Alison Oatman

Literature Will Save The Planet!

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I Wrote A Novel!

Thanks…and Sorry!

November 21, 2012 by Alison Oatman Leave a Comment

In that first year of the white man in Virginia, 1607, Powhatan had addressed a plea to John Smith that turned out to be prophetic. How authentic it is may be in doubt, but it is so much like so many Indian statements that it may be taken as, if not the rough letter of that first plea, the exact spirit of it:

 “I have seen two generations of my people die…I know the difference between peace and war better than any man in my country. I am now grown old, and must die soon; my authority must descend to my brothers, Opitchapan, Opechancanough and Catatough–then  to my two sisters, and then to my two daughters. I wish them to know as much as I do, and that your love to them may be like mine to you. Why will you take by force what you may have quietly by love? Why will you destroy us who supply you with food? What can you get by war?”

–from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United StatesContinue Reading

Calm Assertiveness

November 21, 2012 by Alison Oatman Leave a Comment

“We tend to think of feelings as things that just happen in our ‘hearts’–as things that are somehow not connected to the physical world. The truth is, very obvious chemical and physical changes happen in our bodies and our brains when our emotions change. When we’re angry, our heart rate increases and our brains and bodies are flooded with hormones like adrenaline, to give us the extra boost to be able to fight. When we’re afraid, blood flows to our biggest muscles such as our legs so we can be ready to flee, and other hormones put our body on alert, ready for action. Love creates the opposite responses to fear and anger, and makes us feel calm, content, safe, and relaxed. When we’re sad, our body’s metabolism slows, conserving our energy so that we can heal, both physically and psychologically. And finally, happiness increases the activity in our brain, blocking negative feelings and allowing us better access to our available energy. In this regard, we feel and react to emotions in exactly the same way that our dogs do. With all these complex biological changes going on inside of us every time we have a feeling, is it any wonder that other animals can tell what we’re feeling at any given moment?”

 —Be the Pack Leader by Cesar Millan   

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The “Barren Spinster”

November 20, 2012 by Alison Oatman Leave a Comment

“…I don’t think there’s a single lesson that motherhood has to offer that couldn’t be learned elsewhere. If you want to know what’s in motherhood for you, as a woman, then–in truth–it’s nothing you couldn’t get from, say, reading the 100 greatest books in human history; learning a foreign language well enough to argue in it; climbing hills; loving recklessly; sitting quietly, alone, in the dawn; drinking whiskey with revolutionaries; learning to do close-hand magic; swimming in a river in winter; growing foxgloves, peas, and roses; calling your mum; singing while you walk; being polite; and always, helping strangers. No one has ever claimed for a moment that childless men have missed out on a vital aspect of their existence, and were the poorer and crippled by it…

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Why a blog?

July 11, 2012 by Alison Oatman Leave a Comment

I first wanted to set up this website to help promote a novel I had finished. It was called Scenario, and it was about the allure of celebrity culture and its role in the decline of the American Empire. It was also a murder mystery and a love story. I thought I’d nailed it.

Then I got a phone call from a friend/mentor who was (I suspect mostly due to his generous disposition) extremely enthusiastic about my novel, yet thought it would work better as the material for two short stories. As I value his opinion above any other, this was a blow and a setback.
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Alison Oatman attended Wellesley College and N.Y.U., where she majored in Italian Language and Literature. She obtained her M.A. in Medieval Studies at Columbia University.

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