2/28/2010
Yeah, we took the plunge. Well, Cinderella took the plunge while I was upstairs writing Hummingbird's Daughter II. So we have a Facebook. Go over and say hi. Join up! (Is that how it works?) I'll see you there, or here, or on Twitter, or on GoodReads. Wow. I still wish we could send post-cards to each other.
Love 4ever,
L
Neil Gaiman Saves The Day
Love 4ever,
L
2/25/2010
OK, famous (and infamous) writers have been in our lives and in and out of our house forever. Our kids eye-roll as they pack up their sleeping bags and move into the basement or sit through yet another reading or author dinner. They are unfailingly polite and always feign great interest in these grownups.
But this week, Neil Gaiman came to town. Now we don't know Neil Gaiman. And 10-year-old Chayo was not at all happy about that. Thanks to Coraline and The Graveyard Book and his kid picture books, she is a huge fan. (So's Eric for the record, but for other reasons and he's at college so he's not part of this story). "Why don't you know him?" Chayo demanded. "He's an author, you're an author. Finally, here's somebody I really want to meet. He's my Author Crush!"
Demoralized, we "cursed" Neil Gaiman on Twitter and bemoaned the fall from grace of Daddy The Amazing.
Neil saw our posting and wrote immediately. Said he loved the Mexico poem (below). And he invited us to come to his reading and he'd say hello to Chayo backstage. Redemption!!
We went to see him last night as part of Naperville Reads and escorted our beaming daughter (who spritzed herself with perfume in the car) backstage to meet her Author Crush.
Neil Gaiman was warm and friendly and completely charmed the little kid in our house. He asked her what he should read and she responded (with little hearts in her eyes), "Anything would be good." He posed for a picture with her and, as we left, swept her up and swung her in the air.
She hasn't come down yet.
This morning at the bus stop, she was mulling over the authors she's met and figuring out her favorites. "OK," she said. "I LOVE Colum McCann. But he's more my friend because we hung out and everything. And I don't think I'll read his books anytime soon. But Neil Gaiman ... well,I think he's my real Author Crush. He's amazing."
Thanks, Neil, for making a 10-year-old girl so happy. And for helping her Daddy stay cool in her eyes.
When Your Heart is Weak
But this week, Neil Gaiman came to town. Now we don't know Neil Gaiman. And 10-year-old Chayo was not at all happy about that. Thanks to Coraline and The Graveyard Book and his kid picture books, she is a huge fan. (So's Eric for the record, but for other reasons and he's at college so he's not part of this story). "Why don't you know him?" Chayo demanded. "He's an author, you're an author. Finally, here's somebody I really want to meet. He's my Author Crush!"
Demoralized, we "cursed" Neil Gaiman on Twitter and bemoaned the fall from grace of Daddy The Amazing.
Neil saw our posting and wrote immediately. Said he loved the Mexico poem (below). And he invited us to come to his reading and he'd say hello to Chayo backstage. Redemption!!
We went to see him last night as part of Naperville Reads and escorted our beaming daughter (who spritzed herself with perfume in the car) backstage to meet her Author Crush.
Neil Gaiman was warm and friendly and completely charmed the little kid in our house. He asked her what he should read and she responded (with little hearts in her eyes), "Anything would be good." He posed for a picture with her and, as we left, swept her up and swung her in the air.
She hasn't come down yet.
This morning at the bus stop, she was mulling over the authors she's met and figuring out her favorites. "OK," she said. "I LOVE Colum McCann. But he's more my friend because we hung out and everything. And I don't think I'll read his books anytime soon. But Neil Gaiman ... well,I think he's my real Author Crush. He's amazing."
Thanks, Neil, for making a 10-year-old girl so happy. And for helping her Daddy stay cool in her eyes.
2/24/2010
We are still frozen, but Spring is near. I am stirring to life. Hummingbird's Daughter sequel is opening like one of the forsythia buds out there under the ice. The first galley of Mr. Mendoza's paintbrush, my killer graphic novel with Cristopher Cardinale came this week. I have three big anthology appearances happening. Verily, my heart feels weak and old and tired, but there is a stirring of life in spite of my blues. How are things in your house? You all right? Here's a thought for us both:
"Sorrow, accumulating in one's heart, may one fine day burst into flames like a haystack, and everything will burn away in the fire of extraordinary joy."
--Mikhail Prishvin
Still, in this white/gray whispering beauty, we wait....
Writing Rules
"Sorrow, accumulating in one's heart, may one fine day burst into flames like a haystack, and everything will burn away in the fire of extraordinary joy."
--Mikhail Prishvin
Still, in this white/gray whispering beauty, we wait....
2/19/2010
No, These aren't The Rules of Writing, this is an exultation, dude: Writing Totally Rules. Like that. Just got back from one of those crazy-fast trips. Went to Phoenix. I was gone from the house well before dawn, in AZ by lunch time. Gave a talk to 400 of my bestest new friends. Signed a bunch of autographs and got a bunch of hugs and heard confession from six or seven sinners and posed for the requisite Chicana prom date snapshots. All because I thought it would be really cool, once upon a time, in my teens, to write 977 bad poems about the wonders of my sweetie, Colette. Girl taught me to write! Taught me to kiss, actually. But THAT taught me to write!
I hope some of my new pals from Maricopa are checking this. Big love, amigos! I am starting to rev up the motors for the Return of The Perpetual Book Tour. (Can you hear the reverb?) I've been staying put since our Central American jungle adventure. But I'm heading out again. Watch out. Back to AZ soon for the Tucson Festival of the Book. To TX, to CT. Paperback book tour is kicking off soon. And some cool event in England.
Thank you, as ever, for reading my work. I'll be looking for you out there.
Here's a little bit of how I feel about all of it:
I want to give myself
utterly
as this maple
that burned and burned
for three days without stinting
and then in two more
dropped off every leaf....
--Jane Hirshfield
Ever Yrs.,
L
Some Good Things Between Snow Storms
I hope some of my new pals from Maricopa are checking this. Big love, amigos! I am starting to rev up the motors for the Return of The Perpetual Book Tour. (Can you hear the reverb?) I've been staying put since our Central American jungle adventure. But I'm heading out again. Watch out. Back to AZ soon for the Tucson Festival of the Book. To TX, to CT. Paperback book tour is kicking off soon. And some cool event in England.
Thank you, as ever, for reading my work. I'll be looking for you out there.
Here's a little bit of how I feel about all of it:
I want to give myself
utterly
as this maple
that burned and burned
for three days without stinting
and then in two more
dropped off every leaf....
--Jane Hirshfield
Ever Yrs.,
L
2/15/2010
A while ago, I got an e-mail from a program for young incarecerated girls in San Diego. I was excited to roganize a great heist with my publicists at Little, Brown, and we procured a crate of copies of INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH for the girls. They wrote me thank-you notes that got here this week. Man. It really reminds you why you write. Not Cadillacs, not big checks, not even awards. But simple human communication. To think that a book can bring some hope, laughter or even tears to a teenage girl in trouble makes me so happy.
Here, it's all flu and sinus infections. Kind of scary because I have to fly to AZ on Wednesday, and right now, it feels like my whole head will explode when the plane takes off. Like that scene from SCANNERS. What was that? That was author Luis Urrea's sinus cavity reacting to the cabin pressure! Wow, what a shame. Pass the mop.
Still, we had a good Valentine's Day. I got Cinderella an iPod Nano. Red. See, like some John Hughes movie, I used to make her mix tapes when we first met. How can you live and love without a mix tape? So the plot--slowed somewhat by the exploding sinus--is to load all the songs that were on these tapes on the Pod. And make playlists for each tape, so she can listen to them whenever she pleases. Cool, huh?
Hey--it worked. We're coming up on 13 years this June! Go, Tom Petty! Go, Love & Rockets! Go, Neruda! Go, Beau Jocque! Go, Caifanes!
I have been working hard, by the way, on Hummingbird's Daughter II. It's 1/3 done. Very difficult. But happening.
See you in Arizona.
L
Hummingbird Review II
Here, it's all flu and sinus infections. Kind of scary because I have to fly to AZ on Wednesday, and right now, it feels like my whole head will explode when the plane takes off. Like that scene from SCANNERS. What was that? That was author Luis Urrea's sinus cavity reacting to the cabin pressure! Wow, what a shame. Pass the mop.
Still, we had a good Valentine's Day. I got Cinderella an iPod Nano. Red. See, like some John Hughes movie, I used to make her mix tapes when we first met. How can you live and love without a mix tape? So the plot--slowed somewhat by the exploding sinus--is to load all the songs that were on these tapes on the Pod. And make playlists for each tape, so she can listen to them whenever she pleases. Cool, huh?
Hey--it worked. We're coming up on 13 years this June! Go, Tom Petty! Go, Love & Rockets! Go, Neruda! Go, Beau Jocque! Go, Caifanes!
I have been working hard, by the way, on Hummingbird's Daughter II. It's 1/3 done. Very difficult. But happening.
See you in Arizona.
L
2/05/2010 Writing
I'm writing. Cinderella reminds me that writing time is sacred time. I fear taking myself that seriously, but I need to take the process that seriously. It's crazy how much time one loses in teaching, planning workshops, attending to the needs of workshoppers, maintaining websites and answering mail, fielding grumbles whines cries love notes critiques complaints howls exploratory prods, editing, reviewing, writing blurbs, writing/answering incessant requests for letters of recommendation even from people one has met at a meeting once three years ago. Wow! Or, as they say in Mexico City, GUAU. I can see why people vanish to a cabin in Vermont. Gotta write. I forget to write in dealing with all the peripheral stuff. Must remember it's peripheral! Just: writing. Not career. Writing careers suck. Writing is the best job in the world, even if it's hard sometimes. Writing is play. Writing is lunch. Writing is a day in the woods. Sometimes, writing is the $%#@&*! treadmill. But this other stuff is a slow cascade of tapioca, covering the day like diabetic lava. Sweet, but it'll kill ya! So, back to work! Trying to make some good words for you to read!
A parting thought for today:
"When asked what I write about, I like to reply that 'about' is the wrong word, it suggests the wrong relationship. I prefer to say 'from' or 'toward' or occasionally 'through.'" --Kathleen Jamie
OK, y'all--I'm writing through. Thinking of you, even if I won't open my window when the pebbles hit the glass.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Luigi
The Hummingbird Review
A parting thought for today:
"When asked what I write about, I like to reply that 'about' is the wrong word, it suggests the wrong relationship. I prefer to say 'from' or 'toward' or occasionally 'through.'" --Kathleen Jamie
OK, y'all--I'm writing through. Thinking of you, even if I won't open my window when the pebbles hit the glass.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, Luigi
2/04/2010
In my many secret lives, I do all kinds of sneaky things. One of those things is to maintain a hidden community/workshop of writers and artists. Out of this working group, a new lit journal has sprung. I am very excited about it, and I hope you will check it out.
It is THE HUMMINGBIRD REVIEW. Yeah, I'm in there. It's published by Charlie Redner and edited by warriors from the group. You can see info online at hummingbirdreview.blogspot.com. But the good news is that the electronic journal has gone into print. Yes. I like to hold an object in my hand. And now it's here.
You can get it via amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, openbooks.com. It's $10 an issue, but a little (humming)bird told me Barnes & Noble has it for $9.
They did good work--I hope you can support them. And writers/poets/artists/photographers--submit to The Hummingbird!
It is THE HUMMINGBIRD REVIEW. Yeah, I'm in there. It's published by Charlie Redner and edited by warriors from the group. You can see info online at hummingbirdreview.blogspot.com. But the good news is that the electronic journal has gone into print. Yes. I like to hold an object in my hand. And now it's here.
You can get it via amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, openbooks.com. It's $10 an issue, but a little (humming)bird told me Barnes & Noble has it for $9.
They did good work--I hope you can support them. And writers/poets/artists/photographers--submit to The Hummingbird!
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