What the…? Why did my friend Carla Damron (author of The Orchid Tattoo) let me use this photo of her inimitable cat Dickens? If you’d like to find out, download this bonus short story about a feline character in my novel, A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over: Hemingway Comes to Stay… The cat in the…
I thought you might enjoy this Valentine’s Day extract from A Beginner’s Guide to Starting Over… Luke (Molly’s employee at the bookstore) took a bite of the home-baked, heart-shaped cookie Molly had just offered him. She’d brought a plateful of them into work that morning. “Hmm. Not bad. I think I’ll save one for later,…
This is a fabulous post from Sandra Beckwith at Build Book Buzz – it has some of the most creative gifts for writers (and readers) that I’ve seen. I thought you might appreciate the ideas – even if you only buy them for yourself. I have my eye on #7… There’s nothing better on a…
Like many people around the world, especially perhaps those of us who grew up in Britain but now live elsewhere, I felt a sense of loss when I heard that our Queen had died. The news destroyed my stiff upper lip completely, and I cried for the Queen who’d been part of my life since…
As you may know, I recorded the audiobook of my memoir a few weeks ago, and it’s finally available for preorder (delivery on May 7). I recorded it at the marvelous Verso Studios at the Westport Library – one of the best Library recording studios in the country, with a fabulous engineer, Travis, who made…
I had to cut this scene from the memoir, for reasons of length – but I think you might enjoy it… When the movers’ truck pulled up in front of the house in Fairfield, Connecticut, a week after we’d arrived from Chicago in June 1983, I couldn’t wait to see how my furniture would…
With only two months to go before Love’s Journey Home arrives in the world, I thought you might like to know a little more about Jay and me. We used to love to travel together, and here’s a quick story about one such trip that’s not in the book… Jay and I are visiting Gloucester…
There’s so much pressure on a person these days. I was born with a Victorian mind, I think. At least in some respects. Making a Valentine from a lacy white paper doily, a cut-out red velvet heart, and some pink ribbon would have been just my speed. Inside, I would have written: To Algernon (for…
