I read and enjoyed Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus. Thanks to Kyle (and Roswell), you can write a short story to try and win your own copy:

Originally posted by kylecassidy at The Night Circus Giveaway!
It's that time again!

Our friend Erin Morgenstern just published her first novel, the mind-bogglingly successful The Night Circus and to celebrate, we're ( Read more... )

My last entry was one month ago. I need to update more regularly because a month seems daunting when so much has happened. So I’ll be (relatively) brief.

In between a holiday in the desert (a landscape I love more and more) and wonderful visits from friends, I finished Book #2. Woo hoo! After some feedback I will soon begin a session of revision.

I ( Read more... )

( Read more... )

On Valentine’s Day, my oldest daughter went ice skating with her second grade class (where one child bloodied his face, another broke a leg, and her teacher broke her wrist). Luckily my husband took off the day to go with her (and to tend to some things around the house that needed his attention). Each of the kids had classroom parties and returned ( Read more... )

I am determined to get this blog entry written before the end of 2010, and so here goes.

Philadelphia was a wonderful whirlwind. The reading at Moonstone Arts Center (aka Robin’s Books) was a small but enthusiastic audience. It was also broadcast live, so my kids got a chance to see their mama on the computer, which was a thrill for them back at ( Read more... )

"Perhaps there is no other way of reaching some understanding of being than through art? Writers themselves don't analyze what they do; to analyze would be to look down while crossing a canyon on a tightrope. To say this is not to mystify the process of writing but to make an image out of the intense inner concentration the writer must have to ( Read more... )

The week of feasting began with a Christmas Julbord at Tre Kronor, a wonderful Swedish smorgasbord (50 dishes!) shared with dear friends. My favorites were the mustard salad, red cabbage, cucumbers and dill, pickled beets, and the rich and cheesy potatoes. They had roast pork with prunes, Swedish meatballs, 9 different types of herring, so many ( Read more... )