September 2007 Archives

Those of you who’ve looked at the new little news clip at the top of my GUESTBOOK will see that the trade paperback edition of Family Tree will be in stores on October 30. If you know what I mean by trade paperback, stop here. On the other hand, if you’re one of those who has written to me asking about it, read on.

Publishers play with different formats when they publish their books. There’s hardcover, which usually sells, retail, in the mid-$20 range. And there’s mass market paperback, the slip-it-in-your-purse version, usually selling for $6 or $7. Trade paperback falls in between. Size-wise, it’s more along the line of the hardcover, only it has a soft cover. Price-wise, it’s generally in the $14 range.

When Family Tree hits stands in trade paperback later this month, it will be a first for me. I’m thrilled, because I personally love the trade paperback format. I love its size, which allows for larger print and easier reading. I love its feel, which is substantial without being heavy, but has quality paper and crystal clear print. I love its price, which is even less than the cost of a CD, and that’s before the stores give their usual discounts.

Mostly, I love the fact that readers love trade paperback, both for book club and individual consumption.

Got it? Get it. Thanks!

Did you read the article in the Wall Street Journal about the resurgence of the clotheslines in America? Apparently, there’s a controversy about residents who want to go green by hanging their laundry out to dry despite subdivision regulations banning such an activity because it makes the neighborhood look “too urban.” Interestingly, according to the September 18 article, clothes dryers use 6% of the electricity consumed by U.S. households – a pretty significant portion. They are third in the energy hog category, following refrigerators and lighting.

Maybe it’s time to think about going back to some of the basics.

Has energy conservation been on your mind? Here in the Delinsky household, both of us switched to hybrid cars earlier this year. It took a little while to get used to the silence upon start-up and the whirring sound when you decelerate and come to a stop, but it didn’t take any time to get used to better mileage. We also got a new furnace this spring – better mileage there, too, so to speak.

Most importantly, we recycle in a big way. I wish I could say that the initiative was wholly ours, but in fact our town demanded it. Every last piece of plastic or glass earns a special place in the recycle bin. And paper! Think of the paper I use in my job! There used to be mountains of it – until conservation mentality set in. Now, rather than print out at the end of each work day, I back up to a CD. I’ve cut my paper use by nearly 75%. And the remaining 25%?

It’s off to the dump. No, we don’t put our trash or recycling out for pickup. Here in suburban New England, we take a ritualistic trip to the dump every week. All of us do it. The dump is actually set up pretty efficiently and it is a gathering place of sorts. Before every election, if you want to meet the local candidates, just visit the dump on a weekend and they’ll be there!

BTW, going back to the clothesline issue, my agent and I refer to it in another regard, one that relates to my books. We talk about the “clothesline phenomenon,” whereby women, historically, were able to meet and chat with other women while hanging clothes to dry outside. We maintain that book groups (like the one in Coast Road) and knitting groups (like the one in Family Tree) are simply the modern incarnation of the “clothesline phenomenon,” and these these and other gatherings of women have cropped up because we’re hungry for this elemental companionship.

What do you think? Would you vote to bring the clothesline back?

I’m a knitter. But then, you probably already know this. My passion for knitting shows up in Family Tree. More and more, when I talk with groups about this book, someone asks me about my current project.

What am I working on right now? With winter not far in New England’s future?

Hats. I’m making hats. Some alpaca. Some merino. Some with ear flaps, some without. Some in garter stitch, some in stockinette stitch, some in seed stitch. Some with pom-poms, some with curlicues, some with I-cord knots. But all hats.

Lots of them are newborn hats, to cover the tiny heads of babies about to be born to people I know. But I’m also making toddler hats and kid-sized hats for some special little folks. I’ve actually found several fabulous hat patterns that use sock yarn, and since I have a huge stash of sock yarn, I’m delighted to dip in. Most are hand-painted, and so warm and soft, you could die!

But that’s not what the contest is about. I’m not raffling off my sock yarn, and I’m certainly not raffling off one of my hats.

No, I’m offering a Family Tree Knitting Collection kit. It includes twenty skeins of Berroco Pure Merino yarn, plus needles, plus the patterns that make up the Family Tree collection. We’re talking a shawl, a throw, a baby layette, and a diaper bag – all items that one of the characters in Family Tree either knitted or wore.

To enter, simply go to the Contact page here at my site and send a note indicating that you are entering the Family Tree Knitting Contest. The deadline is October 30, 2007, which is the day that the new trade paperback edition of Family Tree goes on sale.

One entry per person. Enter now!

This week, a study came out reporting that traffic in the US is bad and getting worse.

Did we need a study to tell us that? It used to be that I could avoid traffic going into Boston by leaving before 7:00 in the morning. Not so now. Now traffic is heavy at 6:30, and even worse if there’s a breakdown or an accident. Likewise, at the other end. It used to be that if I was driving home at 7:00 in the evening, I was fine. Ooops. Lotsa traffic at that hour now, too.

Rush hour has been redefined. A two-hour period morning and night now stretches beyond three hours morning and night. Where is it headed?

Well, it ain’t going to get better. The population keeps growing. More kids get their licenses every year. The roads aren’t getting wider. What to do?

Some people are already starting to work different shifts – say 5 am to 1 pm, or 10 am to 6 pm. The overnight shift, where offered, has grown as well. Working at home is another solution, and a good one for parents with kids. How about businesses relocating to more rural spots? This would also mean that employees could find more affordable housing near their place of work.

Carpooling would help ease the traffic situation. Same with increased use of public transportation. But these options have been around for a long time, and they haven’t generated much enthusiasm. Maybe when the problem gets bad enough or the price of gas high enough, they will.

All of the above notwithstanding, car time doesn’t have to be all bad. Deborah Monroe believed in the value of car time with her kids; she implies that more than once in the The Secret Between Us, and it's a philosophy I share. I loved spending time with my boys in the car, going to school or the doctor or a sports event. Car time was quality time.

Alternately, you can listen to the radio, in my case to the news. Or listen to a book on tape. You should not read the newspaper or even a book, though I’ve seen people whiz by me doing just that. It’s debatable as to whether you should even talk on the phone, though, I have to say, I do that myself, abeit hands-free.

How about a little silence – to think maybe, to gear up before work or regenerate afterward? Or yoga breathing.

What works for you?

The penalty against the Patriots and Coach Bill Belichick for videotaping the opposing team has made me think about the ubiquitous presence of cameras. In the instance of the Patriots, the equipment used was large and obvious – after all, they didn’t think they had anything to hide. Now that the authorities have decided that the Patriots’ filming activity was illegal, videocams on every field will be watched with an eagle eye to make sure nothing like this happens again.

But it seems to me that some time ago we lost the ability to monitor what’s being captured on film and what is not. Cameras are everywhere, some so small that they fit in the palm of a hand. Watch a concert, and hands in the air are holding cameras as often as they’re clapping; watch a baseball game, and fans are taking pictures as often as they’re doing the wave. You can’t buy a cell phone that doesn’t have a built-in camera – and these can prove useful. Remember the recent tragic collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis? People who took tapes and photos as the bridge collapsed helped the authorities zero in on possible structural causes. Amateur photographers captured license plate numbers that helped police trace the identities of missing cars that subsequently slipped into the Mississippi.

I used to be a photographer. I was very sensitive to those people who happened to be in my line of fire – and for good reason. My camera used film and a sophisticated telephoto lens. That camera was large. If you took someone’s picture, they knew it. I can’t tell you the efforts I went to making sure that I had the okay, preferably written, of those who appeared on my film.

Not so today. We’re photographed all the time, often in the name of security, so we’ve become inured to it. The rules have changed, and it’s just the beginning. The Patriots may come to look like Saints, if we learn that other teams have been using smaller, hidden cameras.

Then again, if that’s the case, we may never know.

My sights are set on January, which is when my new book, The Secret Between Us, comes out. But January also marks the first anniversary of my newly-revamped website. And that’s the subject of this blog.

I need your help. Have you explored this site? If not, please do. Because I want your feedback. Feel free to answer one or more of the following questions by clicking on COMMENTS below, then scrolling down to “Post a Comment” at the bottom of that page.

First, were you able to navigate the site easily? Could you find what you wanted? Was the information helpful?

Do you like the graphics? Do you like the photos? Were you able to read the copy, or was the print too small?

Did you go looking for a site map? Do you need one?

What page drew you first? Second?

Did you read any of the Guestbook entries?

How about in the Survivor’s Journal – speaking of which, did you find the separate mini-site for UPLIFT, my breast cancer book, to be easily accessible?

Have you listened to any of the Podcasts? Have you watched the multi-media trailer for Family Tree?

And what about this blog? Is it what you think a blog should be? Have you read any of the archived blogs?

At this stage, with a new book coming out soon, I’d like to fine-tune the site, so I welcome any and all thoughts.