Anastasia Ashman's Page

“Manners are your passport to the world,” the Gilded Age writer of American etiquette Emily Post once opined. The mid-century sage also said etiquette isn’t a strict code of socially correct behavior we need to memorize -- it’s simply how our lives touch other people. Respect.

Although more a proponent of… Continue

Expatriatism is often a life apart. So how does a writer abroad get up to speed and compete in her home market?

Here’s my answer in a guest post — about the fortuitous intersection of expatriatism, epublishing and digital citizenship — at former Writers Digest editor Maria Schneider’s Editor Unleashed blog.

Are you culturally or geographically challenged? How do you le… Continue

Expatriate literature may be stocked in the travel section, but does it deserve a shelf of its own?

Living for extended periods in foreign locales, expatriates struggle to reestablish themselves and find meaningful access to their new home. Travelers passing through often have the luxury to avoid the very issues of assimilation and identity that dominate the expat psyche. On Twitter's #LitChat May 25-29 we'll talk about the unique depths this can b… Continue

As the coeditor of an anthology by foreign women in modern Turkey, and an American living abroad in Istanbul, Twitter has been an invaluable tool to bring me closer to the world I work in, and up to speed on my industry.

I meet my readers (fellow expats, travelers, writers, and culturati among them) and my publishing world colleagues (agents, authors, editors, publishers) to discuss not only issues relevant to my first book, but also to the memoir I am currently writing, and the rapidly changin… Continue

Here in Istanbul I can feel the tremors coming out of Austin this week after the explosive South by Southwest panel "New Think for Old Publishers."

http://www.sxsw.com/interactive/talks/panels/?action=show&id=IAP0901368

I'm completing a new book and watching the industry combust. This week's events have helped clarify my options.

Take a look at the following blog reports to see why an industry inside… Continue