I am the granddaughter who
graduated from KU
preferred hamburger to steak
didn't get pregnant in school
wrote all the books
married a musician
Carleenie baby

Goodbye Papa baby

Heroes

1. Brava to Coach C. Vivian Stringer and the Rutgers women's basketball team for how they handled themselves this week!
2. I learned about Jane Stillwater on BBC Radio. She's a 64-year-old grandmother who left California and flew to Baghdad to report on her blog what's really going down.

Ghost Road Press Writing Contest

2007 Guidelines for the Open Windows 2007 Creative Writing Contest

Ghost Road Press is seeking entries of poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction

Guidelines: There are two ways to enter this year's contest. Send a labeled CD-ROM OR as an email attachment (preferred method) to contest@ghostroadpress.com with the following items:
The work(s) in a Word document with the title of the piece on every page in the right-hand corner—no author info on the work itself—double-spaced; a cover sheet with author name, address, phone number, and working email address. Cover sheet should include a 30-40 word bio. For multiple poems, each poem should appear on its own page, as it should appear in its printed form. No 3.5" floppy disks. For email, please use an appropriate subject line, such as "Open Windows Contest Entry."

You may pay the submission fee (1 story or essay / up to three poems per $15) by check or online with Paypal on our web site. No entries will be processed until payment is received. There is no required theme. Stories and essays should not exceed 4500 words. Entry Fee: 1 story or creative nonfiction piece for $15; up to 3 poems for $15. Simultaneous submissions are permissible. Prizes: $500 + 4 copies Open Windows 2007 for best story, creative nonfiction piece, and poem; 3 copies OW2007 for 2nd prize; 2 copies OW2007 for third prize (nine prize winners total). Categories will be judged separately. There is no set theme for any of the categories. The contest submission period is April 1 to June 30. Winners will be announced on September 15 on our web site only.

Go here for more info.

Old girls' night out

Yep, the Pajama Gardener was out of the house after dark 2 nights in a row. Last night, my friend Leslie and I went to go see Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend in concert. It was a great show (though they couldn't quite get the sound right for John Legend's set).

As we walked up to the theater, Leslie said, "I'm glad we're not the oldest people here." And sure nuff, we weren't. There were lots of gray and bald heads in there. And didn't the singers know it--they did a few flashbacks to Robert Flack, the O'Jays, Carole King and Led Zeppelin. We old girls danced and sang along and had a great old time...after we got some cough drops for the smoke during Legend's set. (Not that kind of smoke-it was dry ice-I only smelled that kind of smoke once, as if someone near me took a quick toke.)

I was feeling pretty good, being up and out after dark and all, until Rae said, with no irony at all, that she was 28 and had been playing in bands for a long time, since she was 16, and it looked like things were finally happening for her. I guess in a Beyonce world, you get worried if you haven't made it by the time you're staring at 30. Thank God publishing isn't like that (yet). Speaking of the rest of the pop scene, it was a pleasure to listen to a singer-songwriter, a young woman who is indeed making it without shedding her clothes or wiggling her ass.

Then John Legend came on, looking all of 7 years old, and everyone pulled out their cells to take pictures. I looked at the sea of blue screens in front of me and remembered when people held lighters and joints up in the air, not cell phones. And I began to feel my age again. But then Legend and his band got us dancing and singing and, yes, screaming like teens. Much fun.

Tonight I go to my critique group. Tomorrow, I collapse.

Sightings and signings

I met Jodi Picoult tonight! I went to hear her read and sign Nineteen Minutes. You want to talk about loyal fans! Her fans are serious. I heard women debating the merits of one book versus another and how Jodi's style changed from book to book. I can only imagine how gratifying that is. Of course, her book is currently #1 on the NYT list (which I'm sure has its rewards), but to see people in person who are actually reading and discussing your work (not just buying it because it looks right on their coffee tables) has to be something.

She was fast, Jodi. She got through 200+ people in a little over an hour. And without short-changing, it seemed. I scored an author-to-author introduction, thanks to the lovely folks at the Tattered Cover. Thanks Charles and Matt and Jinx and everyone who worked tonight! Thanks too to Lisa, Jodi's escort, who actually made the wonderful introduction. Tonight reminded me of what local, independent stores do that just can't be replicated.

I like to go to readings/signings and I like to be the one in the writer's chair. About 10 years ago, Alice Walker read at the Tattered Cover. She perhaps isn't as fast a signer-chatter as Jodi, so she wasn't speaking to anyone or personalizing books. However, while in line I watched her and noticed that she made a point of making eye contact with each person, silently acknowledging their humanity. When my turn came, Alice gave me a great big smile. I was thrilled. "Did you see that?" I asked my friend Jennifer. She said, "That's because you were looking at her like you were 3 years old and she had ice cream." That's how I feel when I sign books too: like readers are bringing me presents.

Here's to the 3-year-old in all of us, readers and writers alike.

Happy Easter

We colored eggs yesterday. Here are a few of the faves. I ate one for breakfast with some wheat toast with apricot "simply fruit." Last night I went to a birthday party (Yay E!) and passed up what looked like a heavenly cake. But, last night I also wore jeans I bought 3 years ago when I was just shy of fitting them. They were a little tight, but I thought I'd continue to lose and wear them within a month. Not only did I never wear them, but I actually grew. They hung in the back of my closet for 3 years. Until last night. Skipping the cake was worth it. This morning I celebrate all kinds of new births. Happy Easter, y'all!

Learning from Mr. Bad Writer

One of the good things about working on a new book is realizing that I did learn some things about fiction writing the last one. Not that I won't paint myself into corners now, but, I hope it will be fewer of them. Probably the biggest difference I can see regards plot. A weakness. But now I'm fully aware that it's a weakness.

I learned about plot from a really bad writer. I don't mean to judge, but this was a guy who had "liquor servants" instead of bartenders in his story. But let's say he wasn't a bad writer, just a very, very new writer. Anyway, I owe him. He did me a huge favor. I didn't learn about plot from seeing how bad his story was. He taught me about plot by telling me that my story was bad. Actually, he never called it bad, he just kept saying "nothing happens." We were in a workshop together. We got to read maybe 10 pages at a time. I turned in scenes that tricked almost everyone else in the class. The writing was good. The imagery was gorgeous. You could smell the food cooking. You could feel the character's worry. I blew off Mr. Bad Writer. I mean, what did he know? Of course something happened: the mother made Thanksgiving dinner for God's sake, and anybody with an ounce of intelligence would be moved by what a beautiful moment it was.

It took me a few more months (maybe a year) of Mr. Bad Writer's voice in my head to understand what he meant and to realize he was right: nothing really happened. The scene didn't move the character even a little forward. She was worried at the beginning of it and still worried at the end. Many, many of my scenes were like that, well-crafted but devoid of movement. So why were they there? Ouch.

I'm happy to realize now that as I write new scenes I'm very quick to ask myself, What's going on in this scene? How does it move the story forward? Why is it there? And I owe Mr. Bad Writer for that. If not for him I might still be writing beautiful set pieces that don't lead to each other or change anything...and who would want to read that?

Author photo (round 2)

These were taken by a friend and coworker, Marilyn. What do you think?

Book news

Harry Bernstein is 96. He just published his first book, The Invisible Wall. See that? It ain't too late until you're gone!

In other book news, the memoir of Dewey the library cat fetched a $1.25 million advance (from a publisher that turned down my novel, by the way).

And finally...Orange Mint and Honey is done. Done done. The final manuscript was accepted by Ballantine (which also happens to be the publisher of Mr. Bernstein's book). Look for it this time-ish next year.

Author photo? (round one)

Hubby took this group of pictures today. God bless him. There's something about me and the camera -- when the

photographer says "smile" I grimace in a way that makes me look extremely suspicious. These are the best of the bunch. Do any of them work as author photos?I've got a professional photographer friend I can ask to take some additional shots too.

Cast your vote today!