December 2011

…and Three Cheers for the UK!

So far, it’s been an excellent week for books. I’m expecting a package of new reads on my doorstep any minute now, and I polished off an entire stack of library books this weekend. (I’m trying to reach my Goodreads goal of reading 100 books in 2011; I’m up to 96 read with 18 more… Read more »

Hurrah for Brazil

I’ve been running around a lot this holiday season in a mad quest to bake as much food as possible. This weekend I baked the Betty Crocker Cookbook sugar cookies I grew up with every Christmas, and today I’m making a new recipe for saffron buns. If they’re good enough, maybe they’ll get to be… Read more »

How I Wrote My Pirate Book

When I’m trying to keep things short and sweet, I tell people that I started writing the first draft of MAGIC MARKS THE SPOT in February 2011. I finished the first draft in June, right before I graduated from my MFA program, and that draft became my graduate thesis. After that came a couple rounds… Read more »