Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category:

As I have talked about before, after my first daughter was born, it took me a year before I could write again, and during that year I felt anxious and guilty for not writing. With the birth of my second daughter, I gave myself a year off. It’s been six months, and I’m inching toward that scary moment of trying to eke out some sentences.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, here is an interview my publisher did with me and my mom, the incomparable Jane Meadows. Read on for her thoughts about my novel, our evolving relationship, motherly advice, pie for breakfast, and a hockey player named Moose.

Sarah Jio’s debut novel, The Violets of March, was just released and it has garnered tremendous praise across the board. One of the things I love about Sarah is how nice she is to other writers—and I am so happy for her success! Below my Q & A with Sarah about what it’s like to have her first novel come out, how she did it, and how she manages it all with three young children.

With the launch of Mothers and Daughters, I have been talking a lot about how much becoming a mother influenced the writing of the book (tons) and how it affected my writing process (turned it upside down).

Marshal Zeringue is the man behind The Page 69 Test blog. He challenged me to put Mothers and Daughters to the test, asking, “Is it representative of the rest of the book? Would a reader skimming that page be inclined to read on?”

My sister likes to say that one of the reasons I left Brooklyn for Madison five years ago was so I could have no friends. It’s true that I’m a bit of a loner. This is a good thing considering my profession—writing is obviously a solitary pursuit. But on occasion, even I recognize the need for adult socializing.

My third novel, Mothers and Daughters, comes out today. In honor of this momentous event in my life, I want to pause and thank the teachers who got me started.

Mothers and Daughters comes out in four days. It’s a strange time, this period just before publication. When my first novel came out five years ago, I thought something magical was going to happen on the release date, some lightening bolt, some fireworks. But it was a normal day, the only difference being I could now ask everyone I knew to buy my book.

I’m so happy to have my friend Lynn Kilpatrick here as a guest writer. Lynn is the author of In the House, a smart, funny, and razor sharp collection of stories. She’s also a teacher and a mother. Below is her insightful and inspiring essay about the elusive quest to find time to write as a mother. Maybe there’s hope for me yet.

What Children Make Possible

I am one of the people most prone to use the excuse that I don’t have time for this or that (usually something healthy like yard work or flossing my teeth). And when my son was born, I often said I didn’t have time to write or cook healthy meals. So I ended up reading Cooking Light and eating those processed chicken parts that come in the shape of dinosaurs (which really are delicious with ranch dressing). But the truth is, I did have time, just not in the long stretches I had before he was born. In fact, one of the favorite activities I indulged in after my son was born was staring into space trying to remember what I had done with all my free time before he was born. I mean, seriously. What did I do with those long expanses of time? Was I watching movies, writing novels, reading The Iliad? Maybe a little bit. But more often, I was sleeping in, watching “Elimidate,” and drinking beer with my friends.

Ever wonder how a book cover comes about? I asked my friend and talented designer Michael Fusco of M + E/Michael Fusco Design to fill me in on what has always seemed to me a mysterious process.