The Novel: LIVE!

Want to figure out how great novelists write novels??
SO DO WE!! TNL.
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HEALER Book Tour

The book tour for HEALER got off to a roaring start today when I took off my shoes at airport security and stepped in someone's gum. But last night's event at Eagle Harbor Books more than compensated with a group of over 100 readers who love books and love Bainbridge Island's lovely bookstore. The launch party at Elliott Bay Book Company was also filled--a true celebration. Friday night I got be part of Village Book's "Chuckanut Radio Hour" in Bellingham, WA, the Northwest's own Lake Woebegon. HEALER is finding its audience and I am lucky to be meeting some of you. For a glimpse of the press, here is a review from Carol Fitzgerald's Reading Group Guide.

Guest Post by Carol Cassella: There's a point to book tours, and it isn't just selling books.... - Village Books Blog

Guest Post by Carol Cassella: There's a point to book tours, and it isn't just selling books.... - Village Books Blog

HEALER an Indie Next Pick

Celebrating!! HEALER has been voted an Indie Next Pick for September 2010 by independent bookstores from across the country!!!

Last Days in Yellowstone

The great thing about a long trip with no phone or Internet access is discovering that, collectively, our four teenagers can recite almost every great Monty Python line in full Brit accent. That and realizing that the human brain can actually complete an entire train of thought when it isn't constantly interrupted. By the end of our trip the car was so rank we attracted wildlife with no effort at all! Thanks to the animals that showed up: Black bears, Bull elk, moose, a family of otters, another grizzly and cubs, prairie dogs, a beaver, and the other two-thousand-three-hundred-and-forty-two bison we'd missed earlier. Thanks also to Richard and Jim for the tips that took us to Boiling River, where a thermal spring spills into the Gardner river and you can settle into the clear, rushing water at whatever spot the temperature feels perfect.

Toast to the American Novel

If you love novels and want to hear an insightful, pointed discussion about this art form and its place in today's culture, sit back with a glass of wine and watch this from Jonathan Evison. (Yes, he mentions me, but I would have linked to it anyway--he's brilliant). The High Bar

Camping in Yellowstone

Four days with six people sharing a mini van and tent makes for memorable statements. My favorites so far: "Is Lithuanium a gas?" "Is a chimera a lizard or a fast car?" if you don't wear flip flops in the shower you might catch mad cow disease."

Collective Forgotten Items: hot pads, cooking utensils, knife, sleeping pad patch kit, can opener, several tiothbrushes, hats, map, rain jacket, shorts, binoculars, phone charger, bathing suit, water bottle. No children left behind so far.

Made a great stew in our Dutch oven in the firepit and immersed it in the coals before I realized I had no hot pads. Fortunately a tire iron makes a great pot lid hook. But by the time I had the whole thing figured out and cooked we had toasted and eaten a bag of marmallows and three people were sound asleep.

Animal sightings so far: two pika, three marmots, six or seven American white pelicans, elk everywhere, bison everywhere, and most miraculously--a grizzly and her three cubs in a stand off with a wolf and three coyotes over an elk kill. Guess who won?

Let's Hear it for the Humanities

In all the panic about becoming employable, David Brooks makes a great case for studying the humanities. My advice for my own children's careers? Show up, do your best, and doggedly pursue what fascinates you.

Keillor on Publishing

Have to share this article by Garrison Keillor. It pertains to what I am beginning to appreciate: I joined the publishing world at the end of one era and the unfolding of something brand new; unpredictable, exhilarating and scary. While I’m not quite as pessimistic as he is, Keillor’s lingering sentences remind me of summer afternoon walks before I had a cell phone ringing in my pocket and mail delivered every second instead of once a day—with Sundays off. Wonder if Keillor could have predicted the auto-populated Google ads for self-publishing that ironically interrupt his words?

HEALER: Coming in September and the Tour is being planned!

HEALER is officially on my website now, follow this link Healer to see the final cover choice and read the preview! And thanks so much to Carol Fitzgerald of ReadingGroupGuides.com for her early praise in yesterday’s newsletter: “What have I been reading? Well, as you know, I “read ahead” a lot. I just finished Healer by Carol Cassella, which will be out September 7th. Readers may know her from her previous book, Oxygen, which was featured here. Healer is the story of Claire, a woman whose fortune has been changed by some financial decisions her husband made without her knowing. It’s set in the fictional resort town of Hallum where Claire, her husband, and her daughter are forced to move from Seattle to downsize their lives. Claire finds work in a clinic there, where she can use her medical skills as her husband tries to rebuild his career; he had developed a cancer drug that was found to be flawed. I found myself racing to get back to this book, which is always a nice feeling. Cassella develops her characters beautifully and tells their stories so well. She told me a bit about this book when I was in Seattle a few months ago, and I could not wait to get my hands on it. You will enjoy it.”