Denver dogs go Dem!

Lucky wears a "Bark for Barack" kerchief. Leslie, Lucky's person, got it at his daycare. She said the owner was also selling ones with a McCain slogan, but the "Bark for Barack" ones was outselling it 40 to 1.

(That's a Barackellini on the table--they were yum!)

Pale imitation

Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton. She's not even Hillary-light, like McCain is Bush-light. And Democratic women are smart enough to see the difference. The Pale Imitation seems not to be Dan Quayle either. I mean, so far I'd bet she could correctly spell potatoes. And more power to a United States in which selecting a woman VP could actually help your party. Luckily for Dems this isn't a woman in the same league as Hillary. A candidate with a uterus and mammary glands is a start, but not enough to impress me.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but had to say it. Anybody feel differently?

Barack the Vote!

Ok, I was going to stay home and watch the speech on TV by myself, but my friend Leslie invited me for an Obamajama Party. She's taking care of the food. I'm bringing the drinks. Barackellinis:

2 ounces peach nectar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 ounce peach schnapps
4 ounces sparkling wine
crushed ice

Put it all in the blender (for 1 drink). Now that's change I can believe in! What are y'all doing tonight?

Man on fire!

Wake up, America!

She won me back

"No way. No how. No Mcain."

Wow! Hillary was a woman on fire! Another great speech!

Ain't she a woman?

Thank God for Michelle Obama! Seriously, how many of us could do what she had to do last night? Gently, eloquently, sweetly...prove that she's just as human and normal as any white person. That her family has values. That they care about their kids and God and telling the truth. That she's not at all scary.

I couldn't do it. I'd be too full of righteous anger at the need at this late date to make such a case. Look at Sojourner Truth's Ain't I a Woman speech and tell me if much has changed. But then I couldn't have baked cookies like they forced Hillary to do when Bill first ran either. (Remember that? When she said "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies" and the media treated it like being a career woman was the same as shoveling babies into stoves? So she had to serve up chocolate chip cookies on the campaign trail to prove that she wasn't scary.)

So, truly, I thank God for Michelle. What a woman! Someone who can keep her eyes on the prize enough to not let the petty b.s. get her down and look damn good doing it. Talk about grace under pressure. These Obamas are as strong, tough and smart as they have to be. Last night, again, Michelle showed they will do this country proud!

What the F*** Pie

I watched the movie Waitress last night. The movie is touching, but the true story of the writer & director even more so. Actress Adrienne Shelly was 40 with a small daughter, a husband and a budding career as a filmmaker, and she was murdered shortly before the film was released.

Since landing in the hospital in June, I've been thinking a lot about my own mortality. It was heartbreaking to see Adrienne's daughter in the movie and hear the lullaby "Baby don't you cry" Adrienne wrote for the movie. The movie is ultimately joyful and quite a gift for a mother to leave a child, but, of course, the child would rather have the mother, right? Heartbreaking.

All last night I thought about the movie. And pie. Pie is big in the movie. The main character bakes pies with names like "I Hate My Husband Pie" and "Bad Baby Pie." This morning I read Patry Francis' blog post about her ritual of baking a blueberry pie for her muse every August. And I recalled that Jamey Hatley, too, has blogged about feeding her muse.

As some of y'all may know, about a year and a half ago I kicked a fierce sugar habit. But since coming home from the hospital, I have been ferociously craving chocolate cake. And since life is short, I've had some (and it was divine!). Now I wonder if it's not my body's way of asking for what it needs? Feeding the heart, feeding the muse, is there any difference? Or are these severe cravings just lovely hormonal changes brought on by perimenopause...and even if they are, do you listen to your hormones or ignore them?

It's painfully confusing to quit a bad habit and try so hard to be healthy and then end up sick. What's that supposed to mean? What's the lesson? What's the point? Maybe there's something to the idea of feeding oneself, to putting something in for all that we're putting out? If I were to create a pie right now it'd be called "What the F*** Pie." Since I have never mastered the art of pie crust, maybe I'll bake myself a What the F*** Chocolate Cake.

How do you feed yourself? How do you feed your muse? What kind of pie would you bake right now?

It lives!

My next book, that is. As Natalie Goldberg put it, my process is writing down the bones first. Then I go back and layer on muscles, tendons, organs, blood, guts, and, lastly, put on the skin that holds the thing together. Up until this week, Children of the Waters had a brain and lungs and a spleen (let's say), but it didn't really have a beating heart. I think it does now. (Whew!)

Going through the comments my editor made and really spending some quality time with my characters enabled me to find the heart and even the soul of my story. It was there in the pages, but not fully realized. What do I mean? There are a few key scenes that I hope will make readers feel the story and up until this week, you could read them and think, Wow, that's sad or have some other thought. But I don't think you'd feel the loss the way the characters did. Anyway, it's a big relief.

Speaking of finding heart, Cary Tennis of Salon offers some wonderfully refreshing advice for writers.

Peace garden update

A big fat rain cloud swooped down from Montana early Friday morning and hung out over Denver for 2 straight days. The daytime high dropped into the 50s. You could almost hear the plants sigh with satisfaction and relief. For the first time ever, I might have something to be grateful to Focus on the Family for. Apparently God answered their prayers a little early. (Just kidding. I don't believe mean, stupid prayers get answered in the affirmative.)

Anyway, rain and lots of it, and we are very happy! Yesterday, the sun peeked through the clouds for a bit and I went out to pull weeds and look what I found! My first cantaloupe. As you can see, it's in a pot. Somebody told me that the plant wouldn't fruit in a pot. Surprise! (That's spearmint in the pot next to the cantaloupe. That's what I grew in the pot last year and when I started watering the same soil after I planted the cantaloupe seed--I know, I know I was supposed to change the potting soil--new spearmint came up.)

I also planted a cantaloupe in the ground in case the potted one didn't fruit. Guess we'll be eating lots of melon this fall. Though, sadly not watermelon. Vishnu dug up the watermelon seed and pooped in the dirt where it was planted.

Here's my pumpkin. I thought I took a picture of the flower when it was open and purty, but I guess I just did in my mind.

The heat and lack of rain led to late flowering here at my house, so we'll see what kind of pumpkins I get before frost. It has been known to snow in Denver in September, so....

Happy Birthday, Angela Bassett!!!

Can you believe this woman is 50 (as of August 16th)? If this is what 50 looks like, I can't wait to get there!

She'd make a good Nona, wouldn't she? (Not that I have any say in the casting, but a girl can dream.)

Speaking of balance

I'm scared of heights, but I'm going to have to see this movie.

Lucky

I attended a local book club last night and left feeling so lucky to have the "job" I have. Karen Carter's book club hosted a dinner in my honor (unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the group! Amendment: But above photo is from Lisa Kenney at the rescue!). All the ladies read the book, and seemed to enjoy it. We talked about writing and books and life. The food was delicious, the service fantastic and the company delightful. And they were kind enough to give me flowers, and bath & body stuff, and they all signed a card for me. (They laughed heartily when I told them the titles of my next books, Chocolate and Champagne and Wads of Cash, but I may not be kidding!)

As I drove home, I was moved to tears to think about doing something that I love that people actually celebrate. That doesn't happen often enough. Sure there's Admin Assistants Day and a few other so-called holidays to show your appreciation for a coworker or colleague, but most people don't have jobs with fans who applaud what they do. It made me eager to celebrate others when they care about what they do.

Thanks Karen to you and all your book club!! (And to Lisa Kenney who joined us!)

Lazy Day Links

During my time off from the blog, I had what my friend Marion calls an IFI, an incredible fucking insight. An epiphany. It has to do with my writing life. Before I got sick I was starting to become aware that I needed to find balance between writing and having a life. When you have no boss other than yourself, there's no one to blame for forcing you to sit at the computer all day. When you enjoy what you do, there seems to be no reason not to do it until you drop. But even as my own boss, doing a "job" I love, there needs to be limits.


For example. I used to write in the evenings or reread what I wrote earlier in the day or conduct research right before bed with the hope that I'd dream about my book in my sleep. My IFI is that I was programming myself to work in my sleep. Now, occasionally, to solve a particular problem in your work, this isn't a problem, but every night? My IFI is that sleep is for sleeping. Same with my "writing walks." Sometimes, ok. But every time, not good. I was really trying to live every moment of my life in service to writing. That is not in balance.


In the name of balance, I'm learning to not equate rest with laziness and laziness as a crime.


Here are a few enjoyable sites and/or interesting posts I've run across lately. Peruse at your leisure.


John Hershey is a garden-humor writer. His dandelion manifesto caught my eye in a local mag.
This blogger writes with humor about losing half her body weight (and of course got a book deal).
Speaking of humor, Bernie Mac, Rest in Peace. What About our Daughters has a brief, but powerful note that reminds us to live fully.
Condi hearts Denzel (wonder what Denzel thinks about that?). And approves of Thandie Newton playing her in a movie (who wouldn't?).
Sign up at Steven Barnes' website for daily tips on writing, publishing and living in balance.
July was hell on the yard, so I don't have any new garden porn. But go over to A Wrung Sponge for some easy-on-the-eyes garden pics and links to more!

Am I the Obama of Fiction?

I've always been confused about what a writing voice is. Until now. Lori Tharp (Kinky Gazpacho) posted a kind review of Orange Mint and Honey, and is one of the umpteen people who've noted that my characters could have been any race. I've heard very often that the story is "universal."

At first, I was perplexed by these type of responses. Why was it worth noting that a book with black characters was universal? Wasn't that a given? Then, I was a little angry and I wondered if racism didn't play a part. But then black readers started to tell me the same thing. So I went back to perplexed. I still don't know why this should be deemed so unusual. Do you think it is?

This is my world view. This is my life. There are all different kinds of people in it and while I definitely acknowledge and honor differences between my African American, Latino, & white family members and friends, mostly we're pretty much alike. Finally, coming from Flyover Country pays off! Because that is how my voice was formed. In Omaha, I lived on the same block with and went to school with white, Native American, Hispanic, Asian and black kids. My family has every kind of color in it.

Now I understand that voice isn't necessarily about the words we choose or the topics we cover, but how our own experiences and opinions inform our work. I'm glad people have found something they feel is unique in my writing. It's nice to know I have something to bring to the table. But just like Obama isn't the only articulate, accomplished, do-right black man in America or the only the one from a biracial family, I'm not the only writer out here writing about about black folks in a way that's "universal." If that's what you like, keep reading and keep looking around because there's plenty, plenty more where that came from.

And if you're confused about your voice, keep writing. You might not know what's special or interesting about your voice until your readers tell you.

So, I'm back

Hi everybody! How you been? What you been up to? Me? Sleeping, walking, reading (Tethered, Not a Day Goes By, Spontaneous Healing, The Thirteenth Tale, The South Beach Diet, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, Anti-Inflammatory Foods for Health, The Once and Future King, The Cold Dish), watching movies (Wall-E, Hancock, Get Smart, Mamma Mia!), getting addicted to the first season of Mad Men, and keeping my peace-garden pumpkin, cantaloups and morning glories alive during triple-digit heat and NO RAIN for over a month. Also doing a little editing on Children of the Waters (which now has a pub date of July 2009).

Officially, I was on a break from book promotion, but I still had a few events planned that I kept. I met with a couple of book clubs. I have to say authors not courting book clubs: you don't know what you're missing! One book club (which doesn't have a name) held an orange, mint & honey-themed dinner (honey wheat bread, shrimp in an orange, mint sauce)-very yummy! Another book club (Circle of Sisters) held their meeting at Pete's Greektown Restaurant (which is right up the street from the fictional record store in my novel) and gave me a gift bag crammed with orange, mint & honey bath and body stuff the likes of which thrilled me to no end! I think I'm going to call my next books Chocolate and Champagne and Wads of Cash.

I also participated in a panel discussion at the University of Denver with writer, chef, and friend Marisol, Margaret Coel, author of Blood Memory, and Craig Johnson, author of the Walt Longmire Mysteries. The panel, moderated by the lead buyer at the Tattered Cover, was part of a class on the business of publishing. Interesting takeaway: All four of our stories of how we got published had a bit what might be called magic or good luck or fate. Never underestimate the power of paying attention to your life. And all four of us benefitted from the kindness of others in the profession. Never underestimate kindness.

For the folks who emailed me or left comments about taking care of themselves, I will be in touch soon about sending you a signed paperback or an audiobook.

Voting continues!

It's not too late to vote for some of your favorite African American authors. See post below and spread the word!