But I make my deadlines Yesterday, I sent my husband a text at work. It said, “I’M FINISHED!” He knew I’d been working on the rough draft of my novel, so he called me back later and said, “Congratulations! Let’s go out and celebrate!” Unfortunately for him (he likes going out) the euphoria of writing a final [...]
Entries from January 2009
January 26, 2009
When Do You Find Time to Write?
Balancing being a mother and a writer. Or not. It’s one of the most common questions I get asked when I actually poke my head out from under my shell (which is as seldom as possible these days): “How do you find time to write when you have four kids?” Right now I want someone [...]
January 21, 2009
Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rourke, and . . . Me?
Zee French, Zay ‘Ave Good Taste, Non? So I got a royalty check recently. That alone is big news: I haven’t gotten a lot of royalties in my eight-year career. Some. Not a lot. Royalties are much cooler than advances, by the way, because a) they mean the book is actually selling and b) they’re [...]
January 15, 2009
Avoid the Stomach Flu–Or Embrace It
What to do when a virus races through your house? Get it. That’s my answer: get sick and get over it. I write that as I sit here, trying to figure out whether I’m feeling sick or not. I’m tired–normal, late morning, I-don’t-feel-like-working-tired? Or abnormal, illness tired? I’m alternately hungry and a little queasy–too much coffee? [...]
January 13, 2009
Book Club Guide for The Smart One and the Pretty One
Fun questions to discuss with your group A few months before The Smart One and the Pretty One was published, I wrote an entire book club guide for it that was supposed to be bound into the final book. For some reason, it wasn’t, but I wanted to make sure people knew the guide was [...]
January 9, 2009
It’s the End of the World as We Know It. Well, No, Not Really. But What if It Were?
What would you do on the last day of life as we know it? A year or so ago, I read a Ray Bradbury story that really got to me and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Because my house is a black hole for all objects (except, oddly enough, my nephews’ abandoned flannel shirts [...]
January 6, 2009
Guest of a Guest
My guest appearance on guestofaguest.com Hey, check out the blog I wrote for guestofaguest.com! I mean, if you want to. I didn’t mean to sound all pushy. I just got excited and then . . . pushiness came rolling in. Anyway, if you have time and it’s appealing to you, and you think reading a [...]
January 4, 2009
Why Does Michael Pollan Keep Shouting at Me When I Don’t Even Know Him?
The French Fries-ivore Dilemma I haven’t read any of Michael Pollan’s books, and I’ve certainly never met the guy, but for some reason he’s been making a lot of noise inside my head lately. Pollan wrote The Omnivore’s Dilemma which, as I’ve already mentioned, I’ve never read. I have, on the other hand, read articles [...]
January 1, 2009
How Original: A New Year’s Resolution Post
Change I Can Believe In. The marking of the new year has always seemed a bit silly to me. For one thing, it’s totally arbitrary–so much so that other cultures have different dates for theirs. And ours is so clearly at the wrong time of year–can’t we all just admit that the year really begins in [...]
