Most of my books are inspired by things I read about in the newspaper. The inspiration for Sweet Salt Air was much more personal. I have three sons, all of whom have recently had children, and when each of those babies was born, its umbilical cord blood was harvested, frozen, and stored. The premise is that cutting edge medicine is starting to use the stem cells harvested from such blood, and the closer those stem cells match to the DNA of the recipient, the better.
The Official Site
January 23, 2013
Naming the characters in my next book
You’ve heard of Dennis Lehane, right? Since he’s a home town boy, my local press is all over him. So I wasn’t surprised to hear tv reports that his dog, Tessa (yup, that’s her pictured above), had disappeared on Christmas Eve and that he was offering to name a character in his next book after whoever gave him information leading to its return.
This isn’t a new concept. I’ve often auctioned off naming rights to the highest bidder at charity auctions. But that isn’t how I choose most of my names.
December 19, 2012
LOW PRESSURE: a book recommendation
Sandra Brown and I go way back. We started in the field of romance together, actually met at the first ever Romance Writers of America conference. We raised our kids, saw them marry and have their own kids at roughly the same time. Both straying from the romance genre, I entered the field of women’s fiction, while Sandra made her mark writing thrillers. Her novels are beautifully written, exquisitely plotted, and deeply sensual.
Low Pressure, her latest book, is no exception. I had the pleasure of hunkering down this weekend to read it, and while you know that I don’t do book reviews but simply tell you what I like, I gotta say I like this one. Where to begin?
November 29, 2012
Dealing with the loss of my characters
Readers feel this. You’ve been engrossed in a book for however long it takes to read it and then, suddenly, the characters are gone. You write me asking what they’ll do now and whether they’ll ever be back. But if you miss them, think of what I’m feeling when I finish writing a book.
Take Sweet Salt Air. I’ve been living with Charlotte and Nicole and Leo and his dog Bear for a year and a half, so finishing the writing and having to let them go is bittersweet for me, too.
October 19, 2012
RULES OF CIVILITY – a book recommendation
Another one, you say? Wow, do you read fast! I do, but only when I’m not writing, and since right now I’m hovering in the twilight between Sweet Salt Air and my next book, I have time. As always, this isn’t as much a book review as a recommendation. I can only tell you what I like. I won’t pan the work of other authors. Different readers like different books, right?
If you like my books, though, there’s a chance you may like the books I like.
October 10, 2012
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES: a recommendation
I actually want to talk about two books – A Discovery of Witches and its sequel, Shadow of Night. Please note, this isn’t a book review, simply a recommendation of two books that I’ve enjoyed reading. Both were written by Deborah Harkness, and they have totally caught my fancy.
If that phrase is old-fashioned, it’s because I’ve spent the last few weeks living in the sixteenth century, which is when the majority of Shadow of Night takes place.
October 3, 2012
Revising SWEET SALT AIR
Here’s how it works. The author writes her book and sends it to her editor, who reads it, thinks about it, reacts to it, hopefully loves it – but also comes up with a few recommendations to make it even stronger.
Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Well, it isn’t always. Authors have egos. We have pride and fears. Let me ask you – do you rewrite email that you send or documents you write for work? If you’re in school, do you rewrite papers? Do you feel offended when someone suggests editing it?
July 26, 2012
SUMMERLAND: a recommendation
When I asked you Facebook fans for book recommendations, Summerland was mentioned several times. So I read it, loved it, recommend it. Here’s why.
Sense of place. The setting is Nantucket, where the author, Elin Hilderbrand, has lived since 1984, and she knows the island well. From the very first page, you’ll see it, smell it, hear it.
Immediacy. The plot centers on the tight-knit island community, so idyllic, yet vulnerable. As soon as we’ve fallen in love with the place (“Absolutely have to go there …”), we learn of a tragic automobile accident that occurs on the night of the high school graduation. The story that follows details the fallout of this accident.
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