New England is my turf.  It’s where I’ve lived all my life, where nearly all of my books are set.  I’ve created any number of small New England towns from scratch – and, let me tell you, creating towns can be exhausting.  You have to pick a spot (e.g., mountain, valley, or coast), design the roads running through it, establish businesses in the town center and homes radiating out.  Not My Daughter is the latest book for which I’ve built a town – Zaganack, on the coast of Maine, a company town inspired by, but way different from, Freeport and L.L.Bean.  I do try to rotate through the New England states, though New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine are choice picks for tiny towns.

At while back, it was New Hampshire’s turn. (more…)

Who are my favorite authors?  My favorite books?  I’m asked this by nearly every group with which I talk, and the answer is that when I’m writing my own book, I can’t read at all.  I do knit, which explains the yarn in books like Not My Daughter and Family Tree.

Once monthly, I attend Stitch Night at Iron Horse, a local yarn store owned by Debbie Smith, and she has just introduced something new to her knitters.  The project is called Stitching for Babies (more…)

It’s been a while since I last blogged.  My apologies for that, but what with the publication of Not My Daughter and the promotional work it entailed, I’ve been distracted.  I also felt you’d heard enough from me in the days leading up to January 5 and deserved a break.

But I’m back — back writing, actually, because I spent the imaginative pre-dawn hours of December and January plotting my next book.  It’s an idea that came to me last June, on the very day I sent Not My Daughter off to my publisher.  Lots of other plot possibilities came and went during the summer, which is typically my time for new ideas, but this one wouldn’t let go.

You guys helped cement it. (more…)

I’m psyched!  Here’s the 3½-star (out of 4) review of Not My Daughter that just appeared in PEOPLE magazine.

“Calling to mind an ’08 news story about 17 girls thought to have made a pregnancy “pact,” this novel features three Maine teens who blithely orchestrate getting pregnant together. Refusing to name the fathers or to consider abortion or adoption, they are at once perplexing and heartbreaking – especially to their own mothers, who become primary characters. As the town erupts in outrage, the girls’ moms grapple with anger, sorrow and the nagging question: Where did I fail my daughter? It’s a topical tale that resonates with timeless emotion.”

Nice, huh?  And filling the whole lower third of the page, including a view of the cover? Thank you, PEOPLE Magazine.  A writer can’t ask for more.

But we do.  Every writer wants to be reviewed.  Why?  Three reasons. (more…)

Rarely does a week go by when I don’t meet with a book group, and oh, the luxury of it.  I can visit anywhere in the country from the comfort of my home, talking by speakerphone with a group of readers, all of whom have read my book.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

But I’m not in a book group, some readers cry, which is why I’m doing a live chat on Tuesday, January 12, 9-9:30 pm (EST) right here on this blog page.

But still, you say,  you want to talk with me on the phone like those other book groups?  Okay.  Form a book group of your own.  Even for one night, one meeting.  How to do it?  (more…)

Since you’ve so kindly indulged my going on and on for months, I’ll make this blog short and sweet.

My new book, Not My Daughter, is now on sale!  I hope you enjoy it.  As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

If you’d like a personalized bookplate for your copy, give me the info and it’ll be on its way.

If you’d like to take part in a live online chat to discuss Not My Daughter (or any other BD subject), be right here at this BLOG page one week from tonight, Tuesday, January 12, from 9:00-9:30 PM (EST).

And finally, if you haven’t put your name in for the sweepstakes, please do so now.  With $1000 in book gift cards up for grabs, it’ll be worth your while.

That’s it.  ‘Til Thursday.

Actually, that’s the second piece of my 2010 news.  The first is right there on my home page – the offer of an autographed bookplate for your copy of Not My Daughter.  I’ll sign up to three bookplates per person, one for each of three copies of the book.  Just follow the link to the order form, give me the pertinent info, and I’ll take it from there.  I pay postage and handling.  The only cost to you is whatever you pay, wherever, for Not My Daughter!

And here’s the online chat part. (more…)

There’s a reason why I set my stories in New England.  I love New England.  Sure, I’ve lived here all my life, still I love it.  Doesn’t that say something?

Maine holds a special place in my heart for many reasons, only the most recent of which is that it’s the Not My Daughter setting.  Here’s a little history of Maine and me. (more…)

It started as a contest.  When I was in New York last September brainstorming a promotional plan for Not My Daughter, my publisher suggested running it on my website at the time of publication.  The goal was to tell people about this book, and the original idea called for a mother-daughter contest, with the prize being an all-expense-paid mother-daughter getaway weekend.  After all, Not My Daughter is about mothers and daughters, right?

Then I got to thinking.  Granted, with my readership being 97% women give or take, 97% of my readers either are or were daughters, right?  But moms?  Not all have children, and of those who do, not all of those children are daughters.  Hey, I have only sons.  So what would I do if I won?  My mom’s been dead for years; I couldn’t take her.  I quickly realized that if we wanted people to actually enter this contest, we had to cast a larger net.

Let me inject something here.  (more…)

If you’ve followed my countdown blogs, you’ll know that Mountain Colors, a Montana company that specializes in hand-dying yarn, has produced a colorway to honor Not My Daughter.  After reading early excerpts of the book, the masterminds behind Mountain Colors, Leslie Taylor and Diana McKay, designed Spring Eclipse, a breathtaking mix of fuchsia, copper, plum, sapphire, forest green, and teal, named after a colorway created by my characters, Susan, Kate, Sunny, and Pam, who have their own yarn-dying business in Not My Daughter.

"Spring Eclipse" from Mountain Colors

Getting to know Leslie and Diana has been a joy for me.  They are incredibly warm and wonderfully creative, representative of the best of the community of knitters that has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.  What is it about knitting that’s so appealing?  (more…)