Lately I'm entranced by giving readings from my "works in progress" instead of from the already published story. It is so much more vulnerable for me--not just a repeat of the last book reading, but fresh and raw. I am exposing my creative process. It can be rather like watching an artist put the final vibrant touches on her painting, and not just listening to her talk about it as it hangs, dusty, in the gallery.

I like to get the audience involved and intrigued by the writing process.

You might want to try this: Have a party and invite your writer friends to read from stories they are in the process of writing. They do have to be well-edited even if they aren't completed. And when you read, what if you ask their opinion on two different endings? It's a theatrical way of getting feedback. But can you handle it? Or do you want to be perfect all the time and not reveal that many times the artist stands at a crossroads of decision?

Try it. I call it a " raw reading" and it still scares me. In fact I did it last night at our Wild Writing Women Literary Salon in San Francisco. Six of us read from works-in-progress--fiction and nonfiction. The audience loved the behind-the-story stories we told on how (and why) these yarns were being birthed. I read from "The Coptic Priest"--a tale of my time in Palestine. I began writing it last week and from the audience's response, I will finish it. Their positive feedback let me know the story has depth and is worth completing.