So happy to be sitting in my little sublet here waiting for my old buddy Matt to text me that he's arrived and ready to meet up. The rain has stopped and the sun is shining on my beautiful city!
I had a whirlwind trip to Atlanta on Saturday, and a wonderful night last night at The Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA with old friends (including a couple surprises!) and new friends alike.
Wiped out, but got to start knitting a rotini scarf on the train, and to get some work done. Book tours get in the way of actual writing! Now that I'm here though, I will write every morning, which feels grand.
The schedule, if you find yourself in these parts, is:
The Strand with Chris Castellani tonight, Tuesday, at 7PM
Cake Shop on Ludlow Street with Helen Schulman and others at 7PM tomorrow night (Wednesday)
Pete's Candy Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at 7:30 Thursday night
Next week, come see me at Bookworks in Albuquerque on March 27th or at the Melrose Library in Melrose, MA on March 28.
In between, I have some fun parties to celebrate my good old alma mater, URI. One at Rosecliff in Newport and another at the Providence Public Library. Eager to catch up with all my fellow Rams!
Also: Annabelle has to have two teeth pulled, and as most of you know, medical stuff around my kids makes me a little crazy. So send her good thoughts on March 25 please...
Time to put on my little black dress!
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Blogging at 35000 feet
Few things make me happier than wifi on airplanes. Why can't we get it on every flight? I just got to send off all the emails that needed sending off instead of having to wait until I'm on terra firma. And I got to check Facebook, shop at J Crew, and now blog! All while I sip my Earl Grey. And all before 7AM!
I had an amazing night at Politics and Prose! Thank you to everyone who came. What a great bookstore, and what a great crowd. I arrived at my hotel at 2:30 in the morning, which was horrible. Dropped into bed, and slept without moving until almost 9:30. Had me some room service with the large pot of coffee, then walked around Dupont Circle in the drizzle before my reading. I met up with Sam's roomie's mother for some vino first. She is one of my new favorite people so i was glad to get the chance for one on one time with her. Post reading a gang of us URI Rams hit Buck's Fishing and Camping for very fine grub and more vino.
Returned to Politics and Prose the next morning to teach a writing workshop on Beginnings. A lovely group of people there! But I was happy to head home afterwards, after so many days on the road. And happier still to get picked up at the airport by Sam, home from spring break ever so briefly. He made the key lime pie for dessert that night; I made the Italian flank steak (recipe from Wednesday's New York Times) with arugula salad and grilled asparagus. Everything about as yummy as could be.
Then blissfully home all day Friday. Lunch with Sam at Chez Pascal's Wurst House (pork butt pastrami sandwich!), a visit to Gogo's, then home to the rest of the family, including Ariane, visiting from Minneapolis. Roasted salmon with a mustard tarragon sauce, an amazing salad by Sam, and Israeli couscous before blasting through three kinds of gelato: sea salt caramel, Roman raspberry and toasted almond.
I cannot express my joy at having everyone home around the kitchen table. Sigh.
Then it was up at 3:30 this morning to make this dreadful 6AM flight, but I wanted to do this Atlanta trip in one day so that I get more time with the kiddos, who both leave tomorrow afternoon.
Lots of events this week, all listed on the website. They include The Odyssey Bookstore in Northampton on Monday; The Strand in NYC on Tuesday; The Mixer Series in NYC on Wednesday; Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn on Thursday.
Now I'm going to enjoy some snooping on Author Central for book sales reports and here on the blog, which has a snazzy feature that allows me to see who reads this. I like to see who you are out there! Last time I checked that, I was surprised to see so many international readers. Oh! That reminds me! THE RED THREAD just sold to Spain!
Excited for my afternoon event at the Atlanta Writers Club at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody at 1:45. Come say hi!
I had an amazing night at Politics and Prose! Thank you to everyone who came. What a great bookstore, and what a great crowd. I arrived at my hotel at 2:30 in the morning, which was horrible. Dropped into bed, and slept without moving until almost 9:30. Had me some room service with the large pot of coffee, then walked around Dupont Circle in the drizzle before my reading. I met up with Sam's roomie's mother for some vino first. She is one of my new favorite people so i was glad to get the chance for one on one time with her. Post reading a gang of us URI Rams hit Buck's Fishing and Camping for very fine grub and more vino.
Returned to Politics and Prose the next morning to teach a writing workshop on Beginnings. A lovely group of people there! But I was happy to head home afterwards, after so many days on the road. And happier still to get picked up at the airport by Sam, home from spring break ever so briefly. He made the key lime pie for dessert that night; I made the Italian flank steak (recipe from Wednesday's New York Times) with arugula salad and grilled asparagus. Everything about as yummy as could be.
Then blissfully home all day Friday. Lunch with Sam at Chez Pascal's Wurst House (pork butt pastrami sandwich!), a visit to Gogo's, then home to the rest of the family, including Ariane, visiting from Minneapolis. Roasted salmon with a mustard tarragon sauce, an amazing salad by Sam, and Israeli couscous before blasting through three kinds of gelato: sea salt caramel, Roman raspberry and toasted almond.
I cannot express my joy at having everyone home around the kitchen table. Sigh.
Then it was up at 3:30 this morning to make this dreadful 6AM flight, but I wanted to do this Atlanta trip in one day so that I get more time with the kiddos, who both leave tomorrow afternoon.
Lots of events this week, all listed on the website. They include The Odyssey Bookstore in Northampton on Monday; The Strand in NYC on Tuesday; The Mixer Series in NYC on Wednesday; Pete's Candy Store in Brooklyn on Thursday.
Now I'm going to enjoy some snooping on Author Central for book sales reports and here on the blog, which has a snazzy feature that allows me to see who reads this. I like to see who you are out there! Last time I checked that, I was surprised to see so many international readers. Oh! That reminds me! THE RED THREAD just sold to Spain!
Excited for my afternoon event at the Atlanta Writers Club at Georgia Perimeter College in Dunwoody at 1:45. Come say hi!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Politics and Prose
For those of you who know that wonderful bookstore, you know I have landed in DC for my reading tonight. Politics and Prose at 7PM. I hope to see you there!
Arrived here at 2:30 this morning. Ugh. Tucson via Denver. I moved through Dulles like a zombie, waited for almost half an hour for a taxi, and then arrived at one of the strangest hotels ever. Don't get me wrong. I love a high tech, funky hotel as much as the next person. But this one is maybe trying too hard. Every time the phone rings I can't figure out where to put the weirdly shaped hunk of plastic to answer it.
And speaking of phones. I dropped mine in the toilet yesterday. But the gods of IPhones only took away my audio for a few hours and now it's good as new. Mercury is in retrograde, which is when things like this happen...
Home tomorrow, and ready for my low tech bed, my own good cooking, my darling family, and staying still for a couple of days.
Arrived here at 2:30 this morning. Ugh. Tucson via Denver. I moved through Dulles like a zombie, waited for almost half an hour for a taxi, and then arrived at one of the strangest hotels ever. Don't get me wrong. I love a high tech, funky hotel as much as the next person. But this one is maybe trying too hard. Every time the phone rings I can't figure out where to put the weirdly shaped hunk of plastic to answer it.
And speaking of phones. I dropped mine in the toilet yesterday. But the gods of IPhones only took away my audio for a few hours and now it's good as new. Mercury is in retrograde, which is when things like this happen...
Home tomorrow, and ready for my low tech bed, my own good cooking, my darling family, and staying still for a couple of days.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Tucson, Day Two
Rain and 50 degree temperatures greeted me yesterday at the Tucson Book Fair. But that did not deter the crowds. Full house panels, writers everywhere, tamales for lunch...just a fantastic day. Then it was cocktails followed by dinner with Bill Roorbach, Heidi Durrow, Laura Moriarty, B.A. Shapiro, Lisa Genova, Ilie Ruby...to name a few. So much fantastic energy here. And getting to meet some of my favorite writers as well as hang with old writer friends makes the weather irrelevant.
Today: sunshine. And the promise of enchiladas with Tom Cobb.
It is hard to complain about very much here in Tucson!
Today: sunshine. And the promise of enchiladas with Tom Cobb.
It is hard to complain about very much here in Tucson!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
In Tucson at last!
What a whirlwind--of people and cousins and snow and airports!
An amazing night at Stellina's restaurant in Watertown, MA, with a packed house and so many old friends and FOCGs (Friends of Cousin Gina) as well as new faces, we settled in for a fantastic dinner. Warm tomato salad on grilled bread, lobster aroncini, and for me steak (still fighting that anemia!) and spinach and blue cheese mac and cheese, all with lots of wine selected by Cousin Gina.
From there, Cousin GJ and I went with Cousin Gina to her houseboat on Lewis Wharf in Boston. I was like: I'm selling my house moving onto one of these! About a dozen line the wharf there. Cousin Gina's is a one bedroom with a little back porch and a loft for extra sleeping. More wine as we stared out at the lights of Boston, then settled in for a cozy sleep. there is nothing like Cousin time, and the houseboat was the perfect setting. In the morning we just lolled about in our pjs, drinking coffee and laughing a lot. Then I set out for AWP...
This is not my favorite writer related event. Too many people! I can get stimulus overload, and this is the place where I usually do.It was raining and snowing so I was all kind of damp by the time I got there for my panel, which was to celebrate five years of the terrific literary journal The Normal School. Right away I got all turned around and overloaded and zombie feeling. But loved being on the panel and reading the short story I had in the journal last year, and sharing the stage with my buddies Beth Ann Fennelly and Adam Braver, and seeing Normal School people.
I was happy to find my way to another panel based around my pal Meg Wolitzer's excellent essay that appeared in the NYT Book Review last year called "Second Shelf", on how women's writing is treated in publishing. I almost passed out with joy that Bobbie Ann Mason was also on the panel. I am such a fan of hers, and to hear her talk was a real thrill.
From there I went to hear my dear friends Tom Perrotta and Alice Hoffman read. My buddy, the fabulous, Chris Castellani, moderated and led a conversation afterward. (Note: Chris and I are reading together at the Strand in NYC on March 19) I wanted to linger and give everyone big smooches, but had to make a way out into the ever increasing storm to find The Island Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square, where Stewart and Trudy O'Nan, Dennis Lehane, David You, and the aforementioned Beth Ann Fennelly and I chowed down on...well...oysters and also Nantucket bay scallop ceviche and monkfish and more. I had the yummiest cocktail called a whiskey mash. Or maybe whiskey smash? I have vowed to track down the recipe so if anyone reading this knows it, send it to me!
Back to the houseboat, but three tired cousins kind of fell into bed. Is there anything better than sleeping on a boat? Getting rocked to sleep by water? There is not. But as the night went on, the gentle rocking turned into some rock and rolling, and when that 5AM alarm went off and I cracked open my eyes to look out the window, all I saw was snow. Lots of it. The cousins set out in the blizzard, lugging suitcases as we trudged through unplowed streets to get, in order, venti lattes at Starbucks (thank you for opening so early!) and then a taxi for me.
I kept checking my wonderful Flight Stats app, and all around my flight read: CANCELLED. But mine remained: ON TIME. The weather I was making my way through belied that possibility, but I kept moving onward, putting my trust in my IPhone and United Airlines (why am I such a trusting soul? Sometimes it pays off, but often it leads to disappointment...)
Even as the snow fell harder, they moved me along. Upgrading my seat, pointing me to my gate, where other doubtful passengers waited. An hour late (ON TIME!) we finally boarded, and then sat for almost two more hours as we got de iced, and de iced, and de iced again. By this time, connections in Houston became a lost cause, and along with my fellow weary travelers we began to give up hope. But in Houston I was told that my flight was waiting for me!
Even though I was in a far flung terminal, and had to take a monorail, I clung to hope. I waved down a golf cart thing, which whisked me to the monorail, the clock ticking away. The monorail was maybe the slowest thing I've ever had the bad luck to ride. And then Terminal B was a hell hole of confusion. My gate had an M after it, but the gates were numbered. I waved my boarding pass around and shouted for direction, which were given by bored United gate agents. To my surprise, the plane was there, seemingly waiting for me and three other Boston refugees.
"Sorry," we were told. "We've closed the flight."
"No, you were holding it for us," we all begged.
Bored, rude United gate agents simply handed us boarding passes for the next flight to Tucson--three hours later.
Ok. Being an optimist, at least I got to charge my tired phone, and eat Texas BBQ.
But. I missed my dinner inTucson, arriving at my hotel just in time to have two of maybe the most delicious margaritas ever before collapsing in bed and sleeping the sleep of the exhausted traveler.
This morning: lots of coffee, lots of Advil, one complaint letter to United Airlines.
Then onward to the Book festival, and panels with Bill Roorbach, Laura Moriarty, and more.
I'm now going to find some breakfast, hopefully involving southwestern type yummies...
An amazing night at Stellina's restaurant in Watertown, MA, with a packed house and so many old friends and FOCGs (Friends of Cousin Gina) as well as new faces, we settled in for a fantastic dinner. Warm tomato salad on grilled bread, lobster aroncini, and for me steak (still fighting that anemia!) and spinach and blue cheese mac and cheese, all with lots of wine selected by Cousin Gina.
From there, Cousin GJ and I went with Cousin Gina to her houseboat on Lewis Wharf in Boston. I was like: I'm selling my house moving onto one of these! About a dozen line the wharf there. Cousin Gina's is a one bedroom with a little back porch and a loft for extra sleeping. More wine as we stared out at the lights of Boston, then settled in for a cozy sleep. there is nothing like Cousin time, and the houseboat was the perfect setting. In the morning we just lolled about in our pjs, drinking coffee and laughing a lot. Then I set out for AWP...
This is not my favorite writer related event. Too many people! I can get stimulus overload, and this is the place where I usually do.It was raining and snowing so I was all kind of damp by the time I got there for my panel, which was to celebrate five years of the terrific literary journal The Normal School. Right away I got all turned around and overloaded and zombie feeling. But loved being on the panel and reading the short story I had in the journal last year, and sharing the stage with my buddies Beth Ann Fennelly and Adam Braver, and seeing Normal School people.
I was happy to find my way to another panel based around my pal Meg Wolitzer's excellent essay that appeared in the NYT Book Review last year called "Second Shelf", on how women's writing is treated in publishing. I almost passed out with joy that Bobbie Ann Mason was also on the panel. I am such a fan of hers, and to hear her talk was a real thrill.
From there I went to hear my dear friends Tom Perrotta and Alice Hoffman read. My buddy, the fabulous, Chris Castellani, moderated and led a conversation afterward. (Note: Chris and I are reading together at the Strand in NYC on March 19) I wanted to linger and give everyone big smooches, but had to make a way out into the ever increasing storm to find The Island Oyster Bar in Kenmore Square, where Stewart and Trudy O'Nan, Dennis Lehane, David You, and the aforementioned Beth Ann Fennelly and I chowed down on...well...oysters and also Nantucket bay scallop ceviche and monkfish and more. I had the yummiest cocktail called a whiskey mash. Or maybe whiskey smash? I have vowed to track down the recipe so if anyone reading this knows it, send it to me!
Back to the houseboat, but three tired cousins kind of fell into bed. Is there anything better than sleeping on a boat? Getting rocked to sleep by water? There is not. But as the night went on, the gentle rocking turned into some rock and rolling, and when that 5AM alarm went off and I cracked open my eyes to look out the window, all I saw was snow. Lots of it. The cousins set out in the blizzard, lugging suitcases as we trudged through unplowed streets to get, in order, venti lattes at Starbucks (thank you for opening so early!) and then a taxi for me.
I kept checking my wonderful Flight Stats app, and all around my flight read: CANCELLED. But mine remained: ON TIME. The weather I was making my way through belied that possibility, but I kept moving onward, putting my trust in my IPhone and United Airlines (why am I such a trusting soul? Sometimes it pays off, but often it leads to disappointment...)
Even as the snow fell harder, they moved me along. Upgrading my seat, pointing me to my gate, where other doubtful passengers waited. An hour late (ON TIME!) we finally boarded, and then sat for almost two more hours as we got de iced, and de iced, and de iced again. By this time, connections in Houston became a lost cause, and along with my fellow weary travelers we began to give up hope. But in Houston I was told that my flight was waiting for me!
Even though I was in a far flung terminal, and had to take a monorail, I clung to hope. I waved down a golf cart thing, which whisked me to the monorail, the clock ticking away. The monorail was maybe the slowest thing I've ever had the bad luck to ride. And then Terminal B was a hell hole of confusion. My gate had an M after it, but the gates were numbered. I waved my boarding pass around and shouted for direction, which were given by bored United gate agents. To my surprise, the plane was there, seemingly waiting for me and three other Boston refugees.
"Sorry," we were told. "We've closed the flight."
"No, you were holding it for us," we all begged.
Bored, rude United gate agents simply handed us boarding passes for the next flight to Tucson--three hours later.
Ok. Being an optimist, at least I got to charge my tired phone, and eat Texas BBQ.
But. I missed my dinner inTucson, arriving at my hotel just in time to have two of maybe the most delicious margaritas ever before collapsing in bed and sleeping the sleep of the exhausted traveler.
This morning: lots of coffee, lots of Advil, one complaint letter to United Airlines.
Then onward to the Book festival, and panels with Bill Roorbach, Laura Moriarty, and more.
I'm now going to find some breakfast, hopefully involving southwestern type yummies...
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
THE NEXT BIG THING
What is the working title of your book?
The Obituary Writer.
Where did the idea come from?
Sometimes I think my brain is like dryer lint--I have no idea why it collects the flotsam and jetsam it does. I was asked to write an obituary a few years ago, and although I am a long time fan of the form (in particular the late NYT obit writer, Robert McG Thomas; check out his collected obits, 52 McG's) I was a reader of them, not a writer. Faced with the dates and degrees of someone, I realized that they do not make a life. Instead, I tried to bring the person to life on the page (not unlike what I do when I create characters for my books). In that moment, my fictional obituary writer, Vivien, was born. Around the same time (more lint!) the anniversary of my daughter's death arrived, which is always a difficult day. I turned on my computer and clicked The Writers Almanac, kind of sending Garrison Keillor a telepathic message to give me a poem or something that would lift my spirits. Instead, I saw that it was the anniversary of the Great Earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco. I began to think about earthquakes--our own personal ones and the ones that shake the world. Somehow the two ideas fit. And then (still more lint!) as I watched Obama's first inauguration, I found it in tone similar to JFK's. So I had a great contrast of despair and hope for my novel.
What genre does you book fall under?
Fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I would like Kate Winslet to be Vivien, the Obituary Writer. And Naomi Watts to be Claire.
Fiction.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
I would like Kate Winslet to be Vivien, the Obituary Writer. And Naomi Watts to be Claire.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Two women from two different eras try to find love, recover from loss, and find their role in a changing world.
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
It is represented by my agent, and published by WW Norton.
IHow long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I can't remember. Three years for the final draft though.
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
Maybe The Rules of Civility.
Maybe The Rules of Civility.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I feel like this was answered in what gave me the idea?
What else about your book might pique the readers' interest?
I tried my hand here at a mystery: Will Vivien find her lost lover? And I really think that makes The Obituary Writer a page turner. There is also a surprise connection between my two main characters. I guess the more I write, the more intereste di become in plot, with all its twists and turns and possibilities.
The Next Big Thing:
Up next here: Hester Kaplan and her terrific novel The Tell, which delves into the mysteries of love and addiction with gorgeous language and great insight.
Up next here: Hester Kaplan and her terrific novel The Tell, which delves into the mysteries of love and addiction with gorgeous language and great insight.
Book tour update!
I have the sore scratchy throat that comes with doing so many wonderful book events in such a short time.
Note to self: buy a large bag of Hall's honey lemon cough drops today!
But what amazing events! So many people to thank:
Monday's pub date had me on The Rhode Show and doing a live radio interview. Then it was straight to Middletown, RI where Judy Crosby and her fabulous staff at Island Books launched The Obituary Writer in style with chardonnay, cheese and crackers, and a standing room only crowd. I was happy to continue the celebration afterwards at Fieldstone's with some of my favorite fans, Judy, and buddy Jane who came along for all the festivities. Big thanks to all of them, and all of you who came out!
Tuesday brought more radio interviews before I headed to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT. Boy, has Annie Philbrick figured out how to host an event: a lunch time luncheon of yummy salads and brownies and wine followed by a talk and a reading with Q and A and book signing. Thank you to everyone at that great bookstore, and again to everyone who came!
Sadly had to drive from Mystic to the wake of the father of our dear friend and babysitter extraordinaire. That made for a somber late afternoon, but I was so proud of the letter that Annabelle wrote to the family remembering this special man.
Hardly time to pause before my buddy Amy picked me up for the event that the amazing Robin Kall Homonoff threw at Felicia's in East Greenwich, RI. Robin is a force, and brought a standing room only crowd of incredible women. I was so happy to see so many familiar faces there, and to meet so many new people. Thank you to Robin and her daughter Emily! And thank you to everyone who literally stood for over an hour!
Today I am doing the final copyedits on the jaw dropping anthology I've edited of writers writing about knitting. Knitting Yarns will be published by WW Norton in November, and has essays by Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Patchett, Andre Dubus III, Sue Grafton, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Berg and twenty more of your favorite writers. You will love it as much as I do!
Also just did the edits on an essay of mine that will run in the March 15 Wall Street Journal in the Mansions section. I will post a link when I have one.
A little worried about the weather report for tonight and am hoping that snow doesn't interfere with my reading at Stellina's restaurant in Watertown, MA. I will be there at 6:30 and hopefully you will be able to make it!
An exciting few weeks ahead. I will of course keep you updated on events and reviews. And I will continue to send out my extreme gratitude for supporting The Obituary Writer!
Note to self: buy a large bag of Hall's honey lemon cough drops today!
But what amazing events! So many people to thank:
Monday's pub date had me on The Rhode Show and doing a live radio interview. Then it was straight to Middletown, RI where Judy Crosby and her fabulous staff at Island Books launched The Obituary Writer in style with chardonnay, cheese and crackers, and a standing room only crowd. I was happy to continue the celebration afterwards at Fieldstone's with some of my favorite fans, Judy, and buddy Jane who came along for all the festivities. Big thanks to all of them, and all of you who came out!
Tuesday brought more radio interviews before I headed to Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT. Boy, has Annie Philbrick figured out how to host an event: a lunch time luncheon of yummy salads and brownies and wine followed by a talk and a reading with Q and A and book signing. Thank you to everyone at that great bookstore, and again to everyone who came!
Sadly had to drive from Mystic to the wake of the father of our dear friend and babysitter extraordinaire. That made for a somber late afternoon, but I was so proud of the letter that Annabelle wrote to the family remembering this special man.
Hardly time to pause before my buddy Amy picked me up for the event that the amazing Robin Kall Homonoff threw at Felicia's in East Greenwich, RI. Robin is a force, and brought a standing room only crowd of incredible women. I was so happy to see so many familiar faces there, and to meet so many new people. Thank you to Robin and her daughter Emily! And thank you to everyone who literally stood for over an hour!
Today I am doing the final copyedits on the jaw dropping anthology I've edited of writers writing about knitting. Knitting Yarns will be published by WW Norton in November, and has essays by Barbara Kingsolver, Ann Patchett, Andre Dubus III, Sue Grafton, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Berg and twenty more of your favorite writers. You will love it as much as I do!
Also just did the edits on an essay of mine that will run in the March 15 Wall Street Journal in the Mansions section. I will post a link when I have one.
A little worried about the weather report for tonight and am hoping that snow doesn't interfere with my reading at Stellina's restaurant in Watertown, MA. I will be there at 6:30 and hopefully you will be able to make it!
An exciting few weeks ahead. I will of course keep you updated on events and reviews. And I will continue to send out my extreme gratitude for supporting The Obituary Writer!
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