A Long Christmas Break

Okay, I took a very long blog sabbatical. First I wasn’t feeling well, then Christmas craziness hit, and eventually I just decided to take a break until after the holidays. Then that apparently extended until after MLK Day.

But I’m back.  A quick update: GHOSTS UNDERGROUND is gone to the copyediting/layout stage–my part’s totally finished. Which is both satisfying and frustrating. Now I just wait for it to magically turn into a real book. We’re about to send out ESCAPE TO LODEMA, the young adult book set in Birmingham that I wrote this fall. We’ll see what the publishers say. And I’ve just turned in the draft of the next adult novel–called The GOOD LIFE at the moment–to my agent. So lots of irons in the fire–that’s good. Lots of waiting, too–that’s bad.

I stayed up until midnight last night finishing Emma Donohue’s ROOM. I’d read several glowing reviews, heard plenty of raves from friends and family, and I finally bought it. Finished it about 48 hours later. It’s un-put-downable. Now seems like a reasonable time to mention that when I say “bought,” I’m still buying hard copies. I think every month I get closer to taking the plunge to an iPad–it does seem really handy for travel–but I can’t imagine preferring to read a screen in bed at night. I want paper against my fingertips. Same reason I want the hard copy NY Times on Sunday.

For the first time in a long time, I’m thinking I’d like to live somewhere other than Alabama. These winters are not what I signed up for. If I’d wanted temperatures in the teens for days at a time, I’d have stayed in New York or DC. Mild winters–with occasional days in the 60s and 70s, even in January–are the reason we put up with 105 degree summers here. This winter aggression will not stand, man (rip-off of a Big Lebowski quote).

Go Knicks.