July 2008 Archives

Last week was some week! I was the celebrated author on Center Stage in the bn.com bookclub, invited on to discuss the hardcover reissue of Suddenly and the newer Family Tree and The Secret Between Us. What it entailed was my logging on several times a day and answering questions posted by readers.

Piece of cake? Normally, yes. I love talking about my work, and I'm online all the time. At least, I'm online all the time at home, where I have high-speed access via cable.

Unfortunately, I was at the lake last week, and I truly thought it wouldn't be a problem. We have no cable there (yet), and my internet access has been through a wireless card, which has performed so much better than the dial-up I used to have that I wasn't worried.

Then the weather turned bad, which apparently meant that people were inside logging on through their own wireless cards. As traffic rose, online navigation slowed, and - worse - my connection was regularly cut off. What that meant was that I would write a really thoughtful reply to a reader, click on "Submit," and get an error message. Somewhere in the process, my thoughtful reply would be lost, so I'd have to go through the log-on process and start again. Add to that the fact that I was using a laptop, which is nowhere near as comfortable for me as my desktop computer, and you can imagine my frustration.

The funny thing is that not so long ago I wouldn't even have dreamed I could communicate with readers through a chat room online. Now I'm upset about having to type a reply twice? How easily we get spoiled.

I did muddle through the week and was able to answer all the questions posed to me. And the good news is that the cable company is in the process of bringing cable down our dirt road. It's been a long haul, literally and figuratively, requiring the work of the phone company and the electric company as well, but we're almost there. Within another month or so, I'll be zipping through cyberspace as fast at the lake as I do at home, and what that means is that I'll get computer work done faster and have more time to spend on the lake.

Of course, my week on Center Stage is done now. But there's always next year.

From Monday, July 21, through Friday, July 25, I'll be spending time online each day answering readers' questions at Center Stage, the new event venue at bn.com. In anticipation, I spent a while on the phone yesterday with my contact there, Maria Hoffman, who guided me through the process, from login to reading and replying to questions. I've done this before, so it came back quickly. Very easy, actually.

Not so easy is focusing on Suddenly, which is the book being headlined for this chat and the one that readers may (or may not, if they've read my newer work) focus on. Suddenly was originally published in 1994, which means I wrote it in 1993. It was recently issued in hardcover for the first time, hence its focus during the chat. But, all these years later, what do I remember of the book?

Well, I remember that my main characters are pediatricians in practice together, and that my original title was Mara's Story, since the book opens with one of those doctors, Mara, dying under circumstances that suggest suicide. I remember that some of the book is set at a gorgeous New England prep school, that it involves the adoption of a precious baby, and that there is a kitten. Oh, and I remember Paige and Noah.

Too many of the details, though, I just can't recall, and you can bet that visitors to the chat room will ask about those. So guess what I'll be doing this weekend? Rereading Suddenly. Why not do the same yourself, then log on here and join me? I'd love to answer your questions, about Suddenly or any other of my books!

Think that only grandmothers knit? You're wrong on two counts. First, I belong to knitting groups whose members include many twenty- and thirty-somethings. Second, those grandmothers in my groups don't call themselves "grandmother." They're Mimi, Lala, and Grammi with an i, a whole new generation of with-it women who happen to have children who have children.

Knitting has changed right along with the women who do it. Those of you who've read Family Tree will already know this. Yarns today are exquisitely hand-dyed, needles are hi-tech, and patterns include stitch variations that would have shocked my grandmother right along with the Excel program generating them.

So why do people look down their noses at knitters? Is it zenophobia? Misogyny? Needle envy?

I do what I can to change the image. When I travel, I knit. I sit in airports wearing classy business attire - and I look pretty good, if I don't say so myself - and I knit. Men occasionally ask how I got my needles through security. Flight attendants occasionally ask about the yarn I'm using (more intelligent questions, here). I am definitely noticed.

What kinds of things do I knit? At any given time, I have four of five working projects. I am currently (a) finishing a sweater for my youngest granddaughter, (b) working on a (sleeveless) sweater for me, (c) knitting a pair of gloves, (d) doing blocks for an afghan, and (e) making a wrap. The sweater for me is pure silk and includes ribbing with a twisted stitch that gives a beaded effect. The gloves are of fine-guage merino, hand-dyed, and knit with a picot edging around the long cuffs. The afghan blocks are done with a technique called mosaic knitting, a different pattern each month. And the wrap is from a pattern inspired by one of DKNY's signature sweaters.

Very different stuff. I may not live long enough to see the image change, but some of you will. One thing's for sure. If the cost of gas keeps climbing, self-starting hobbies like knitting will look better and better.

Those of you who’ve been following me for a while know that I have a lake house. We actually started shopping for it at the same time that I was researching Lake News. If you’re familiar with that book – or have read my recent blogs about Lake Henry – you’ll know what the appeal is. Time spent at the lake is very different from city time. Lake time moves at a slower pace. The smells are of hemlock and pine; the sounds are of loons. The night skies are alive with stars we can't see in the city. The local country store is well stocked with cookout fixings.

Our lake isn’t always quiet. Fireworks are legal in New Hampshire and well-used, particularly in July – and the light shows are fabulous. The occasional noise at 1 AM isn’t as welcome. But we do love hearing the sounds of summer guests visiting families around our cove. They’re joyful, excited sounds. And we never complain, because when our own clan gathers, it’s our turn to make noise.

They’re coming in batches through much of this summer. That means lots of prep work on my part. Some of the groceries have to be bought at the last minute – 2% milk for this one, light chocolate milk for that one, whole milk for the other, formula for the baby. Items with a longer shelf life I buy in the city and take north with me – favorite granola bars, favorite breakfast cereals, favorite Yo-Baby flavors. Frozen yogurt is something else. With precious little to be found at the lake, I buy quarts of our favorite soft-serve, freeze them solid, and drive them up in insulated bags. Forty seconds in the microwave and the quart is soft-serve again. Over or under fresh, plump, sweet blueberries? It’s the best dessert.

We always hope for good weather, which means having plenty of beach toys. I’ve just bought a supply of new ones to replace broken ones, and we’ve cleaned up the water tubes, inflatable floats, and water skis. New Hampshire weather is not always good, though, so I’ve also bought a fresh supply of crayons, construction paper, and Play-Doh. I bought Zingo, which is the kids’ favorite game right now (a version of Bingo, but with pictures of a foot, a house, a cat, etc., in place of numbers). I’ve stocked up on paper goods for our nightly cookouts and have transferred sippy cups, straw cups, and plastic dishes from city to lake. Same with bed rails. Same with tricycles. Same with the bin of rubber balls.

Are we exhausted yet? Better not be, because the fun starts soon. And I say that in all seriousness. There is nothing better than having family with us at the lake.

The loons may even cooperate this year. A pair is currently nesting in our cove. If all goes well, we’ll have a loon chick or two soon. And watching those tiny furballs riding on their parents’ backs? Given that loon health is thought to be a harbinger of human health, I’d call that priceless.

The last you all heard from me on this topic, I was working single-mindedly to finish While My Sister Sleeps. So what happens once I type THE END on the final page?

Actually, I don’t type THE END on the page, since the powers-that-be would only have to delete it. When was the last time you read a book with THE END printed on the last page?

But it’s there in my mind. Filled with joy, relief, and no small amount of apprehension, I email the whole manuscript to my editor in New York. Then I settle in for a few days of mind-rest. I mean, for the first time in nine months, I can’t work on the book. It’s out of my hands. I wait for comments from my editor. In the course of my career, this has taken anywhere from three days to three weeks. My current editor is the three-day person. Literally, I emailed the manuscript to her on Friday and on Monday she called me with a few suggestions for revisions. The operative work here is “few.” She loves the book (as does my agent, who read it at the same time)! But there were several things she wanted me to rework.

A writer’s dream is for her editor to say, “It’s perfect – there’s absolutely nothing I’d change.” But I am not a prideful person. When my editor says, “I love this book but think it would be even stronger if you brought David in sooner and made Nick simply Molly’s friend, rather than her lover,” I listen. And doing revisions is nowhere near as difficult as the initial writing of the book. It’s modifying what already exists. Easy.

I made the revisions, emailed the new manuscript to my editor, got one or two additional small requests. Then it was done. The whole revision process took a month. And While My Sister Sleeps is now in the production pipeline in New York.

That’s it? Not quite. Now the business side starts. To begin with, I flew down to New York for meetings about the publicity and marketing of this book. These were fabulous meetings – really brainstorming sessions – and we came up with some great ideas. Doubleday has set the pub date at February 21. Mark your calendars, please.

Back home, I’ve set to work doing web stuff for While My Sister Sleeps. You can already read a summary of it on the book page. BTW, no final cover yet. We had a preliminary one, but the art department wanted to reshoot one of the characters. While they’re doing that, I’ll be writing the script for a trailer, to be taped in August. I’m also researching locales for new author photos for the HOME page of this site. Think lush plants and gauzy greenhouses … Boy, do I hate having my picture taken. Always a challenge.

More challenging, I now have to come up with a plot for my next book. Any ideas?