Category Archive

Would you please see if you get “Sunrise Earth” on your telly? …And then set your DVR to capture it every day, preferably in High Definition? It’s the sort of program to put on while you’re fixing your morning coffee and then staring dully around, trying to figure out what to write for the day. That’s how it works for me, anyway. I have the prettiest sunrise view in the world, right here (see photo above) but I seriously love getting up with the bison of Wyoming, or with frogs on the Amazon, or the fisherman of Sri Lanka. The only sound track is the natural sounds that take place in the scene. Anyway…check it out. There’s nothing else quite like it on TV.

Pardon me, I have to insert a quick kvell. Just had the nicest 3-way. On the phone, you guys, on the phone. My editor and agent called to let me know The Winter Lodge made it for a third week on the New York Times list and has even climbed several notches. Plus while we were on the phone, my agent (in Manhattan) spied a naked man out her window. Life is good.

I want to go to Istria.

Also Puerto Escondido and someplace in the Bohemian forest where there are castles. And Nantucket. I’m afraid my literary agent will divorce me if I don’t get to Nantucket one of these days. Decisions, decisions.

But here’s the thing. I live in the best place on earth. It’s easy to settle into a comfy inertia and not go anywhere.

Then I remind myself of what happens when you travel–the things you see and the things that happen to you, the surprises you can’t plan for and the experiences you’ll never forget–when you step out into the world.  So okay. I’m up for it.

 How do you choose where you want to travel?

So until I plan that trip to Istria, here’s a recipe for a cake from the region:

Okrugli Vrsak
      Yield: 1 cake

1 1/2 c  butter
      1 lb confectioner’s sugar
      6    eggs
    1/8 tsp salt
      1 tsp vanilla
      1 tsp almond flavor
      1    lemon peel, grated
      4 c  flour
      1 tsp baking powder
           a handful of dried fruits and nuts
 
  Cream butter and sugar; add eggs, one at a time.  Add all  the flavorings and salt.  Add flour and baking powder. Mix only long enough to make it creamy. Add the dried fruits and nuts.  Bake in greased and floured tube pan or loaf pan for 1 hour and 15-25 minutes, or until done, at 325 F.
 
  Source: Mary Aziz
  “Our Favorite Recipes” St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church
  Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

I don’t write in the hope that my books will change the world. I write for “Polly B.,” a reader who sent me this note via my web site:

“I woke up to a snow day today. A perfect gift for a teacher.  I fixed a cup of tea and got back in bed with The Winter Lodge and spent 3 hours finishing the book. Thank you for making it a special day.”

She even sounds like a teacher. I’m guessing Grade 3, because my all-time favorite teacher, Mrs. Green, taught 3rd grade. But that’s just a guess. I get such lovely little glimpses of people who read my books. This one is the kind of note that makes a writer say, “Mission accomplished.”

You can see more of my own “snow day” photos here.

My publisher sent me to an event in Portland called the ABA Winter Institute. It’s a meeting of independent booksellers who seem to care more about what goes into creating a fabulous author event than they do about the countdown to the superbowl.

The author reception and booksigning featured writers with books just out, or galleys to give away. My favorite kind of signing–the books are free, and the room is full of avid readers. What’s not to like?

I made a new friend–Pam Jenoff, who is adorable and talented–got to visit with an old friend–the amazing Cassandra King, introduced myself to a writer I’ve always admired, Frank Deford. He gets the prize for best-dressed writer ever, anywhere. Eat your heart out, Tom Wolfe! There’s a slide show of the event here.

I came home with some incredible-sounding books– The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle, The Society of S by Susan Hubbard, Cassandra’s Queen of Broken Hearts, The Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig and Pam’s debut novel, The Kommandant’s Girl.

So guess what I’ll be doing during the Superbowl? Decisions, decisions.

I believe most writers have quirky writing habits, and I’m no exception. I love to write my first draft by hand, and I use a very specific sort of paper and ink, in a Sheaffer fountain pen I was given as an award. It’s engraved “Teacher of the Year, 1983.”

I love this pen because it has a very fine tip, which works well with my rather cramped handwriting. I use Skrip cartridge ink in “peacock blue” because it dries instantly on the page. If you’re left-handed, you know why this is important. I’ve ruined many a sleeve, dragging it through wet ink.

When I was very young, I found some old papers of my mother’s from college, and she used this same color ink. So it must be in my blood.

But there’s tragic news for us lovers of Peacock Blue. Because, okay, they still make the ink and it still looks the more or less the same. But they changed the name to turquoise. What’s up with that? Peacock blue is evocative. It’s romantic. It means something. Turquoise is just a color.

I’m curious about the marketing decision that resulted in changing the name. I wish they’d checked with me first. Writing is hard enough without messing with our heads about the tools of our trade. From the www.Pendemonium.com web site:

“In July of this year, Sheaffer announced that Skrip was being re-formulated and would be available in new colors….Sheaffer also took this opportunity to inform us that Skrip was now being manufactured in Slovenia! A mild panic set in amongst pen collecting Skrip fanatics… And just where is Slovenia? …. Favorite colors such as peacock blue went the way of the Skrip-Well. Gone are the transparent cartridges where you could easily see how much ink was left. In their place are just very slightly translucent cartridges that appear opaque at first glance. The new cartridges are the same color as the ink inside them….Prior to the recent changeover to Slovenian Skrip, the available colors were: Jet Black, Blue, Blue Black, Green, Red, Brown, Lavender, Gray, Kings Gold, Burgundy and Peacock Blue. Sheaffer discontinued Lavender, Gray and Burgundy entirely. They replaced, or perhaps better said, renamed Kings Gold to Gold and Peacock Blue to Turquoise. Both of these colors have changed; the new turquoise is still definitely turquoise, but darker than the old Peacock Blue.”

Okay, so that’s probably too much information, but I am in a funk here. I just used up my very last cartridge of real peacock blue. Who knows how my next book will turn out? Will it be darker? More obscure? We’ll see–I have to start work on it tomorrow.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, here’s a great quote. When THE MARCH by E.L. Doctorow won the National Book Critics Circle award for fiction, Doctorow said in his acceptance speech: “A book written in silence and read in silence goes from heart to heart and soul to soul as nothing else can.”

Susan

www.susanwiggs.com

I’m starting to get very, very excited about The Winter Lodge, which will be in stores any day now. Even the weather is cooperating here in my corner of the world. Click the link to see a magnificent weather system! http://susanwiggs.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AbsWzdm5bNWkc

Enjoy,

Susan

www.susanwiggs.com