Three Things from the Road
Newport! LA! Ojai! Oh My!
What I’m Writing…
Friends, I am dizzy from all the miles I’ve put on. Upside down. Inside out. More than once, I have asked myself how I ever did all the traveling I did when I was a TWA flight attendant many years ago. (Ha! The many years ago is probably how I did it so easily – – I was younger!)
But I have to admit that, even though I am tired and turned around, it is so much fun to be on the road seeing friends, meeting new friends, and talking about my book and about writing.
Here’s a rundown of these wild two weeks.
They began in beautiful Newport, Rhode Island, at the Newport MFA on the drop dead gorgeous Salve Regina campus. Over a decade ago, I was invited to create a low residency program for the university. I’m so happy and proud at how it has turned out, with the help and support of my co-director, Jen McClanaghan, and our incredible faculty, students, guests, and administrators.
It’s an intense week, for sure. We have readings…
…and of course, workshops. But we also have a lot of fun together…
It was truly a week of camaraderie and inspiration and admiration and gratitude.
The very next day after our residency ended, I was off to LA! This was an exciting trip for a few reasons.
First, I got to have dinner with the three fabulous women who have optioned my novel The Knitting Circle!
They completely spoiled me by taking me to that classic LA restaurant, Musso and Frank.
The next day I stayed in my luxurious room in The California Club catching up on reading student manuscripts.
And then my buddy Matt, who I met when we were flight attendants, picked me up and we went to Yang Chow for old school Chinese food. Think beef in oyster sauce and orange chicken. Yum!
At lunch the next day, I was in conversation about The Stolen Child with the wonderful Mandy Jackson-Beverly for her Lunch With An Author Literary Series, which was the reason I was in California.
This was an especially moving afternoon as these women had to evacuate their homes during the Palisades fire last year. Some of them lost their homes, lost everything. It’s a reminder to us all that grief has many faces, doesn’t it? A reminder too of our strength and the power of hope and friendship and books.
Just an hour later, Mandy and I were on a train from LA to Ventura. Who knew you could travel around southern California by train? Why have I spent so many hours in traffic when I could be on a lovely train staring out the window or reading a book?
Unlike Amtrak here in my fair city, the conductor was so nice and cheerful. Not only did he carry my suitcase up the stairs and put it in the overhead for me, he also gave me my seat ticket as a souvenir of my first California train ride! (Note to self: never rent a car in SoCal again!)
My pal Diane, also from flight attendant days, picked me up at the station and we zipped to Ojai and the gorgeous Hotel El Roblar.
Diane and I talked through dinner and then closed down the hotel bar (one of us enjoying a whisky) still talking. Ah! Old friends!
Then it was back to work…
…at a luncheon talk with Mandy the next afternoon, followed by teaching a three hour workshop with a dozen fantastic women.
I had a 5AM flight from Santa Barbara to LGA the next morning…
…and in my utter exhaustion somehow remembered hearing Julia Turner complain on the Slate Culture Gabfest about people closing their window shades on airplanes instead of looking out. So I opened mine, and boy was I glad I did.
My beloved had asked me what I wanted for a homecoming dinner, and I asked for roast chicken and mashed potatoes, please. Dreams do come true!
Now I know some of you are asking why all of this is in What I’m Writing. I wanted to share a bit of the writing life with you all. Much of it is indeed actually writing. And thinking. And rewriting. But sometimes it’s running all over the place teaching and talking about writing. And then collapsing back at home. Welcome to my world!
What I’m Knitting…
Sophie scarves!
I told you I was obsessed, didn’t I?
As you might know, I love giving dishrags as gifts. So much so that I even wrote about it for MDK in “Dish Rags: A Love Story”.
Well, it occurred to me that another great gift is a Sophie scarf. So I knit one in Red Poppy for Mandy. Isn’t it pretty?
And speaking of great gifts, how perfect are these for a knitter like me?
What I’m Thinking About…
Finding moments of calm.
When I haven’t stopped moving since the beginning of January and am not stopping until mid-February, it’s really important for me to find moments of calm. It’s important for all of us, isn’t it?
People are often surprised when they learn I’m an introvert. I guess because I can make small talk with a rock and host a party for dozens of people. That’s why I was a good flight attendant! One of the interview questions for United back in 1978 was: “Would you rather go to a party or give a party?” “Give a party,” I said honestly. Bingo! A week later I was hired! (I ended up flying for TWA)
Most interview questions got the answer: “I love people and I love to travel,” which was also true. I just loved people to a point, then I desperately needed to be alone. And I’d rather host a party because then I can escape into the kitchen. See? Moments of calm…
I have to confess, I do still love to travel…again, up to a point. This schedule I’m on is too hectic. I no longer like running from here to there, thither and yon. Give me a couple weeks away, preferably with people I love, and I’m happy. Lately my taste runs to the unusual, to places tourists don’t typically go. Hmmm…maybe that’s always been my proclivities. I’ve been to Turkmenistan and Tbilisi and Tibet…Once a Fly Girl, always a Fly Girl.
So how do I find moments of calm when even taking a walk is hard to squeeze in?
I read.
I saw this quote from Mark Twain to his daughter Jean from 1908 in photographer Beowulf Sheehan’s newsletter:
“Be happy, dear love, & put all disturbing solicitudes away from you, & bury yourself in cheerful books & pleasant thoughts.”
Thank you, Samuel Clemens, for helping me say what I think! Though coincidentally I’ve found the books I’m packing in my carry on that fits under the seat in front of me are quiet rather than cheerful.
Do you need some moments of calm on the road or at home? Bury yourself in these beautiful books:
And Also…
Believe it or not, I’m writing this at 8:30 in the morning before I head to LaGuardia airport. Yup. Three more places in the next month!
And friends, I’m not complaining. I’m counting my lucky stars. I get to have new experiences, spend time with people I love, talk about writing, and eat, drink and be merry. Then finally return home to my cats and our little love nest in the West Village. And it’s all part of my life as a writer. That’s a lot of lucky stars.
PS…
One more secret on how I stay sane and calm in such busy stretches of time. I have my books and my knitting…
…and I make sure to write at least two sentences a day. I can’t tackle the revisions on my new novel when my days are so busy and disjointed. So I turn my attention to the essays I’m writing around the topic of long grief. Just putting words down on paper every day helps me find that calm I need before I begin the day.
I’m delighted to share one of these essays with you when it’s published in a few weeks!
As always, thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy days to read this. It makes me happy to think of all of you out there.
Thank you too for subscribing. This newsletter will always be free, so big thanks if you like it enough to get a paid subscription.
Until next time, remember to find moments of calm every day. Hug your cats, kiss the people you love, read a book, knit something small, write a sentence, eat some roast chicken. I promise you, it all helps.
I never tire of your writing. Or discovering more about your life. I, too, crave alone time though people assume I’m an extrovert. Have you heard of ambiverts? That’s what we are!
ann...i love every word, every mile of this essay. sending love!