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Busy weekend writing. Busy week ahead.... you guessed it, writing. My cold is gone but it woke up the asthma dragon who sleeps in the deepest lobe of my lungs, and we've been wrestling a lot. I tend to lose these battles. I've been getting my running in, but veeeeery sloooooowly because of the hacking and sputtering. I am trying to convince myself that running with a reduced flow of oxygen is a cool new conditioning technique. And I am off to the doc today to see if he can prescribe a nostrum that will put the dragon back to sleep.

I hates lung dragons. (Does anyone remember the Yosemite Sam quote?)

In much happier news, I can share the cover of my fall book with you!!



The story follows the adventure of a slave trapped in New York City in 1776 while the city is torn back and forth between Patriot and British occupations. It doesn't come out until the fall, so more details later. (Thanks to perfykt for the nudge.)

Last week mousesnovel asked in response to my announcement that I left a character on the cutting room floor: Was it difficult to eliminate the character? I'm not sure how much you can tell me, if it will give spoilers, but I know I get very attached to mine.

The different parts of the writing process feel like different countries to me. The etiquette and customs of one country is extremely different from the next. In the early drafts, I include everything that falls into my head and I love it all. I could never cut out a character at that stage. When I get to later drafts, that changes. The only thing that matters is what works best for the story. if I fall in love a character and she doesn't work in the story, she's gets cut. I can always send her flowers, take her to the movies, or go out for coffee with her. But if she isn't a vital thread in the fabric of the story, out she goes.

Andrew Smith, our go-to American Food guru is back again this week with a look at American food trends. What trend do you think has been, and will be, the most influential: Fast Food, Slow Food, Factory Farms or Organic Farms? Be sure to let us know in the comments what you think! Check back on Thursdays throughout May for more great posts by Andrew Smith, editor of the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, who teaches culinary history and professional food writing at The New School University, serves as Chair of the Culinary Trust and as a consultant to several food television productions.

A. Fast Food
White Castle, launched in 1916, successfully used Henry Ford’s principles of the assembly line to make and sell inexpensive hamburgers. (more…)

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