Well that was fun. I have been overwhelmed by the wonderful and generous response from so many people to my news. I’ve been inundated with emails, phone calls, Facebook comments, and singing telegrams (OK, not that last one), all wishing me the best. I am very touched by everyone’s good wishes. Thank you all so much. I hope you’ll continue …
Announcement.
This is the post I have dreamed about writing every day for the past five years. I am pleased and proud (and staggered) to report that I have sold the worldwide rights to THE SONGS OF OUR FATHERS to Amy Einhorn, publisher of Amy Einhorn Books, an imprint of Penguin/Putnam. Amy has always been our number one choice of publisher …
Required Reading (Unfortunately)
I wrote here about how much I dislike doing research for my books. It’s still true, but I have had to knuckle down and change my ways. Here’s a list of books I’ve read recently, all in the name of research for my next novel: Birdmen, Batmen, and Skyflyers Please Kill Me – the Uncensored Oral History of Punk Amusement …
Amateur! (And proud of it.)
Funny time, this. The revised book is out and about, with various editors at houses both in New York and London. I am discovering new reserves of patience. This, oddly, isn’t as difficult as I would have imagined. I wouldn’t say I’ve suddenly gone all Zen (stop laughing at the back), but after this many years of effort, a few …
A Wonderful Town
We spent last weekend in Chicago. Man, I love that town. Not even a three hour delay waiting for the train in La Plata, MO, was going to dampen our spirits. Why? Because we were on our own. Sunday was our twelfth wedding anniversary, and this was our little celebration. (The children were with their grandparents for the weekend.) Our …
Cinco de Mayo
No, my English friends, this is not a celebration of the mighty Hellman’s condiment. As any fule know, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, and usually sees a spike in Tequila consumption across the United States. Today also marks the nine year …
New York Trip
As I mentioned here, I was in Manhattan very briefly last week for the launch party of my friend Nancy Woodruff’s excellent new novel, My Wife’s Affair. I flew from St. Louis into La Guardia and hopped on to a bus to Grand Central Station. Less than twenty hours later, I was back on the bus, heading back out to …
Road Trip
I’m off to New York on Tuesday morning for a book-related jaunt. When I was living in London I was part of a writers’ group. We all got together once a month to read and critique each other’s work. I found the process really helpful – after you have been laboring over a book for ages you begin to suffer …