Sweet!

THE OBITUARY WRITER and I are participating in a really fun event in NYC on Thursday. below is the invitation, which of course is extended to all of you!

Dear friends of Sweet!,

For many centuries now, humans have been celebrating spring by watching five wonderful actors read works by five remarkable writers. This Thursday, we are keeping that beautiful tradition alive, and we hope you'd be there to help us!

Where Three of Cups, 83 1st Ave @ 5th St.
(F/V to Second Ave)
When THIS THURSDAY, May 2nd, 7:30pm sharp.

This month's Sweet! features:

Clyde Baldo
Elizabeth Galalis
Piper Goodeve
Larry Ruth
Emily Warshaw 

Reading from

Lyndon by Amber Dermont
Every Answer Is Yes and other poems by Nicole Terez Dutton
The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood
Poe’s Basement by Matthew Mercier
The Diggings by Claire Vaye Watkins

Please note that this event is FREE and features a sweet HAPPY HOUR deal!

Hope to see you there!

Your curators and hosts,
Shelly Oria and Annie Levy

Regrets

Well, I don't really have any. Except this one: in 1981, I had the opportunity to live in Tripoli, Libya and fly back and forth to Mecca, taking pilgrims to the Haj. And I chickened out. Ever since, I promised that i would never say no to a travel opportunity again. That is why I'm getting ready to leave for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in a couple of weeks!

I will keep you updated on all things Central Asia. For now, I'm just trying to get everything in order before I go. Catching up on so much that fell by the wayside during the book tour.

Lots of articles coming out in the next few weeks. I think my essay on smoking salmon is in the new More magazine, but haven't seen it myself to confirm. Travel essays in Coastal Living and The Wall Street Journal are pending. I'll send links when they appear.

Excited to knit my Mara shawl as I make my way from here to Istanbul and beyond.

I won't ever again regret stepping out of my safety zone and going places I never imagined! Surely I will bring home lots and lots of stories. And a new shawl!

Writing in Tuscany

Just a quick note here to put out the word that a couple of spots have opened up in my writing workshop in Tuscany. Please let me know if you might be interested in a week of good food, good wine, good company, and lots of writing!

Here's what you can expect:
www.spannocchiawritersworkshop.com

And here's more on the fabulous place where it is held:
www.spannocchia.org

The writers Jane Hamilton and Anne LeClaire will be joining me this summer, August 23-30.

I am already counting the days...

I KNOW ABOUT THE TYPOS!

Thanks to everyone who has found the three typos in THE OBITUARY WRITER. It is maddening for me, since they appeared after copyediting. But they will be fixed in the next printing!

Home, Sweet Home

I am sitting in what we call the puzzle room (because it's where we do jigsaw puzzles) happily catching up with my life. The sun is streaming in the window. Our prayer flags that stretch from one corner to the other in this room are drooping pleasantly. I am thinking my thoughts at a leisurely pace, which i haven't had much time to do with the whirlwind publication of THE OBITUARY WRITER.

Annabelle is at ballet, but she'll be bursting through the door in about half an hour. Then she and cousin GJ and I will drive to the Wellesley Bookstore in Wellesley, MA where I'm reading at 7PM tonight. Come! After, we're eating at Blue Ginger. I've wanted to eat at Ming Tsai's restaurant for a very long time so am excited!

On Saturday I'll be at Tatnuck Booksellers in Westborough, MA at 1PM. Please stop by if you are in that area!

Exciting news: I'm off to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan in mid-March as part of the International Writing Program out of the University of Iowa. Hopefully I will be able to post here and on FB, but I understand that at least in Turkmenistan the internet is spotty and/or expensive.

I've got lots of books stocked up to take along (the flights are brutal to get there!) and a pattern for a shawl to knit, as well as 5 books downloaded from Audible.com, thanks to my pals and wonderful writers, Lily King and Debra Spark. I also stopped reading my New Yorkers so I could bring them along too.

But before I leave, I have one of my favorite weekends, Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace, in Boston.

For the next twenty minutes or so, I think I'll just enjoy this sunlit room...

Catching my breath

I am sitting here in NYC, lovely street sounds coming in through the open window, catching my breath after a week of travel. Is it boring or redundant to say that flying has really become a test of stamina? US Air yet again put me through travel hell, and I've decided to request no more bookings on that airline. They are truly awful. Rude and without compassion or customer service training. They actually looked at a woman behind me in line on friday night and told her they would put her on a flight home Tuesday. How could someone say this without apology or irony????

But enough bellyaching. I had such terrific events in Indianapolis and at the Woodstock Writers Festival that I feel bad complaining. Bravo to the wonderful women of Indianapolis who raise money for scholarships for the Christamore House! And to Martha Frankel for organizing one of the best literary festivals out there.

This week I will be in Wellesley, MA on Thursday night at 7, and in Westborough, MA at 1 PM on Saturday. Details are on my website.

For now though, another cup of coffee while I listen to the beautiful sounds of the city.

Etcetera

My mind is kind of all over the place this morning, so this post will probably be a bit scattered too!

Yesterday we drove to and from Ithaca to celebrate Sam's twentieth birthday. The big day is actually Tuesday, but something tells me twenty year old guys would rather celebrate with their college friends, so off we went, leaving at the crack of dawn, eating Frito's and drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee to fuel us. But when that boy grinned at us as we drove into the parking lot, I would have driven a thousand miles for that! We ate a late lunch, showered him with gifts, hung out in his apartment, then turned around and came home. Phew!

A nice ending to a lovely weekend at home, cooking and entertaining and teaching Annabelle to play Clue (it was Professor Plum in the Library with the rope).

And a lovely event in Osterville, MA with truly lovely people there. Many thanks for driving so far and bringing so much light into that cloudy afternoon!

Tomorrow we go to NYC to take Annabelle to see Matilda on Broadway and celebrate HER birthday in style, which means a trip to the zoo and lots of scallion pancakes.

You all know this is a tough month for me (oh! TS Eliot, it is the cruelest month) including yesterday marking the sixteen years without my beloved dad, who I miss every day. And Thursday marking eleven years without my Gracie.

But I struggle during these hard anniversaries to focus on the sweet joy all around me. In that big grin. In that almost nine year old hand in mine.