Why I Can’t Write a Book Every Year
March 23, 2010
Why I Can’t Write a Book Every Year
One of the questions I get almost every place I go is a request to describe my work day. When I was young, it was action packed. I wrote 4000 words a day, practiced my music, went to theater or movies with my husband, made family dinners with his three sons. I even tutored in […]
READ MOREMarch 4, 2010
In England and Crimea
This is a very long post, about my trip abroad, so I’ve broken it up by date, and you can read a bit at a time. Sadly, I don’t have pictures of all the places I visited. February 13-16, LIONS AND TIGERS AND LEOPARDS, OH MY! I got in late on a chilly damp Saturday […]
READ MOREFebruary 28, 2010
Crimea
Just a quick note to say the English tour was wonderful; I loved the Watermill, a crisp clear day where we saw swans and other waterbirds. The venue itself was beautiful. Everywhere I went I found an interesting place and people, but I’ll write more when I’m back in Chicago. Right now I’m in Crimea, […]
READ MOREFebruary 11, 2010
Getting Ready for the Road
I’m trying to pack, trying to pull myself together for the road. I suffer from separation anxiety, and the further I’m going, the longer I’ll be gone, the greater the angst. My dog isn’t helping. She went into the back room where I’d set out my suitcases, sniffed them, then went back to the main […]
READ MOREFebruary 5, 2010
PotPourri, including a chapter from the new book
I leave on February 13 for my UK tour of Hardball. Kerry Hood, who is the Toscanini of publicity, has me covering as much of England as we can manage in a week. I hope that I’ll see some of the UK readers who’ve been posting here along the way. New Book I love the […]
READ MOREJanuary 22, 2010
Liu Xiaobo, Prisoner of Conscience
On December 23, 2009, the People’s Republic of China condemned the poet Liu Xiaobo for the crime of “inciting subversion of state power.” The trial lasted less than three hours, and the defense was not permitted to present evidence. Two days later, on December 25, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison and […]
READ MOREJanuary 14, 2010
Revels
Every January for more than 5o years, people in the University of Chicago community have tried to lighten winter’s bleakness with a musical revue. For many years, the witty Robert Ashenhurst and Ned Rosenheim provided words and music in a Noel Coward/academic vein. More recently, Andy Austen, by day ABC-TV’s courtroom artist, by night a […]
READ MOREJanuary 10, 2010
What’s In a Name?
I haven’t posted anything new for awhile, because I’ve been working flat out to finish the draft of my new novel before I head off to the UK on tour. I finished the draft this afternoon, with more of a whimper than a bang. I lay down for an hour–it’s physically strenuous, writing like a […]
READ MOREJanuary 1, 2010
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to anyone who’s able to open their eyes enough to look at a computer today. I was way over my limit last night but finally, at two p.m. on New Year’s Day, in Chicago’s 7 degrees, I’m ready to look at the world if not to smile at it. Because it’s the […]
READ MOREDecember 20, 2009
Entr’acte
As the year winds down, it’s time to consider the highpoints and hand out kudos to top performers. Best text messager: Andy House, who drove his $2 million Bugatti Veyron into a lagoon because he was texting at the wheel and what was left of his brain was allegedly distracted by a low-flying pelican. The link’s […]
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