Let there be light and hope

These lovely things are Tibetan prayer flags that were hanging in the next door yard by my mother's house in Boston. Peaceful and hopeful. And Pain and McCain's numbers are going down. That's peaceful and hopeful, too.

I feel hallucinatory with all the writing I've been doing, too, and I am wrestling with my fear, that constant question: Is this novel too out there? Is the subject matter too strange? But my job is not to listen to that pesky voice and to push on, to act as if this is a novel I am simply writing for myself, so the audience doesn't get in the way of that driving need to get words on the page. This is why it is so important to have supportive writing friends who understand, who tell you in the kindest possible way to shut up and get back to work.

By the way, Michael Moore's new film is available for free download! He's offering it--it's not pirated. I have a soft spot for him because before he was infamous, we all met him at a book conference and he signed a book for Max, who was two at the time, "Grow up and Raise Some Hell!" We also, at the same conference, convinced Jimmy Breslin to sign a book for Max, too.. He wrote "Read this book and get your copy in to me by nine in the morning!"