For starters, I feel like it’s about time! I finished writing Sweet Salt Air a year ago, and though my publisher needed these months to publish the book well – and they have! – I feel like you all have waited forever. On one hand, I want you hungry, so that you’ll race out and buy the book on the very first day it goes on sale. On the other hand, I hope you haven’t been angry with me for making you wait so long. So, a huge thanks for your patience.
The Official Site
June 10, 2013
Snapshots of SWEET SALT AIR
Last week’s blog talked about which character in this book is my favorite, but I have other favorites here. Since Sweet Salt Air is a highly sensual book, I’m thinking see, smell, feel, hear, and taste. I’m calling them snapshots, because they’re just quick little moments from the book. I guess that makes this blog an album.
Favorite sight? A ghost ship on the ocean in the early morning mist, as seen from Charlotte’s bedroom window.
Favorite smell? Lavender. Sooooothing.
Favorite touch? Sand. Around and about the toes.
June 7, 2013
Are you imaginative?
Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, and writing …
I get ideas from what I read in the news. Here’s a perfect example. I logged on this morning to catch the headlines at cnn.com and saw this one, “How ‘GOT’ will end,” and immediately clicked through. GOT is Game of Thrones, and I’m addicted to it. This Sunday is the Season 3 finale, but it was last Sunday’s show that stopped my heart. The Red Wedding. Bloody. Unexpected. Heartbreaking.
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 27, 2012
Why I’m not a book reviewer
I’m going to be very careful here not to slam those who do review books. I admire many of them. They read constantly and have a wide enough repertoire to give them a grand perspective on books.
But the contents of a book review is about more than reading. It’s about the reviewer’s personal history and how it relates to the story. It’s about her mood at the time of the reading. If the book review is an assignment she didn’t want, her review reflects it. Likewise, if the author of the book-to-be-reviewed is a good friend. And if the book reviewer is a writer herself and is reviewing the competition? Oh boy. There’s an invitation for partisanship.
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 26, 2012
Are you a typo freak?
Inevitably, when each of my books first comes out, I get notes from readers catching typos. “ Doesn’t anyone proofread anymore?” they ask plaintively.
The answer? YES! I carefully read through looking for errors, as do my editor, my agent, my assistant, and more people at the publishing house than I care to count. And still, when the copyeditor gets the manuscript, she’ll find a typo or two. The eye plays games, especially when you’ve read a book numerous times. You know what the word is supposed to be, so that’s what you see. (Actually, I just typed “numberous,” which I often do since my fingers are more attuned to typing “number” than “numerous,” which is why I proofread this blog before posting.)
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