, October, November, December.
Where: El Paso, Texas - my new home for a few years. I can actually see Mexico from my couch, as opposed to Sarah Palin and the whole seeing Russia from the backyard business. Car-alarm birds in the morning, owl hoots at night, fierce winds, red and blue bruised sky, cacti, cypresses, stars like in Kauai. 
What: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. Note to self: Austen is not for iPhone reading.
The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards by Kristopher Jansma. A very clever first novel. About writers-what can I say.
The Last Man in Russia: The Struggle to Save a Dying Nation by Oliver Bullough. I so admire people who willingly fling themselves to the farthest, most frozen and desolate reaches of Russia to see and physically feel what it must have been like for the prisoners, for the exiles of the past, and the regular folks who try to make a living there in the present.
Once upon the River Love by Andreï Makine. A reread. Makine is one of my favorite writers ever. He's a Russian emigre but has always written in French. I read him in English; I am dazzled every time. Dreams of My Russian Summers is his most famous work. 
Autobiography of Us by Aria Beth Sloss (from the Holt box)
The Victims Return: Survivors of the Gulag After Stalin by Stephen F. Cohen  A fascinating account of what happened to those - at least, some of them - who had survived Gulag and tried to rebuild their lives in Russia, with its constantly changing political currents.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. The epistolary form, being such a natural form for a reader's ear, can hide a lot of problems in a book.
A Possible Life: A Novel in Five Parts by Sebastian Faulks. This book amazed me. I believe all five stories, all five voices.
Ancient Campfires of Kamchatka and Chukotka (15 Thousand Years of History) by Nikolai Dikov. Another one of grandpa's old books. The brave archeologists endure snow and wind not only in May, but also in August.
The Believers by Zoë Heller. This novel was so smart and sharp, but I craved more heart.
Love All: A Novel by Callie Wright (from the Holt box)
Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls by Alissa Nutting. (on a plane from Buffalo back to El Paso)
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. (by a crackling fireplace during snowy Thanksgiving outside of Buffalo, New York). I wanted to adore this book as much as I adored The Secret History, but I just couldn't. It went a little too slow at places; there were too many details, but I had huge respect for its ambition and passion.
Journey into the Whirlwind by Evgenia Ginzburg. Ginzburg spent 18 years imprisoned in camps in and around Magadan, my hometown. This book, the first part of her two-part memoir, tells of her arrest and two years of solitary confinement in Kazan, Moscow and Yaroslavl, and her journey to Magadan. Despite the horrific stuff she describes, her voice is clear and at times full of humor.
A Permanent Member of the Family by Russell Banks. I won this on Goodreads. Yay! I really liked these spare, haunted, turn-of-the-moment stories, which are so different from mine. 
We Sinners by Hanna Pylväinen (from the Holt box) Another great debut. Seemed more like connected stories to me than a novel. "Total Loss" and "Repture" chapters were simply perfect, spellbinding.
Got Up Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. (On a plane from Texas to Alaska). My first Atkinson. And my first literary murder mystery.

I will be saying hello to the New Year in Alaska, again. Can't wait for 2014 - my publication year.