Some writers can barely squeeze a thousand words out and they feel done—they have said it all. Others of us gush, feeling much like Zeno’s Hare—the distance to the finish is perpetually cut in half. Neither setpoint is better or worse—both are useful modes of writing that help you shape and craft your piece. enre, […]
What participants say about Camille’s workshops
March 19, 2010 by
“Camille’s workshop was the perfect first sentence to begin the story of my quest to be a writer.” James Christopoulos, Chicago, IL USA “As a novice writer, I felt sincerely acknowledged as a woman who has a story worth telling. It was Camille’s words, “I want to hear more,” which moved me from ‘thinking about […]
Another Great Writing Workshop
March 19, 2010 by
We just finished up another great workshop here in Buenos Aires. As I told the four participants, Jim, Patricia, Susan, and Lisa, I could not have hand-picked a better mix of writers to work with en masse. We worked individually and in private, too. It was all so rewarding. Each of them inspired me in her/his own way. The writing themes were awesome.
The Last Cannoli
March 16, 2010 by
This is a work of fiction inspired by my growing up in a large Sicilian American family – ten kids, two parents, a few pets here and there (very few survived for long with us, I don’t know why exactly . . . something to explore later). If you are looking for a strongly plot-driven novel, don’t bother with this one. If you like character-driven literature and a dash of the potent spice, magical realism, read this book. Especially fun to read if you grew up in New Jersey/New York area and know places like Rahway, Jersey Shore . . . which you thought would never be uttered in the same breath as literature.
Squaw Valley Institute, tango talk and demo
March 14, 2010 by
Tango and other book author Camille cusumano talks about writing, dancing tango, living in Buenos Aires at the Squaw Valley Institute; she’ll do a tango demo.
Writing Workshops TBA
March 14, 2010 by
Tango and other books author Camille Cusumano offers writing workshops from Buenos Aires to San Francisco to New Jersey–keep checking for details.
Writing Workshops in July, August
March 14, 2010 by
Award-winning author Camille Cusumano dance tango, teaches writing from Buenos Aires to San Francisco, and now even the east coast. Keep checking.
Writing Workshop: A Thousand and One Words – Find your Writing Setpoint
March 14, 2010 by
Writing Workshop to help you understand your writing setpoint – the natural length for you and how to optimize it for finishing your stories and articles with full confidence.
Writers’ Hands, Dancers’ Feet, Zen Heart
March 14, 2010 by
The hands and feet are the farthest body parts from the heart, but they are as integral to mind as the brain or any other organ. Writing is as full-bodied as dancing tango.
How, then, does Zen practice inform your writing? My years of Zen meditation played a major role in my writing life—long before I wrote TANGO, helping me to untangle knots of confusion.
Buenos Aires to San Francisco
March 14, 2010 by
March 31, 2010. On this day I am saying adios to Buenos Aires—for a while—and returning home to San Francisco. It’s been nearly a four-year Odyssey, completely unplanned. I’m looking forward to hitting Home Shores. As with an hero’s journey, the linear time is irrelevant. It may as well have been a century, a millennium, an epoch, or a hundred-thousand-million kalpas. The “unplanned” part has so much to do with the forging of my new outlooks and insights. Therefore, bear with me, as I’ve become extremely un-task-oriented and very much moved by the moment(um).
I know I am going to be doing more writing workshops, in the San Francisco Bay Area, and In Buenos Aires, and in a little town outside of Buenos Aires—all to be announced as I align my webular thinking with calendars and linear time again. Keep checking here for future dates.
Elizabeth Gilbert is Madonna and Julie Sweeney
February 25, 2010 by
I enjoyed Eat, Preay, Love. I did almost put it down, but then I got to eh part where the author begins to have crying jags over not wanting to get pregnant or to have children. I laughed out loud and thought, There’s nothing to it. Don’t get pregnant, don’t have kids, if you don’t want to. But without dramatic tension and deep conflict there is no story, in life and in literature. She wove that thread deftly.
A day in the life of Argentina
February 25, 2010 by
On January 17, 1977, some of its henchman nabbed a 28-year-old surgeon who treated the poor in a suburb just outside of Buenos Aires. Her husband, Abel Pedro Madariaga, watched in horror as army officers in civilian garb pushed her into a Ford Falcon and drove off. She was pregnant.
Salon Canning Live
February 24, 2010 by
Check out this great video Justin DelSesto of WebVision produced. Live At Salon Canning – Video of Great Dancers – Buenos Aires’ Best More to come in the next weeks. Enjoy!
Your writing instructor
February 19, 2010 by
My writing workshops are always designed to fit the needs of participants: I bring to my workshops more than thirty years of experience in publishing as researcher, writer, editor, and instructor in a vast array of subject areas including food, travel, essay, memoir, fitness, health, mind/body/spirit, creative non-fiction, fiction, and more. My work has appeared […]
Mar del Plata in photos
December 26, 2009 by
I finally got to Mar del Plata, Argentina’s much loved and much maligned seashore. Those guilty of the latter have certainly not grown up in New Jersey where the seashore sports some of the same grit. The tango—at Milonga de Gente Madura, on Gason near España—was wonderful.
The Tango Lesson for Virgins
December 26, 2009 by
Teaching tango this morning to virgins – total beginners, I had them first just walk as they normally would walk, in a circle, the line of dance, which is always counter-clockwise. Next, I had them walk applying sensory awareness techniques that are commonly used in guided meditation, Feldenkrais, Pilates, Alexander technique, and the oldest known practice of SA on earth, yoga.
The Last Tango Christmas Show
December 25, 2009 by
December 23, 2009 Eugenio Maria follows me around like a puppy, trying to be heard over the din of music and chatter. He is telling me I’m beautiful or something similar. We’re milling around at the Christmas party awaiting the Tango Show at Jose T. Borda psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires where I assist in […]
Tango and mi madre
December 17, 2009 by
They say that in dancing a three-minute tango you learn more about a person than you would over six weeks’ worth of coffee chatter. Well, how about when your partner is your mother? What’s left to learn?
Port Townsend Tango Festival
December 15, 2009 by
I attended this festival last January and it is among my favorites now. Port Townsend is a stunning historic Victorian seaport that is gateway to Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula. The town with lovely restaurants and hotels is worth the trip in itself. Note the hotels giving special rates, below. Enjoy! If you can’t read this […]