Christmas music and me

In theory, I don’t celebrate Christmas.  I was raised lighting candles on each of the eight nights of Chanukah, with blessings and presents and latkes to match.  But when I was growing up, everyone else on our street celebrated Christmas – everyone else in our school celebrated Christmas.  And since I was in the school…

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Page Change

Whoa.  I just looked at my last blog, and realized how long I’ve been gone!  Well, not really gone.  I’ve been here at my desk the whole time, plugging away at my new book.  But now we’re into October, and sweet corn is passé in New England.  What’s in?  Apples and cranberries (the picture below…

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In praise of sweet corn

‘Tis the season. We’ve had fresh sweet corn around here for weeks now, but I’m in Massachusetts, and that corn is from Georgia, which isn’t to say it isn’t good, simply that it isn’t local. Locally-grown produce is a big part of Sweet Salt Air, and though corn isn’t a major player in the book,…

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I hear you!

The notes you send have a huge impact on me.  The most  obvious instance occurred in June, soon after Sweet Salt Air came out.  One reader said she thought the book started too slowly.  I promptly turned to my work-in-progress, reread the opening with a critical eye, then switched Chapters 1 and 2 so that…

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Ever lost your cell phone?

Panic!  We’re talking cold turkey withdrawal and then some, because cell phones have become key to our lives.  When did that happen?  Most everyone over thirty remembers when land lines were the go-to phone connection.  When one of my sons decided to cancel his land line for cell-only status, I was worried.  What if the…

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What does summer sound like?

Well, how appropriate.  We’re at the lake, and I’ve decided to blog about what I hear.  Cradling my laptop, I head through the kitchen porch toward the open deck when there’s a shout from inside.  “Don’t let the screen door slap!”  I won’t tell you whose voice it is lest I incriminate him, but suffice…

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Where SWEET SALT AIR came from

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…

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How much of me is in SWEET SALT AIR

June 18.  What seemed like a long way off a year ago is coming fast.  You all have been so patient.  I thank you for that. I just reread Sweet Salt Air.  I mean, wow, I’ve been distracted from it.  I’ve probably read twenty books since I finished writing it, and now I’m working on my next book,…

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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…

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Fiddleheads!

They’re back!  DH and I were strolling through Whole Foods the other night when I spotted a precious sign.  Fiddlehead Ferns, it read – and there they were, packed in a bin with tiny ice chips to keep them crisp. For the uninitiated, fiddleheads are the immature, unopened fronds of a fern that, when harvested…

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