Little Bit Buried

Finalizing the additions to BRIDGE AT VALENTINE, due from Tres Picos Press in Summer 2010, and wrapping up the short story for Squaw Valley Writers Workshops Aug. 1-8.

Also received a nice invitation yesterday to write a book review for Larry McMurtry's LEAVING CHEYENNE, which I'll post here as soon as it's live.

Happy writing, all!

Crushes on McCourt and McMurtry

I've always had a little crush on Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes. I read yesterday that he's in a New York hospice and not expected to live. This is distressing news, as he's one of my favorite writers (Larry McMurtry is another, and I've got a crush on him too). A few years ago, I had a chance to hear Frank McCourt speak in Sacramento (he was 76 at the time). Afterward, I waited in a long line to have my book signed, and when my turn came, I said, "Thank you for coming to Sacramento to speak to us, Mr. McCourt."

Pen in hand, he paused, glanced up, and grinned. "What choice did I have?"

Even now I laugh, thinking of it.

Catcher in the Rye

It was on this day in 1951 that J.D. Salinger's first and only novel, The Catcher in the Rye, was published. It has gone on to sell more than 65 million copies. (Tidbit courtesy of The Writer's Almanac.)

Wedding Weekend

Just got back from Fort Bragg, where our niece, Megan Fleshman, married her sweetheart, Josh Lydon. We stayed at the Elk Cove Inn, our favorite, with daughter Maya and son-in-law Erich. Steve got some beautiful pics. Top photo is of Maya and Erich. Middle photo is a river otter (yes, they swim in the ocean!), and middle photo is a western grebe.

No photos of the bride and groom yet, as we don't want to post until they've seen them, and they're in Hawaii now. More to come, I promise...

Swooning in the Swamp

Now reading The Snoring Bird: My Family's Journey Through a Century of Biology by Bernd Heinrich. Three chapters in, and am hooked. The New York Times, in reviewing the book, said, "This particular gene pool turns out to be something of a fever swamp, and thereby hangs a tale of two naturalists that reads like a cross between a Darwinian parable and a Nabokov novel: an absorbing scientific saga rife with uncanny twists and fraught with quandaries over the primordial tussle between nature and nurture."

Take Ten to Recharge

Writing, reading, exercising, weeding, sleeping and eating (though not necessarily in that order!). Evenings are for us, though, and last night Steve skipped off to capture this image of horses in a field on the south side of Hwy. 50. One day, all of this land will be houses. We're enjoying it now, while we can.