I was quite taken with this story from the New York Times about a 1978 fire in a hotel in Greece, New York. It was arson, deadly, and it remains unsolved. For those of you who’ve read The Cortlandt Boys, you know that there’s a fire in a hotel that brings mysteries to light. The story had me thinking up new directions for future stories (of course, writing a novel is my Q4 goal — so here in Q1 I’ll file it away as fodder).
In this TED video, John Coyle talks about how we experience time. Why did summer last forever when you were 8, but years can fly by now?
My first few days with a newborn have not flown by, but my baby has, at 5 days, re-hit his birth weight. The pediatrician was impressed. The freezer is already filling up. Moo.
The Fast Company editors write about conducting a life audit. I’m pondering what this would be like and what it would involve. I’m not sure how many more deep insights into myself I’m likely to get, but it’s an appealing concept (moreso than a real audit, I can attest, having dealt with the New York State tax authorities last year).
My husband has been around this week and doing a lot of cooking. Seafood casserole, lamp chops, fajitas, and tonight crab cakes. It’s been great!
I plan to consume the State of the Union address via Twitter (well, what I stay awake for). I have a very diverse feed of people on left and right, and varying levels of seriousness and snarky-ness on both sides. It’s amazing to me that I used to consume live political events without the benefit of everyone’s commentary.
Your new addition is too cute! I love his full head of hair. We have that same carseat for my little one, and lots of similar carseat pose pictures. :). And congrats on him being back at birth weight. Yay for good eaters.
Those cheeks!!!
Your new little guy really is a cutie!
Speaking of real life events inspiring fiction, I recently read (and enjoyed!) The Cortland Boys. This post brings to mind something though–Max’s mangled earlobe had me wondering about a yearly to-do list item you posted on the blog years ago, about getting your earlobe fixed… If that incident was borrowed from real life, I’m impressed with your childhood bravery, but ouch!
@Anjanette- I’m not that brave! I tore my earlobe in the normal way: too heavy earrings catching on stuff. Max is much more adventurous 🙂 Thank you so much for reading my novel. I really appreciate it. Please tell your friends!
I’m glad to hear that! It was a nice character detail though!
Have you listened to the Serial podcast? It’s pretty great – done by the folks on This American Life.
@ARC – I haven’t, but I have heard so many things about it. I probably should!