I’m a sucker for compelling new women’s fiction, and when there’s an adorable German shepherd puppy on the cover, well, I’m sold! I recently read, and loved, Allie Larkin’s debut novel, Stay, a terrific story that drew me in from the very early pages. I highly recommend it and think you should order it from Amazon, or your favorite bookstore ASAP! Ask my husband, the evening Stay arrived in the mail, I was on the couch, book in hand, for hours. What a fun read! And, I met Allie a few weeks ago in Seattle at our mutual author friend Allison Winn Scotch’s reading, and I can tell you the author is as lovely and kind as the book. Turns out, Allie was sitting next to me, and we got to chatting. Allie and I are both Penguin authors, though my book is a few months behind her’s (won’t be out until June 2011, but cover designs are beginning this week, so stay tuned for some updates on my novel!). She lives in Rochester New York with her hubby and two pooches.
I recently chatted with Ali about book stuff, and here’s what she had to say:
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I’m a huge stationary buff, and at the risk of sounding like a big nerd, I will share that I love stamps. Love them! And, when I saw these gorgeous calligraphy stamps from Primele over at From Portland to Peonies, I decided that I have to order one, asap!
Cute, huh? Do you write a lot of snail mail? I’m trying to be better about sending letters because I love receiving them!
This is a question I get asked a lot, so I thought I’d try to sum up an answer. It’s a topic that many writer-mothers talk about. My writer friend Allison Winn Scotch wrote about it here recently. And Christina Katz wrote a whole book on the topic. It’s called Writer Mama, and you should check it out if you’re a mom and at all interested in writing.
But here’s the thing for me: I started my writing career before kids and just didn’t want to set it on the back shelf when the kids arrived. I wanted to both a.) continue writing, and b.) be a full time mom who was there for her kids as much as possible. So far, I’m making it work. Am I tired? All the time. Do I complain? Yes. Do I secretly long for the days of grade school? I’m not going to lie, yes, sometimes. My boys are 1 and 3 and I have a full writing career. I blog for Glamour.com daily (5-7 posts per day), write one to two magazine articles a week, a monthly column, and am now halfway through my second novel. Here’s how I fit this all in with the kids:
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My first bouquet of the season! I cobbled together the following lovelies from my garden to make an arrangement for my grandma (who I got to visit on Friday night) but forgot to grab it before I left (doh!), so here it sits on my desk. Its contents: daisies, red climbing roses, mint (makes a great filler!), and chamomile flowers. Currently sprouting up in the garden for future arrangements: sweet peas, roses (more), dahlias, zinnias, a ton of herbs, lavender and a gazillion other things.
I love this little tip that I read somewhere (one I’ve been practicing for the past few years): Keep a stash of little cheapie vases on hand. Buy them at garage sales, second-hand stores, etc.–the more unique, the better. Then, whenever you have a party to attend or are seeing someone you love (like my grandma), you can snip some flowers from your yard and create a really special gift with a personal touch (and, psst, it’s a lot more affordable that a bottle of wine!). Mason jars work really well as vases, too. (I’ve used them in a pinch.)
Do you have a garden?
Don’t you sorta want to start singing a U2 song right about now?
Hi my dears! I have been away from this blog for a little while–busy at work over at Glamour.com, of course, and on my book, which I’m happy to report is finished and in my editor’s hands at Penguin (and my editor in Germany, too!) where it is now launching forward in the production process. Woohoo! I worked for about three months on the revise, and I couldn’t be more proud, and thrilled, about how it turned out. Of course, I’ll have two more opportunities to review the book prior to publication next summer, so that gives me some comfort. (A writer is never done revising, right?) The book is getting a title change, so stay tuned about that. And, I’m happy to share that I am nearly halfway through my second book, which I’ll be sending to my agent next week for review. I’ll be writing more here about my process (and inspiration!) for book numero deux, so, again, stay tuned.
For now, I want to tell you about this rose …
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Two of the happiest sights, ever, in my opinion. 
P.S. I’m still polishing up my novel with my editor at Penguin, and having a surprising amount of fun doing it (who knew that revisions could be fun!?). And, and, and, very excited to report that I’m working on book #2. Stay tuned on that!
These past few weeks I have been using every spare minute of every single day to work on the revise process of my novel. Yep, when you finish the long process of writing a book, landing an agent, editing the book with said agent, and then finally sell it–wee!–you then roll up your sleeves and start a new layer of work on the book. It’s a long process, and not for the faint of heart. But, P.S. I kind of love it! I’ve watched as this book has grown from a little seed of an idea, to a little green shoot, to a bud, and now, thanks to the keen eye of my editor at Penguin, Denise, it is growing into a big beautiful in-bloom flower. (At least, that is our hope!)
As some of you know, my book tells two stories: that of a modern-day woman, and a woman in the year of 1943. As I’ve been living with these characters (really, they’re like old friends), I’ve come to rely on some favorite music to fuel my writing and imagination. And, I can’t tell you how powerful music has been to me as I write, and now, revise. Particularly, for this book, the old songs of the past–the songs my grandparents listened to–and some truly amazing, jazz music as well as modern-day faves, have gotten me in the place I need to be to write well. Here’s my The Waters of March playlist (in random order):
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Here is Carson, my 3 year old, lounging on top of our dog, Paisley (who is the world’s most patient golden retriever, I should add). They’re best friends.
