I’m back. After the signing, I took a couple weeks to deal with the slings and arrows of fate. Now I’m trying to get used to a new work schedule and figuring out where writing and reading fit into that. Not to mention the fact that I’ve got several projects in addition to the Faith sequel. If only I were one of those people who could live on four hours of sleep.

So what now? Working on the draft of the first seven chapters for Trust, stirring up some publicity for Faith, and figuring out what to do about my book on higher education. If only I were one of those people who could live without a job. Hmmm, I think I’m beginning to put a strain on the readers’ suspension of disbelief.

What I’ve been reading, short version:
The Ask by Sam Lipsyte – slow start, funny and clever but missing something. I think it’s missing the writer’s ask to the reader.
Mirroring People : The Science of Empathy and How We Connect with Others by Marco Iacoboni – just started, but fascinating. I’m very interested in the connections of cognitive science, empathy and ethics. J.D. Trout is a must read, at least the first few chapters.

Today used to be something of a holiday for me — Martha Grimes day. Whenever a new Richard Jury novel came out, everything else got put on hold. Well, responsibilities grow and it’s not quite the holiday it used to be, but I just got home from B&N — sadly, no Black Cat for the Kindle yet — paid the bills like a real grown up first, and soon will sink into Jury world.

Does this strike anyone else as strange? The Amazon featured reviews were fairly negative, even nasty, but the B&N reviews were quite strong. In fact, Amazon highlighted a review that was nearly offensive in its description of Melrose Plant. (Let’s hope no one reads him any more American book reviews.) I’ll have to read it to see if it’s just B&N being fakey-nice in order to sell more copies, but I have to wonder if some of Grimes’s issues in the publishing world are in play here. (Read Foul Matter if you want both a glimpse into the publishing world and an interesting look at writing motivations.)

My husband has just recently gotten into reading mysteries, especially series. He devoured all of Michael Connolly’s Harry Bosch books and now is trying out the early Patricia Cornwell/Kay Scarpetta novels. He said he could see why it was so heartbreaking to me when that series seemed to go off the rails — her early work was so fascinating.