Three Things from the End of November
Red threads! Blue threads! News!
What I’m Writing…
I had the great pleasure of judging the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award (and the winner is…Absolution by Alice McDermott!) with, among others, the wonderful Jennifer Haigh. Jen sent me the galleys to her new novel, Rabbit Moon, which is absolutely fantastic. Pub date is April 8, but it’s available for preorder now.
Lindsay, a young American woman living in Shanghai, is hit by a car and is in critical condition in a hospital. Her divorced parents rush to be with her while her adored and adoring younger sister Grace, who was adopted from China, remains at summer camp.
In the novel, Haigh uses the Chinese mythology of the red thread, which tells us that we are connected to all the people we love by an invisible red thread. It can become frayed or knotted or tangled, but it never breaks. Reading Rabbit Moon brought me back to my own magical time in China adopting my daughter Annabelle and to writing my novel The Red Thread.
An interesting publishing side note: my publisher drastically changed the covers on the hardback and paperback…
In The Red Thread, Maya opens The Red Thread adoption agency after losing her infant daughter. The story follows six couples who want to adopt and six mothers in China who are forced to give up their infant daughters due to the (now defunct) one child policy. Through these different stories, we see the red thread at work.
I’ve been on the road a lot these past two weeks, from Hyannis to Hartford to Miami, promoting both The Stolen Child and Life’s Short, Talk Fast: 15 Writers on Why We Can’t Stop Watching Gilmore Girls.
And I’m not finished! I’ll be in Salisbury, CT at the White Hart Inn at 7:00 with fellow contributors Tracey Minkin and Michael Ruhlman. Tickets can be bought through Oblong Books. Then on December 18 at 1:00, Michael and I will be in Duxbury, MA for the Duxbury Literary Circle at the Duxbury Senior Center. Come and say hello!
What I’m knitting…
Oh, friends, I am loving knitting the Quaking Aspen Wrap in Beach Walk Linen Quill minis from Purl Soho. I’ve learned how to slide and turn for color changes and I’m just having so much fun. Plus it’s portable—for the time being…
I’m also making great progress on my Crowberry sweater from Modern Daily Knitting. You might remember that—for the first time ever—I’m doing some improvising with this pattern. It calls for nine inches before splitting the fron t and back, but that design is for a cropped sweater and I want a longer one. So, I’m just knitting on…
What I’m Thinking About…
My big news!
The Knitting Circle has been acquired by three female Hollywood producers to be turned into a feature length film! Making a film is a long, unpredictable, but exciting process and I’m thrilled and honored to be on this journey with Rhode Island native Cathy King, Heather Hall (Garry Marshall's right hand producer), and actor/author Angie Bullaro!
Have you read The Knitting Circle yet? It’s such fun to imagine who would be in the movie. Dream with me: who do you think would make a great Mary? How about her mom? And her husband? Leave a comment below!
And also…
Annabelle adopted two cats, Caleb and Beau, which, along with Sam’s Tom and Tabby, brings our feline family to six. Its starting to feel like Wanda Gág’s book Millions of Cats around here! Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.
I know that some people think you’re either a cat person or a dog person, but I do like both. I’m just partial to animals that weigh under twenty pounds. This is possibly due to a Dalmatian knocking me over when I was about three, or Bongo the German Shepherd growling and straining at his leash in my childhood neighborhood—walking to and from school was terrifying, thanks to Bongo.
Here is my dog Maggie, who happened to be the world’s smartest dog. Her previous owner was cruel to her, keeping her chained outside no matter what the weather. She showed up at the vet’s on her own with a bad case of pneumonia and I, happily, got to adopt her. If I said, “Bang bang,” she fell dramatically onto her back.
And here is Zuzu, the dog of my kids’ childhood, who could dance like Pavlova.
PS…
The other afternoon, with my beloved away visiting his mom, I walked a few blocks north to the wonderful Myers of Keswick, a tiny gem of a store chock full of all things British food. Marmite and marmalade. Candies and biscuits and—this time of year—fancy crackers for cracking on Christmas. Although I often stop there to pick up a perfect scone, marmalade, and clotted cream, this time I wanted dinner: a miniature pork pie and a Cornish pasty. They made for the coziest late November dinner, eaten while binge watching the Great British Bake-Off.
Should you want to make such deliciousness yourself, my beloved (with Brian Polcyn) just published Meat Pies: An Emerging American Craft. The photographs by Quentin Bacon will knock you out!
PPS…
Yesterday I walked around my Greenwich Village neighborhood for hours, getting errands done and poking into little shops. It’s a place I’ve loved since I moved here over thirty years ago, and a place I love—if possible—even more now. Late in the afternoon I went to the IFC to see the movie Emilia Perez (loved it!) and when I stepped out of the theatre it was 6:00 and already dark. I looked up and saw this and gasped. It never ceases to take my breath away.
Thank you for reading! Because I’m hosting a Thanksgiving Eve party for twenty people and a Thanksgiving Day dinner for twelve, I’m writing this beforehand. I’ll no doubt fill you in next time. I hope your holiday was wonderful.
And that when you step outside, I hope you are filled with wonder.
Great newsletter! Re: cover, I think paperback more successful, but if that is Annabelle on the hardcover, that gets my vote!
I propose joint Red Thread events with you and Jennifer!