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This poem is for every writer who has a day job. Every person who has to work a job they don't want to work but they have to, if just to pay the bills, or keep that all important medical insurance. 

We had a big layoff this week at my day job. The mood around the place is quite glum and those of us left behind, still employed, are not too sure that we were the lucky ones. 

  
WORK WITHOUT HOPE
  
ALL Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair—  
The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing—  
And Winter, slumbering in the open air,  
Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring!  
And I, the while, the sole unbusy thing,         
Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing.  
 
Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow,  
Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow.  
Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may,  
For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away!  
With lips unbrighten'd, wreathless brow, I stroll:  
And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul?  
Work without Hope draws nectar in a sieve,  
And Hope without an object cannot live. 

  
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 1772–1834
from Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

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Hi Miss Snark,

From a link to Kit Whitfield's site, from I-don't-recall-where, I read her "The Other Side" pages with some publishing advice for newbies. (Kit's just coming out with a book, but used to work as an editor.)

The Secret Language of Editors

This is hilarious. Clearly some UK-isms (sending an envelope for the return of pages; sending three chapters with a query; and so on) but spot on about tone.

I'll ..um...lay you ...dollars to doughnuts we see this stuff in the crapometer.

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One of the best business purchases I’ve ever made is — a postage scale. Yep, a plain, old-fashioned, mechanical postal scale.
No more sticking on extra postage “just to be sure,” no more running to the post office to make sure the clips your editor requested won’t arrive postage due. Just weigh, stamp, and send.

Staples has a selection of fine postal scales ranging from $27 for a mechanical scale to $150 for a 400-pound digital freight scale (for those longer manuscripts .

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In Spring 2006, WDB published I’m an English Major, Now What?, by Tim Lemire, which was so packed with information that we didn’t have enough room to fit everything in.

But now you can read, enjoy, and learn from the interviews and profiles that we had to cut!

Profile of Rod Siino, founder and editor of Night Train

Steve Schneider, Peace Corps

Kristin Swanson, freelancer

Chris Coggiano, Inc. editor

Robert Powell, Marketwatch editor

Eric Lagergern, freelance editor

Julia Homer, founding editor, CFO magazine

John Lustig, comics writer

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The Daily Mail has published a new profile on J.K. Rowling that details that upon which it says J.K. Rowling spends her money; it also details the generous nature of the Harry Potter author. The article highlights that while Jo... Read the rest of this post

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I've been working on a more comprehensive Alice in Wonderland image which unfortunately was really huge and got eaten by my computer. So far, I haven't had much luck resurrecting it. So this morning I thought-- why not start a new background and then grab some of the small element files from the other and rebuild?

Needless to say I got off on a tangent, and came up with something completely different. Maybe I'll fix the other one sooner or later, but here's the Alice du jour...

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The National Book Festival is on the horizon. This and The Quills and the growing number of book festivals around the land can only mean good things for increased awareness about books in our daily lives and the importance of reading for all ages, yes?

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In a show that would indeed make Hermione proud, Yahoo news is reporting that actress Emma Watson has earned top marks in school after sitting her GCSEs earlier this summer. Ms. Watson received eight A*s and two As for her... Read the rest of this post

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Just a reminder that your chance to win a free full-access pass to the Ottawa International Animation Festival (Sept. 20-24) ends this Sunday. We've got two passes to hand out and we want to give them to folks who... Read the rest of this post

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The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) recently announced the winners of the 2006 CBCA Children's Book of the Year Awards. Awards were presented in five categories: Older Readers, Younger... Read the rest of this post

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One of my favourite blogs, Brendan Wolfe's The Beiderbecke Affair has, from today, ceased to be:

Time to quit. Too much work. Can’t even write complete sentences anymore. Blogging’s been fun, but you know it’s bogus when it prevents you from reading as many books as you want or from reviewing as many books as you want or, most importantly, from writing as many books as you want.

All the best, Brendan.

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Last week I was horrified to find that The Telegraph has removed 26 weeks worth of material from A Novel In A Year. I'd pretty much caught up to that point, but I was still mulling over some of the earlier exercises and assignments. Must work faster. (Like that's going to happen.)

I have finished a draft of the essay I was working on. However, I want to submit it to a site that's interested in creative nonfiction. Creative nonfiction is nonfiction that reads like fiction. So I have to rewrite it. You'd think I'd be rather down about that, but for some reason I'm not.

And I should be able to finish cleaning the office next week. If I don't, the parts I've cleaned will be getting dirty again before the whole room is done.

I finished painting my bedroom, though. That's one thing done.

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Grown-ups Turning To Teen Books in The Philadelphia Inquirer gives a number of reasons why adults are now reading YA fiction.

One book store manager is quoted as saying, "It used to be content. Sex, incest, drugs, abuse, all used to be adult themes only - but that's no longer true."

The article doesn't say that that's one of the reasons grown-ups are reading YA, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

Another favorite quote: "One of the reasons the YA age group is hard to tack down is that there is no industry standard that forces publishers to define the genre uniformly."

That makes me crazy! I must have a standard! I must have uniformity!

I found this article through ArtsJournal.com

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The New York Times weighs in on the Gossip Girl series with the article Books For Teenage Girls Are A Little Too Popular. (Interestingly, it appeared in the Around the Region section.)

The point of the article isn't so much that the books are eeevil, but rather that younger and younger girls are "clamoring for the books, too, upsetting parents and leading some bookstores to move the books out of the children's section."

So? I'm more concerned that the books weren't in the YA/teen area to begin with. To be honest, I've often wondered at the number of teen titles, including older teen titles, that I've seen in the children's section of bookstores, sometimes spine to spine with picture books or chapter books. Moving books for teens to a separate section: It's a good thing.

It's unclear from the article what the booksellers use to guide their initial placement judgment; but the article repeatedly refers to age of the intended audience according to the publisher. (I hesitate to use the booksellers names, knowing how out of context quotes may be.)

Librarians (and many booksellers) don't rely ONLY on what the publisher has to say about a book. Most professional reviews provide a better, and often less broad, age guideline, as well as additional information about the plot and content. And these reviews aren't top secret. Any librarian or bookseller should know about them. And if you're interested, as a parent, then Barnes & Noble online is your new best friend, because B&N includes the text of these professional reviews. Looking for guidance on what Mallory or Matthew is reading? Go to B&N.

B&N shows that for Gossip Girl, Publishers Weekly says ages 15 plus; and School Library Journal grades 9 plus; looking at the third book, Kliatt says Senior High and School Library Journal now says grades 10 plus. The text of the reviews is also included, so you can see why the reviewer attached a certain age to a book. Similar age recommendations are given for the A List. What that tells most book professionals is that these books don't belong in the children's section. (Oh, and just so you know -- many of these reviews may be very spoilerific. Which is a good thing if you're using them to guide you on what is right for what age and what child or teen, as opposed to your own personal reading.)

One of the bookstore owners says that fourth and fifth graders want to read these books. The bookseller tries to steer the girls to more age appropriate books. But the girls "are adamant." Not to be rude, but so what? These books are intended for an older audience; and just because ten year olds want to read them, doesn't mean that all books intended for a senior high audience should also be OK for their younger sisters. Some books are meant for high school students. Deal with it.

I do sympathize with the parents who are trying to keep up with the literature; one mentions that she thought the A List covers were young. While I disagree with that (I think that the photos of older teens in bikinis and evening wear says older teens, and are similar enough to adult chick lit titles to almost be shelved in adult), I appreciate the parent who is trying to keep on top of what her child is reading, and is concerned. To this parent, I say: use me. Use my young adult colleagues. Come in, ask for me, tell me what your child is reading and what she likes and let's see what we have to make you both happy. We can exchange emails, I'll look out for books she may like, we'll talk about what worked and didn't.

If your local library does not have a young adult/ teen specialist, ask the library why not?

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Hi. Those of you who know about me and my mother will appreciate the following emails.

(I accidentally used the words "beach party" in an email to my mom, because I wanted to borrow their stereo. This is what I got back.)

AJ, the "invoice" referred to is yours.


Exhibit A

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 09:14:52
From: My Mom
To: Me
CC: Damon
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice

Hi, Rita,
I send you the scanned invoice Monday night from
home. Did you receive it?
I need your help to quickly find a wide big brim hat
for yourself to
use at the beach party. I will pay for whatever
cost that will be.
The bigger the huge the better. I know you will use
tons of sun block. But
you absolutely can not expose to the DIRECT sun. We
have a couple of
those Taiwanese straw hats. But they are not big enough.

P L E A S E see what you can do!!!!!

Mom

Ps. Of cause you can borrow whatever you can use.

Ex. B

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:23:17 -0700
From: My Mom
To: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice

Hi, Rita,
Are you there? You can check Internet for the big brim hat.

Mom

Ex. C

From: My Dad's Personal Email
To: Me
Subject: RE: beach party this saturday
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 22:22:54

Hi, Rita,

Have you search Internet yet for the big brim hat? If you order now you can still get overnight or 2 days. I may not able to pick the kind you like. So please act now.

If it's ok to you we can bring corn again.



Mom

I was still reading the first two when the third came in. (All on the same day.)

I was impressed by these emails. Normally my mom leaves phone messages—also three in a row, increasingly anxious—and these emails really capture her voice. She is clearly striving for new heights of personal expression.

"P L E A S E  . . . !!!!!"

With all spaces in-between!


Damon, having been CC:ed on the first email (perhaps out of hope he'd be her ally), laughed really hard. He also emailed me right away, however, to shower me with love and head off any "reaction" I might have.

(My mother, in case you didn't know, is obsessed with the idea I need to avoid sun.)


Ex. D

Date: Wed, 16 Aug 2006 23:38:58
From: Me
Subject: RE: beach party this saturday
To: My Dad's Personal Email

Dear Mom,

I own a very big brimmed hat. Please do not panic.

Love,
rita

Ex. E

From: My Mom
To: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:53:56

Hi, Rita,

I just see this [other, older, unrelated] email now. I'll show you the fax they sent to me when you are here.

We are going to Overa St. this afternoon after the dance class. Hope I can find a sombrero. It will be fun and a good conversation piece in the party. For all good reasons you will use it, correct?



Love,

Mom

Ex. F

Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:02:49
From: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
To: My Dad's Personal Email

Mom, did you SEE the email where I told you I HAVE a
big hat?? It's a very big hat.

Did you SEE where I told you not to panic?

Ex. G

Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:10:00
From: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
To: My Dad's Personal Email

On second thought, Mom, please buy the sombrero. I'm
looking forward to it.

Thanks.

You can see where I am starting to lose my cool (Exhibit G). However, you can also see me trying to bring it back (Exhibit H). I wasn't sure what tone I meant in my last email, and I wasn't sure what she'd perceive. But I sent it anyway.


Ex. H

From: My Mom
To: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:01:22

Rita, I am glad that you have a very big hat. I will buy the sombrero only if you will not be angry and mean it. No guarantee that we can find it at Overa St. It should be good to use at beach.



Mom

Ex. I

Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:07:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
To: My Mom

You should buy it.

I will probably make fun of it.

I am trying very hard not to get angry.


see you later tonight.

After this, I didn't hear from my mother again, so I thought the matter dropped. (Why am I always so naive??)

The moment we set foot in my parents' place the next morning to get their stereo, this is what I saw:

Saturday morning, 8 AM. Lying in wait

"Daddy's hard work all night!" my mother crowed, coming down in her pajamas. "According to my design!"

Apparently my dad stayed up all night modifying this so it could be worn by a human head. A green, plastic, party hat has been locked into place underneath using large, sturdy paper clips, and punched to let through purple yarn.

Back at the beach, Kami, Damon's 16-year-old half-sister, shrieked with laughter as I pulled this out of our car. (It didn't even fit in the backseat. We had to curl it up.)

"Look at that's such a fun and good conversation piece for you and all your friends!!" she shouted, coming to help carry beach party supplies.

(I'd told her about my mom's emails about getting me a "sombrero" an hour earlier, when we first showed up to help stake out a bonfire pit.)

"I love the elementary school–style, fat yarn," Damon's step-sister Krystin said. "Where'd they find that, the 80s?"

(Krystin is the one with the "emergency crafts bag" I've told some of you about—that she grabs on her way to parties—filled with beautiful ribbon, fancy paper, and extra glue sticks for her glue gun. Her laughter carried so far that when she walked off to the restroom twenty minutes later, a guy asked, "What's so funny?")

Benji, who also appreciates good do-it-yourself-ing, laughed his @$$ off at the double function of the purple yarn—as both decorative trim and a means to secure the hat. "Hahaha!" he said. "That's pretty good!"


And I wore it.

Me reading a book.

So did everyone else.

Here we are playing Ring Toss using our Aerobie.

Bull's eye!

We said we were all going to dance around it, too, but I don't think anyone did.

"The thing you have to understand," I said to Krystin and Kami, "is this is not 'campy' to my mom. She did not buy this in irony. But when I saw this this morning, I was like, All right. You have succeeded in being so extreme, I will bring this to the beach."

Damon's sisters agreed. They egged me on.

"Once, I was on the phone and I was like, "Don't worry, Mom. I wear SPF 30 sunscreen every time I go out of the apartment.'

"She was like, 'Everyone knows UV's not just outside, Rita!'

"Another time, my mom told me whenever I'm in the car, I should wear a towel over my face if Damon is driving!"

* * *
EDIT from 8/31: Hi! I haven't posted this yet, because I needed to upload the pictures. But I was in northern CA this weekend telling my cousin Melissa this, when she interrupted at the words towel over my face to say, "Yeah—has your mom received her face cover from XiaoYi yet??"

I was like, "No?

"What????"

My youngest aunt, XiaoYi, here with my cousin Amy, her younger daughter. She says she does take off her mask before entering banks, but otherwise wears this whenever she's shopping or outside. She has elastic, pull-on, arm coverings to go with.



We all touched and confirmed: she does indeed have very soft, smooth skin.

It was hilarious to see her drive off like this.

Huh. This no longer makes my mom's suggestions seem that improbable.
* * *

"Our mom emails us vocabulary words," Krystin said. "Do you remember any of 'em, Kam?"

"No," Kami said. "They're not useful!" Which is hilarious coming from Kami, who is sixteen and studying for her SATs right now and actually would learn whatever vocab words she could. It's also hilarious because Krystin and Kami are 18 years apart, but clearly this makes no difference to their mom. (And I love Suzanne!! This gives me a glimpse into her life I don't normally see.)

Check out those "ring toss" pictures above. (Scroll back up.) See the very yellow sunhat next to the sombrero? That's the hat I originally brought, to prove to my mom I do own a "very big hat." Once I saw the sombrero, I decided I'd better hide mine.

"We were actually planning to make fun of your yellow hat," Krystin told me, "before you came back with this."


By the time my parents showed up at the beach, everyone at the party was fully in the know. I heard Damon's panicked cry of "RITA! YOUR PARENTS ARE HERE!" from across the sand and woke up in a hurry. All Damon's family laughed in hysterics as I grabbed at the huge hat and rolled back and forth all over the sand, wrestling with it (cuz it was way too windy by now for me to get it anywhere near my head). My parents saw me doing this, too, and, not knowing what else to do, I grabbed my yellow hat and jammed that on my head.

Busted.

Luckily, my mom grasped the wind problem immediately and took it as a personal failing—not something to blame me for. When I asked to take a picture of her wearing the hat, she couldn't get it on her head, either. The wind actually jerked her a few steps across the sand.

(If you have ever heard the story of the time I failed to hold open a heavy women's restroom door for my mom and turned to see her, wide-eyed, slowly getting pushed back into the loo, then you'll understand the image I suddenly had of her getting blown all over the beach. I really thought this was going to happen.)

The wind picked up the hat and sent it sailing quite far a couple times, on its own, during the party. I read a picture book, once, where a hat went on a very charming adventure that way. This sombrero would have been a funny take on that.

But I had to chase the sombrero. I was worried it would catch fire.

Please note the pink visor my mom wore. It's nothing to sneeze at. But compared to my restaurant decoration, it still looked normal. Obviously she could wear it and walk around.

And my dad—that silent, grinning accomplice who "worked hard all night"�had the nerve to show up wearing that dinky cowboy hat?!?! WHAT?!?

"Hey, Mom, if you think I need this so bad, how come you just wore that?"

My mom got super shifty-eyed and nervous. "Your needs are special. You're not like everyone else."

She radiated so much fear suddenly, I understood. She wasn't shifty-eyed because she didn't want to wear a humiliating hat. (That'd be a revelation, wouldn't it??) She was freaked out that just my asking this showed I didn't understand. Which meant I'd disobey.

I felt an upwelling of ye olde temper, there. But I kept it in.

(There's a reason she thinks I'll disobey.)


She was nice about my yellow hat, though. She dissed it, but in a really nice way.

"So that's your hat, Rita? That hat is yours?? Color's good!! Tiny, of course, but good thing is, real hard to find such nice color!" Then, four minutes later: "You know, nide maozhi seems pretty stylish! Material seems good quality! What kind of material's that? Not straw? Yeah, seems real good quality!"

She sounded envious, eyeing my hat. I have to admit, I felt smug about the "quality," too. Those straw hats she buys are . . .

  . . .

They make me wish many things.


I do like this yellow. When I saw this hat on Melrose, this yellow burned sunspots into my brain. I knew I'd never forget it. That's why I had to buy it, even though I had no idea when I could wear it.

(My mom doesn't appreciate this yellow the same way I do, though.)


I've read that for any relationship to survive constant disagreements (be it between mother and child or significant others), the positivity-to-negativity ratio has to be at least five to one. Which makes me feel more forgiving toward my own temper. I can't imagine what ratio would apply to my mom.*

(*Don't read too much into that. She just believes nice parent-child comments are the "fake" American way.)

But look at her hat comment! Count it up!

And I didn't get mad.

This day will go down in history as the day I didn't get mad.

When I got home, I found one last email waiting. It was from the previous night, and I just hadn't seen it.

Ex. J

From: My Dad's Personal Email
To: Me
Subject: Re: Replacement Invoice
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 02:16:03

Whatever...You should keep the hat on you all the time. Besides fun that is what the big hat for to protect you. We got a plain one but the biggest they have there. Dad put some art work to it. So keep it on your head P L E A S E.

Mom

[This was in response to the email where I'd said "You should buy it. I will probably make fun of it. I am trying very hard not to get angry."]

"But, Rita," I can hear you asking now. "How can you be pasting all your mom's emails like this? Doesn't she read your blog??"

Funny you should ask.

I have started a new blog!!


Currently this project has a target audience of one. However, soon, I will open this up to contributors. I know you are all bursting at the seams with material for what an "Ideal Chinese Daughter" would blog. I'm still working out the parameters, but, everybody, start thinking!!

Krystin and Kami pointed out right away they're not Chinese American, and they've got plenty of things to say. I'm currently reconsidering. Blog launch delayed.

Details forthcoming!!

I am super excited about this. There's going to be a whole "family" involved. Maybe a couple families. With their own blogs. Spin-offs.

We'll mix as much truth as possible into the fantasy. The end results should feel real.

I don't think this is going to turn out as absurd as we first think. In fact, I think the project will be inspiring and educational. (Hahahahahaha) There's a little "ideal Chinese daughter" (and father and mother and son!) in all of us. I want to amalgamate the bits.

Love,
Frank N. Chen, MD


(The moment we got my mom's first email, Damon was like, "You have to quote this in your ICD blog! Quote it word for word!!")

This is not the first project I have started, of course, trying to understand my mother better.

I am still collecting responses for Things My Mother Was Right About (Part 1 and Part 2!!)

Please, everybody, send!

Love (again),
rita


P.P.S.

Ex. K

From: Me
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 5:20 AM
To: My Dad, My Mom, My Dad's Personal Email
Cc: My Bro, My Sister-in-Law, Damon
Subject: picture of hat?

Mom and Dad,

can you email me a picture of the sombrero? i would
like a picture of it sitting on the dining table,
exactly the way it was when i saw it saturday morning.

(in fact, if you can take the picture in natural
daylight, instead of using a flash at night, that
would be even better.)

I would also like a picture of the underside, to show
the hard work that Dad did (and that Mom designed).

thanks.

rita

Ex. L

Subject: RE: picture of hat?
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 09:24:54 -0700
From: My Dad
To: Me, My Mom
CC: My Bro, My Sister-in-Law, Damon

OK! But you have to wait until I find sunlight after I get home.

[his work address and contact info]

Ex. M

Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 12:03:50 -0700
From: My Mom
To: My Dad's Personal Email, My Dad, Me
CC: Damon, My Sister-in-Law, My Bro
Subject: Re: picture of hat?

To say it or to give idea is easy. But not everyone can make the idea
work. Dad is a real handy man. It's just too shame that the beach is
too windy to have a good use of it. It all paid off to know that Rita
appreciates the thoughts and work.

Mom

The first two pictures in this post were taken by my dad and emailed two weeks after, to recreate that moment when I first encountered the hat.

I asked Damon later, "Did you see my mom's reply?"

He burst out laughing.

"Yeah. I couldn't even read it!"

"I know!" I blurted. "I couldn't read it!" The words had bounced off my eyeballs—like I’d shut my eyes and turned my head away, even though I was still looking.

Said my brother (when I saw him in northern CA), “Your email was so not ambiguous to me, it was painful. It was so obvious you were going to post something.”

I thought I was being obvious, too. My parents don't know I have a blog. But what else could I be up to??

"Whatever," Damon said. "Your parents are not that perceptive."


This hat episode was benign. That's why I can blog about it.

But I still feel almost guilty. Ambiguous, after all.


If you reread that last email from my mom . . . it's like a thank you speech!

:^\
r


P.P.P.S.
My brother said, "Mom emailed me to find out what a big, straw hat from Mexico is called."

"She did?!" I shouted, just as Damon said, "No wonder!!"

I wasn't surprised, the way Damon was, my mom knew the word. I was shocked my brother had been party to these shenanigans. He'd known something was going down!

The word sombrero did jump out at me. But, just because.

r

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She's going to float in a sensory deprivation tank of gin. She's going corral the Crapometer at Coney Island. She's going to Lake Como in Italia to stalk her beloved. maybe all three. In her absence the blog is dark. No comments either, sorry. Back next week. Use this time to polish your crapometer entries and read the snarkives.

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Dear Miss Snark, When do you anticipate that the carpometer will start? I want to submit 15 seconds after the start time, or maybe earlier. Thanks, a VERY devoted follower I'm pretty sure I mentioned this before but perhaps you were busy buying gifts for your favorite Snark Supplier. The crapometer is somewhere around the end of NEXT WEEK which is also the END OF AUGUST, which is also a

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I met Michael Habib when I was down at UNC Chapel Hill last year and I think now we’re associated via various social networks. I caught his blog post Academic Library 2.0 Concept Models and I think you’ll like it if you’ve been wondering where social software fits in an academic library environment. Hot Venn Diagrams! Available for hire 2.0 librarian!

facebook, l2, libraries, michaelhabib, myspace

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A few news items from the last week:

• Miami School Board to appeal federal judge's decision about Vamos a Cuba, at the Miami Herald.
• Two Connecticut bookstores boot The Gossip Girls and The A-List out of the children's section, at the New York Times. (Says one bookseller, “The language is bad and there’s no value to them.”) See an opinion piece on this topic by Liz B. over at Pop Goes the Library.
• Adults reading young adult novels, at the Philadelphia Inquirer. This article has struck a nerve in the blogosphere!  See  Jen Robinson's Book Page, Read Roger,  "Young Adult Books That Adults Will Appreciate (and Hopefully Love)" at Bookshelves of Doom, and, finally, a debate on the merits of YA fiction at The Elegant Variations. (Inquirer link via Big A little a.)
• Brooklyn to host its own Book Festival, September 16th. With kids' events, too. Mo Willems is on the list of participants.

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I was blown away by a book this evening. Alone here at the farm...but for a puppy who was busy chewing a pillow at the time...I sat on the porch with a glass of wine and began a book called CROW LAKE by Mary Lawson.

Mary Lawson, the author info tells me, is a Canadian who lives in England. I sat there wondering what it is abut Canadian women authors. Maybe this is a huge over-generalization, but I have found Canadian women authors...Carol Shields*, Margaret Lawrence, Margaret Atwood, among others...to be the writers who have most compelled me with their fiction in recent years.

Canada is, of course, a huge country with vast areas of isolation. I remember traveling by train across Canada in 2001, and as the twice-a-week train chugged through a one-street town - where it did not stop, where it never stopped - a man standing in a second floor wndow turned, dropped his trousers, and mooned the passengers watching from the train windows. I remember wondering about that man. Did he look forward with glee to those Tuesday and Thursday events? Or were they a chore (man looks at watch, groans, says: "Oh god, it's almost 3 o'clock; gotta go pull my pants down again")?

Not much to do in a place like that, and less, I suppose, for a woman. Does it make an intelligent woman introspective, creative, observant, literate?

Mary Lawson is all of that and more.

Thinking of my own young self, in an attenpt to answer the question - often asked - of what made me a writer, I have often thought that it was the combination of introversion and dislocation. In other words...I was always very shy (introversion) and my family, because of my father's work, moved frequently (dislocation). Without the outgoing child's ability to fit in quickly, make new friends easily, I was much more given to being an observer (a necessity for a writer), a ponderer, and a recorder. Of course coming from an educated and literate family, and eventually acquiring a good education, played a role as well.

But I am thinking now about the vastness of the Canadian landscape; there is such a feel of that, in this book CROW LAKE (though I have only read the first 50 pages), and of implacable fate in the lives of these land-rooted people.

It just occured to me to google Mary Lawson and I found an interview, in which she says: "The community I grew up in was larger than Crow Lake, less isolated, much less homogeneous, and less remote, but it was isolated enough that people depended on each other, and took care of each other. There is a downside to small communities of course – they are hell on earth for those who don’t fit in – but I remember it with affection, and Crow Lake is in some respects a tribute to it."

She says a lot else, as well, and I will go and read the rest. But in the meantime I just wanted to say that it is a wonderful moment to be sitting alone on a porch at sunset and to realize you are reading an amazing book.

* Yes, it's true that Carol Shields was born and grew up in the USA. But her adult writing life was in Canada.

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