The Writing Life Too

Skies are still dark here and I've got lots to accomplish today, tomorrow, and the days to come. All week we've had this rare, glorious almost-winter weather of clear skies, brisk temperatures, and winds howling down from the Columbia Gorge. And the moon last night was so mysterious and gorgeous it felt like you could launch into the sky to chase it down. On Tuesday night I took part in the Willamette Writers Book Faire. I'd been reluctant to go because I have a bunch of deadlines this week and I wanted to stay home and work. All day I wrestled with an urge to call it off. But I arrived toting my box of books and piled them up on a table, and said hello to the woman sitting next to me.

And then a kind of miracle happened as if I had stepped into the Republic of Words. Writers and readers, some I knew and some I didn't, kept coming up to me and saying hello and buying books and complimenting me on books and the column about writing I've been cranking out since 1998. And yes, that's a lot of columns. And yes, I do run out of ideas.

And they told me their stories. Of bad editors and books that aren't selling and hopes for books to come. It was a noisy as a swarming hive, and my brain was feeling rattled when a group of kids joined the fray. They belong to the Young Willamette Writers and meet each month while the main meeting is taking place. And they'd been assigned to interview writers about their careers.

Three girls interviewed me Elle, Constance and Jasmina--all fifth graders. And by coincidence I told them how when I was in fifth grade, living in a small town in Northern Wisconsin, Mr. Becker, our half-mad teacher would tune into a public radio show that was a creative writing class. And how because of these weekly assignments I started writing tales of monsters and castles and faraway places and got hooked on writing. The girls were so fragile and fine and shy. And small--I kept trying to imagine myself that small, and in love with words and stories. I gave them each a copy of my first book and urged them to keep writing.

If you read this blog you know I'm a big fan of salon.com and its writers and content. I especially appreciate their coverage of books, arts, and politics. They also feature a columnist Cary Tennis who writes Since You Asked in which people send him their thorniest dilemmas and he pens amazing answers of grace and enlightenment. Tennis has cancer and will be operated on and hospitalized for a month. He's a beautiful, humble writer and I would like to suggest that you might want to buy his books and print-on-demand books because he needs the money to get through all this.

Again, the link is at http://www.salon.com/life/since_you_asked/index.html?story=/mwt/col/tenn/2009/12/03/medical_imaging