First things first, Aimee Bender rocks. I normally eschew that choice of word, but there isn't any other way to describe her. She came to do our interview in-person in a fabulous red linen dress (I missed the literary luncheon put on by Copperfield's that I was supposed to attend for reasons out of my control). I found her accessible, completely unpretentious, generous with her answers and her willingness to engage in conversation, and the person she is is as fascinating as her stories. If you haven't yet picked up a copy of Willful Creatures DO IT!! Sometimes just when I think I've hit the wall...that there are no more questions to ask, and that all the conversations will die an early death as soon as I open my mouth, good conversation occurs again and redeems my faith in the show, in writing, and in writers. And in the public who buys good books. She had some really great points about why books can never be replaced, because of that profound intimacy that occurs between reader and read words...and I had never thought of it precisely like this. It's true. She said how this is what makes meeting a writer so awkward, because you've made this deep connection with them through their words, but it's a connection you can't share with the actual writer in person, it happens across time, between the reader and the book after it's written.

Willful Creatures is so compelling, so haunting, so heartbreaking and funny and everything a book should be. She improved my mood greatly, which had hurtled back toward dark today.

What is with my moods, while we're on that subject? Do I have some kind of mental issue? Have I been harboring a condition that is only now rearing its head? Could it be the sudden onset of overcast days here mid-summer? Is it just stress from the anxiety of waiting for decisions in our life to be made? Is it still post-graduate funk or post-first-draft novel-writing blues? I don't know, but it's irritating me precisely because I can't figure it out.

In other news, my novel draft is now in one reader's hands (or email inbox, rather) and will be printed and mailed to another trusted friend this weekend. I'm casting about for a third reader, because it feels like the right initial number. Any takers? Criteria will include knowing you personally, and preferably that you are a novel-writer yourself. I am nervous, I admit, but I actually have some other stuff coming through me that I very much wish to get out...

That's all for the moment. Happy birthday to all the Leos I know, which are MANY...and then us Virgos are next.

JPR