Reviews
mucking about…
just back in from an hour of trying to break up the ice dams in front of our house. the snow has turned to rain and it was getting deep and my neighbor Peter and I were out there, trying to chip away. now my hands are all cramped, but it was a really nice change from...
Animal logic…
Musetta has moved back into my office!I don't know why, but for about a month, my beloved cat had not been sitting with me when I worked. Was I too loud? Was there a draft (I mean, a new one) in this old house? Was it something I said?For whatever reason, she'd been...
Talon show
I love living in Cambridge. I was walking into Inman Square. Had my head down to look for icy patches, and suddenly I see a movement to my right. There, sitting on a fence, was a hawk, eating a pigeon. He looked at me - we were just about eye level - as if to say,...
Happy Inauguration Day!
Just took a break to watch the swearing in and listen to President Obama's speech. Oh, it's fun to say that!Just got the text of Obama's inaugural speech: Read it here.
Pete Seeger rules
Somehow the predicted "two to four inches" became seven in yesterday's snowstorm, so spent much of the day digging – and then taking a long work (errands are more fun when the new snow is crunching beneath your books). I love my new crop of students – they're so...
Introducing Dulcie Schwartz
Dulcie Schwartz was born for academia. A grad student at Harvard, she lives for research. Her discipline – the Gothic English novel of the late 18th Century – may seem minor to some. But for Dulcie, it's reason to dive into the library, into the ordered, reasoned...
Heartbreaking
No, this is not my big announcement, but I have to write this.One of the perks of my life is that my husband often brings home books to me. Books he thinks I might like to review, or books that he is pretty sure he won't want to assign for review but that he'll think...
Drumroll, please…
Am waiting for something to arrive in the mail, but as soon as it does, I will have a big announcement! In the meantime, Chris Verstraete hosted me in her series of writing tips over at her Candid Canine blog. Drop on by to see what I and her other guests have...
Holy Toledo, Catwoman!
Wow, a few months ago Abby Ellin (a former Boston Phoenix writer) called me for a comment for a piece she was doing on men and cats for the New York Times. That piece got around, and last week I got an email from Rod Lockwood of the Toledo (OH) Blade. He wanted to...
Font of wisdom
My writing buddy Caroline Leavitt, that is! She suggested that while I'm revising my current WIP, I print it out using a different font. No matter how familiar I am with my own work, she told me, it would look different this way – and I'd be able to catch more things...