Science was never my subject. I considered myself artsy and science not creative. In University we had to have a set number of science credits in order to graduate. I was really excited to sign up for Astronomy. My family and friends were a bit surprised by my enthusiasm and downright shocked when I told them that astronomy had been a long standing interest of mine. In the weeks before…
My favorite literary character must be that great hero of Tish Cohen and mine, Trixie Belden. See, Trixie, despite her stripper name and modest background, was a real girl. She wore jeans (unlike Nancy Drew who was more apt to wear something called dungarees) and though she loved her very closest friend in the world, Honey (okay, seriously, what’s going on with these names?!), she also admitted to feelings of…
I do, indeed, have a secret indulgence. It’s girly, and it’s vain, and it can get expensive; all things that I’m typically slightly derisive of. It started at about nine while I was at my grandparents. I was in the guest bath, the bath where my grandmother got ready, did her hair, put on her makeup. And there was the most beautiful little cylinder of Clinique lipstick beside the sink,…
I like to tell myself that I didn’t commit any crimes, that the things I did fell more into the area of “pranks.” Who doesn’t like a good prank after all? Prankster sounds so much better than say- delinquent. Examples of some escapades include: – If you pour baby powder at the base of someone’s closed door, and then blow it under the door with a hair dryer it will…
If I hadn’t picked 12 containers of blackberries, I might not have ended up with the Dorothy Hamill-had-she-cut-her-locks-with-gardening-sheers haircut at the age of 13 (aka, the worst age to be when you suddenly find yourself possessing a disastrous haircut). It seemed like a good enough idea at the time. I was staying with my friend Ramsay at her dad’s Napa vineyard for a week and after a few days of…
I do my best work in bed. Really. This isn’t to say that I can’t write in other places, like my desk, for instance. Or the library. Or on the backs of crumbled pieces of random paper while waiting in line at the grocery store. I’ve scribbled dialogue on airplane barf bags, come up with new scenes in the middle of a restaurant (where I had to excuse myself to…
So this was a tough topic for me. If I took it at face value I’d write about being fifteen and meeting the cutest thing I’d ever seen on two legs in summer school (I said he was cute, not brilliant), and the way it ended (badly) almost two years later. If I wanted to be especially precious, I’d skip that one and write about beautiful long red hair and…
There’s simply no way I can write the word “popcorn” and not delve into my popcorn-and-Milk Duds combo obsession. I don’t know when it started. I just know that today, as soon as someone says, “Hey, are you interested in seeing…” I’m already imagining scooping a handful of butter-drenched corn and Milk Dud into my mouth. Sometimes, when I’m not feeling remotely inspired by what’s out there, the thought is…
Busy week! I’ve been in Tampa, visiting my grandfather for his 86th birthday and making a couple of visits with some great independent bookstores, Inkwood Books in Tampa and Sarasota News & Books in, well, Sarasota. I also had the honor and pleasure of reading the yet to be titled manuscript of Ad Hudler’s excellent sequel to Househusband. Had a great time while away, but of course there was little…
The first moment I realized I was a grown-up was when I was nine years old. I came in from climbing trees in the back yard, orange trees, came through the back door, the kitchen. The house was quiet. I moved through the dining room and into the living room, past the sofas placed in front of the defunct fireplace at perfect 90 degree angles, and on toward the stairs. And…
