Author Archives: Julie Goldberg

About Julie Goldberg

Julie Goldberg has lived a life entirely too entangled with books. She is a school librarian, former English teacher, compulsive reader, occasional jazz singer and the author of Lily in the Light of Halfmoon. You can email her at perfectwhole@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter @juliegoldberg.

“How Kind of You to Come”

Posted on October 30, 2014

In what may be the first and last sort-of ghost story of my career, I present “How Kind of You to Come,” a short story I wrote for Neil Fein’s Magnificent Nose, a tale of Halloween, art, grief, obsessive love, … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Creating a Character Template

Posted on September 28, 2014

Dr. Johnson called remarriage “the triumph of hope over experience.” The same might be said of writing a second novel before selling the first. Yet here I stand at the altar again, veiled, clutching a bouquet, arrayed in the sleek second-wedding ivory suit, tuning … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Rejecting the Gratitude Challenge

Posted on September 12, 2014

The Gratitude Challenge has been making the rounds on Facebook, and several people have invited me to participate. The object of the game is to list three things you are grateful for every day for a week, then challenge others … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism | Tagged | 3 Comments

“Mom, What’s the Right Age to Start Having Sex?”

Posted on August 8, 2014

“Mom, what’s the right age to start having sex?” That was exactly the question I wasn’t expecting, sitting with my 13-year-old son and my husband in a restaurant overlooking the Hudson, sipping a cocktail, waiting for our food to arrive. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Motherhood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Don’t Pray for Peace

Posted on July 27, 2014

Lately, we’ve all been hearing many prayers for peace, but it’s not prayer or the lack of it that is our problem. There are limited resources in this world–land, water, oil, food, money, power. People fight over them, as they … Continue reading →

Posted in Criticism | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Alligators and Flash Fiction

Posted on July 23, 2014

Flash fiction is a strange beast, isn’t it? It’s compressed like a poem or a joke. It tries to do many things in a tight space: create a tiny narrative arc, suggest fully-formed characters in a gesture or two, allude … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Libraries, Criticism, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

What Are We Preparing Our Students For?

Posted on June 18, 2014

Today on Perfect Whole we have a guest post by my colleague, Richard Smith. A longer version of this essay was published in our school newspaper. Rich and I work in an extremely high-achieving school district in which nearly all … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Unconvincing”

Posted on June 9, 2014

Please check out my flash fiction, “Unconvincing,” on Neil Fein’s Magnificent Nose, part of “Flash Fiction Week VI: Fathers, Mothers, Others.” Next on Perfect Whole, look for a guest post by Rich Smith about the intense pressure placed on students … Continue reading →

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The People’s MFA

Posted on April 21, 2014

I have a new essay on Neil Fein’s Magnificent Nose today about the People’s MFA, and about a particular session taught by Professor Michael Chabon. I’ve been thinking for some time about the process by which writers consciously and unconsciously model, … Continue reading →

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“The Goldfinch”

Posted on April 21, 2014

Now that Donna Tartt has won the Pulitzer for The Goldfinch, I should probably link to my review of her beautiful novel on Neil Fein’s Magnificent Nose. A time-honored axiom among screenwriters and novelists is “Chase your character up a tree and … Continue reading →

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