In New York’s world of art, movies, celebrities, and drag queens, Blake, a Hollywood icon, stands out, as does Ada, a lesser-known artist. But when you’re famous, or with someone who is, and when the public has commodified not just art but also the artist, how can you trust that others see the real you, and not the flat media projection? Blake and Ada each want nothing more than to have their talent acknowledged, but they need to be seen, understood, and valued for who they are as three-dimensional people. And maybe even be loved, if they can get past feeling that they don’t deserve it.
This is the essence of Flattened, Gail’s novel-in-progress, which her agent, Elisa Saphier of MacGregor & Luedeke Literary, has sent out on submission.
Gail is also collaborating with other Maggidah to organize storytelling events in Portland later this year and to compile a collection of women’s stories. Sign up for her newsletter to get further announcements on these projects.
Gail Pasternack is an ordained Maggidah (Jewish storyteller) who is passionate about living a creative life and telling stories at her local pub. Her story, Asmodai in Portland, was published by Reclaiming Judaism Press in the New Mitzvah Stories for the Whole Family anthology and her story, “Here I Am” was published by Jewish Fiction.net in September, 2021. In March of 2021, her travel essay about cocktail bars in London and Paris was published in Wanderlust Journal. Gail has served on the Willamette Writers Board of Directors since 2015 and as its president since 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a masters from Columbia University. Gail and her husband reside in Portland where they are active members of the tango and jazz communities.
Ursula LeGuin said, “The creative adult is the child who survived.” Yet what happens when that creativity gets blocked by everyday life? My e-book Living Creatively shows how we can release our inner artist and see beauty in the everyday.
Sign up for her monthly newsletter here.
In New York’s world of art, movies, celebrities, and drag queens, Blake, a Hollywood icon, stands out, as does Ada, a lesser-known artist. But when you’re famous, or with someone who is, and when the public has commodified not just art but also the artist, how can you trust that others see the real you, and not the flat media projection? Blake and Ada each want nothing more than to have their talent acknowledged, but they need to be seen, understood, and valued for who they are as three-dimensional people. And maybe even be loved, if they can get past feeling that they don’t deserve it.
This is the essence of Flattened, Gail’s novel-in-progress, which her agent, Elisa Saphier of MacGregor & Luedeke Literary, has sent out on submission.
Gail is also collaborating with other Maggidah to organize storytelling events in Portland later this year and to compile a collection of women’s stories. Sign up for her newsletter to get further announcements on these projects.
Gail Pasternack is an ordained Maggidah (Jewish storyteller) who is passionate about living a creative life and telling stories at her local pub. Her story, Asmodai in Portland, was published by Reclaiming Judaism Press in the New Mitzvah Stories for the Whole Family anthology and her story, “Here I Am” was published by Jewish Fiction.net in September, 2021. In March of 2021, her travel essay about cocktail bars in London and Paris was published in Wanderlust Journal. Gail has served on the Willamette Writers Board of Directors since 2015 and as its president since 2019. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a masters from Columbia University. Gail and her husband reside in Portland where they are active members of the tango and jazz communities.