Odds and Ends

• Mario Vargas Llosa wins the Nobel Prize in Literature.

• The theft of Jonathan Franzen's glasses (off his face!) leads to a Fugitive-style chase...

• ....And the culprit's got some explaining to do.

• New York's Public Theater is staging an unconventional production of The Great Gatsby.

• Paul Auster is coming to a PSP near you.

• The Guardian profiles Lauren Child, creator of Charlie and Lola, and one of my favorite picture book authors.

• Here's an interesting angle, I guess: The Top 10 Writers on the Telephone.

Signing in the Waldenbooks

Today's going to be a great writing day, I can feel it--provided I can keep my face out of that pot of pumpkin butter I've got simmering on the stove. It will be a challenge.

For all of you aspiring writers who wonder what it's like to go out on your first book tour, I have a treat for you. This summer, my good friend Pat sent me a link to this video made by mystery writer Parnell Hall about his first book tour and it is an absolute riot. Mr. Hall nails the experience--I felt like I was reliving the torture of my book tour....especially the line about John Grisham (which you will understand fully if you visit both links in the post). For those of you who missed my post about my own tour, you can experience all the glory here.

It's so nice to be able to laugh about it now...If you'll excuse me, I need some pumpkin butter.

I'm Back (Sort of)

My twin daughters have just started full-time kindergarten which means that finally, finally, I have time to write again. And it feels great. I've just crossed the 100-page threshold of my new novel which is a milestone for me, although it is only a first draft and there are still many pages to go. So far, I'm loving my characters. The plot is still eluding me at this point, but with every session I feel it getting closer.

So I'm back at the blog, but probably in a more limited way than before. Even though I have a lot of hours to myself now, I have no trouble filling the time. I'm more inclined these days to work on the novel rather than the blog, so my posts will be shorter than they used to be. Instead of writing essays about the creative process, my posts will be more in the realm of updates about my writing and showing you things that inspire me.

Speaking of inspiration, did you catch Kanye West on Saturday Night Live this weekend? Say what you will about his behavior, Kanye knows how to make his performances visually exciting. He continues to try new things--sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but he keeps trying nonetheless....the mark of a true artist.

I found Saturday night's performance utterly riveting. See if you agree with me.

Creative Habits

Wow...has it really been over four months since my last post? I've been spending the time chugging away at my new novel, which has been taking me on an interesting journey. If I have any blog readers left, I thought maybe they would enjoy this article about creativity over at Zen Habits, which I would have loved to have written myself, if only I'd had the time.

Conan's Farewell

I'm back...kind of. Two things have been keeping me away from the blog--time and not having much to say. The little time I've had for writing these days I've dedicated to working on my new novel. When I started this blog, I had envisioned it as a place to chronicle my experiences in the writing business, but not much business has been happening while I've been raising my twin daughters. In the fall, they will start school full-time and I hope to get back into the game. In the meantime, I'll post here and there when the mood strikes...

...And something did strike me last week as I was watching Conan O'Brien's last appearance as host of THE TONIGHT SHOW. As many of you know, NBC's handling of the late night show situation was deplorable, and yet Conan's farewell speech was classy and gracious. If you haven't seen it, take a moment to check it out. Conan's speech is a perfect lesson in professionalism.