Wait, there's more!

I admit I thrive on chaos. First, everyone has to admire the sweater I knit! It's actually this deep, dark hazy blue and if you think the cable down the front was enough to make you run screaming, you would be right. I like this photo because it shows off our wide plank 1860 floors, which were buried under layers of linoleum when we bought our house.

In between writing my new novel, working on two (count 'em) scripts, teaching novel writing for UCLA, reviewing books for Dame and People, reviewing films for More, professional naming (a fabulous job), private writing mentoring, family life with fabulous husband and fabulous kid, I now have a great new gig. I used to write some of A Reading Life for The Boston Globe for years. Then they had cutbacks and I lost the column. Now they've offered me a new column and I am so thrilled because a. I get to talk about books and swirl them around a theme that interests me, and b. I get to work for the Boston Globe which is one of the all-time best places to work. Utopian.

Anyway, I am going about transforming the world of self-help books. Think Peggy Orenstein--smart, quirky, provocative topics, rather than 101 Ways to Organize Your Wallet. My first column should be appearing October 1, and I will be in the newspaper every other month.

Back to work. My novel calls. I've just named three characters and two of the names feel right, but one isn't there yet. Names are really important when you start a novel. I almost never use names I like, but the names have to feel true for the character, they have to belong to the person in some deep way. I go through baby name books, I look at the phone book online. I try to find something that will lead me deeper into the novel.